chapter 1

Question 1

Psychology

Answer 1

The science that studies behavior and mental processes

Question 2

Theory

Answer 2

A formulation of relationships underlying observed events

Question 3

Pure research

Answer 3

Research conducted without concern for immediate applications

Question 4

Applied research

Answer 4

Research conducted in an effort to find solutions to particular problems.

Question 5

Introspection

Answer 5

Delibrate looking into one’s own cognitive processes to examine one’s thoughts and feelings

Question 6

structuralism

Answer 6

the School of Psychology that argues that the mind consists of three basic elements sensations feelings and images that combine to form experience

Question 7

functionalism

Answer 7

the School of Psychology that emphasizes the uses or functions of the mind rather than the elements of experience

Question 8

behaviorism

Answer 8

the School of Psychology that define psychology as the study of observable behavior and studies relationships between stimuli and responses

Question 9

reinforcement

Answer 9

a stimulus that follows a response and increases the frequency of the response

Question 10

Gestalt psychology

Answer 10

the School of Psychology that emphasizes the tendency to organize perceptions into holes and to integrate separate stimuli into meaningful patterns

Question 11

psychoanalysis

Answer 11

the school psychology that emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives and conflicts as determinants of human behavior

Question 12

cognitive

Answer 12

having to do with mental processes such as sensation and perception memory intelligence language thought and problem solving

Question 13

social cognitive theory

Answer 13

a school of psychology in the behaviorist tradition that includes cognitive factors in the explanation and prediction of behavior formerly termed social learning theory

Question 14

sociocultural perspective

Answer 14

the view that focuses on the roles of ethnicity gender culture and socioeconomic status in behavior and mental processes

Question 15

gender

Answer 15

the culturally defined concepts of masculinity and femininity

Question 16

hypothesis

Answer 16

in psychology a specific statement about behavior or mental processes that is tested through research

Question 17

correlation

Answer 17

an association or relationship among variables as we might find between height and weight are between study habits and school grades

Question 18

selection factor

Answer 18

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

Question 19

sample

Answer 19

part of a population

Question 20

population

Answer 20

a complete group of organisms or events

Question 21

random sample

Answer 21

a simple drawn so that each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected to participate

Question 22

stratified sample

Answer 22

a simple drawn so that identified subgroups in the population are represented proportionately in the sample

Question 23

volunteer bias

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Case study

Answer 24

A carefully drawn biography that may be obtained through interviews, questionnaires, and psychological tests.

Question 25

Survey

Answer 25

A method of scientific investigation in which a large sample of people answer questions about their attitudes or behaiors.

Question 26

Naturalistic observation

Answer 26

a scientific method in which organisms are observed in their natural environments

Question 27

correlation coefficient

Answer 27

a number between +1.00 and - 1.00 that expresses the strength and direction (positive or negative) of the relationship between two variable

Question 28

experiments

Answer 28

a scientific method that seeks to confirm cause and effect relationships by introducing independent variables and observing their effects on dependent variables

Question 29

independent variable

Answer 29

a condition in a scientific study that is manipulated so that its effects may be observed

Question 30

dependent variable

Answer 30

a measure of an assumed effect of an independent variable

Question 31

experimental groups

Answer 31

in experiments groups whose members obtain the treatment

Question 32

control groups

Answer 32

in experiments groups whose members do not obtain the treatment while other conditions are held constant

Question 33

placebo

Answer 33

a bogus treatment that has the appearance of being genuine

Question 34

blind

Answer 34

in experimental terminology unaware of whether or not one has received a treatment

Question 35

double-blind study

Answer 35

a study in which neither the subjects nor the observers know who has received the treatment

Question 36

informed consent

Answer 36

a participant’s agreement to participate in research after receiving information about the purpose of the study and the nature of the treatments

Question 37

debrief

Answer 37

to explain the purposes and methods of a completed procedure to a participant