chapter 1 Flashcards
Psychology
The science that studies behavior and mental processes
Theory
A formulation of relationships underlying observed events
Pure research
Research conducted without concern for immediate applications
Applied research
Research conducted in an effort to find solutions to particular problems.
Introspection
Delibrate looking into one’s own cognitive processes to examine one’s thoughts and feelings
structuralism
the School of Psychology that argues that the mind consists of three basic elements sensations feelings and images that combine to form experience
functionalism
the School of Psychology that emphasizes the uses or functions of the mind rather than the elements of experience
behaviorism
the School of Psychology that define psychology as the study of observable behavior and studies relationships between stimuli and responses
reinforcement
a stimulus that follows a response and increases the frequency of the response
Gestalt psychology
the School of Psychology that emphasizes the tendency to organize perceptions into holes and to integrate separate stimuli into meaningful patterns
psychoanalysis
the school psychology that emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives and conflicts as determinants of human behavior
cognitive
having to do with mental processes such as sensation and perception memory intelligence language thought and problem solving
social cognitive theory
a school of psychology in the behaviorist tradition that includes cognitive factors in the explanation and prediction of behavior formerly termed social learning theory
sociocultural perspective
the view that focuses on the roles of ethnicity gender culture and socioeconomic status in behavior and mental processes
gender
the culturally defined concepts of masculinity and femininity
hypothesis
in psychology a specific statement about behavior or mental processes that is tested through research
correlation
an association or relationship among variables as we might find between height and weight are between study habits and school grades
selection factor
a source of bias that may occur in research findings when participants are allowed to choose for themselves a certain treatment in a scientific study
sample
part of a population
population
a complete group of organisms or events
random sample
a simple drawn so that each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected to participate
stratified sample
a simple drawn so that identified subgroups in the population are represented proportionately in the sample
volunteer bias
a source of bias or error in research for flipping the prospect that people who offer to participate in research studies differ systematically from people who do not
Case study
A carefully drawn biography that may be obtained through interviews, questionnaires, and psychological tests.
Survey
A method of scientific investigation in which a large sample of people answer questions about their attitudes or behaiors.
Naturalistic observation
a scientific method in which organisms are observed in their natural environments
correlation coefficient
a number between +1.00 and - 1.00 that expresses the strength and direction (positive or negative) of the relationship between two variable
experiments
a scientific method that seeks to confirm cause and effect relationships by introducing independent variables and observing their effects on dependent variables
independent variable
a condition in a scientific study that is manipulated so that its effects may be observed
dependent variable
a measure of an assumed effect of an independent variable
experimental groups
in experiments groups whose members obtain the treatment
control groups
in experiments groups whose members do not obtain the treatment while other conditions are held constant
placebo
a bogus treatment that has the appearance of being genuine
blind
in experimental terminology unaware of whether or not one has received a treatment
double-blind study
a study in which neither the subjects nor the observers know who has received the treatment
informed consent
a participant’s agreement to participate in research after receiving information about the purpose of the study and the nature of the treatments
debrief
to explain the purposes and methods of a completed procedure to a participant
