Chapter 1: Quiz Flashcards
the science of behavior and mental processes.
psychology
a research perspective whose major explanatory focus is how the brain, nervous system, and other physiological mechanisms produce behavior and mental processes.
biological perspective
A research perspective whose major explanatory focus is how mental processes, such as perception, memory, and problem solving, work and impact behavior.
cognitive perspective
A research perspective whose major explanatory focus is how external environmental events condition observable behavior.
behavioral perspective
A research perspective whose major explanatory focus is how other people and the cultural context impact behavior and mental processes.
sociocultural perspective
The tendency, after learning about an outcome, to be overconfident in one’s ability to have predicted it.
hindsight bias
Research methods whose main purpose is to provide objective and detailed descriptions of behavior and mental processes.
descriptive methods
A descriptive research method in which the behavior of interest is observed in its natural setting, and the researcher does not intervene in the behavior being observed.
naturalistic observation
A descriptive research method in which the observer becomes part of the group being observed.
participant observation
A descriptive research method in which the researcher studies an individual in depth over an extended period of time.
case study
A descriptive research method in which the researcher uses questionnaires and interviews to collect information about the behavior, beliefs, and attitudes of particular groups of people.
survey research
The entire group of people that a researcher is studying.
population
The subset of a population that actually participates in a research study.
sample
A sampling technique that obtains a representative sample of a population by ensuring that each individual in a population has an equal opportunity to be in the sample.
random sampling
A research study in which to variables are measured to determine if they are related (how well either one predicts the other.)
correlational study
Any factor that can take on more than one value.
variable
A statistic that tells us the type and the strength of the relationship between the two variables.
correlation coefficient
A direct relationship between two variables.
positive correlation
An inverse relationship between two variables.
negative correlation
A visual depiction of correlational data in which each data point represents the scores on the two variables for each participant.
scatterplot
An explanation of a correlation between two variables in terms of another variable that could possibly be responsible for the observed relationship between the two variables.
third-variable problem
A control measure in which participants are randomly assigned to groups in order to equalize participant characteristics across the various groups in an experiment.
random assignment
In an experiment, the variable that is a hypothesized cause and thus is manipulated by the experimenter.
Independent variable
In an experiment, a variable that is hypothesized to be affected by the independent variable and thus is measured by the experimenter.
Dependent variable
A research method in which the researcher manipulates one or more independent variables and measures their effect on one or more dependent variables while controlling other potentially relevant variables.
experiment
In an experiment, the group exposed to the independent variable.
experimental group
In an experiment, the group not exposed to the independent variable.
control group
A description of the operations or procedures that a researcher uses to manipulate or measure a variable.
operational definition
Improvement due to the expectation of improving because of receiving treatment.
placebo effect
An inactive pill or a treatment that has no known effects.
placebo
A negative placebo effect due to the expectation of adverse consequences from receiving treatment.
nocebo group
A control group of participants who believe they are receiving treatment, but who are only receiving a placebo.
placebo group
A control measure in an experiment in which neither the experimenters nor the participants know which participants are in the experimental and control groups.
double-blind procedure
Statistics that describe the results of a research study in a concise fashion.
descriptive statistics
A depiction, in a table or figure, of the number of participants receiving each score for a variable.
frequency distribution
The numerical average of a distribution of scores.
mean
The score positioned in the middles of a distribution of scores when all of the scores are arranged from lowest to highest.
median
The most frequently occurring score in a distribution of scores.
mode
The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution of scores
range
The average extent that the scores vary from the mean for a distribution of scores.
Standard deviation
A frequency distribution that is shaped like a bell. About 68 percent of the scores fall within 1 standard deviation of the mean, about 95 percent within 3 standard deviations of the mean.
normal distribution
What 2 things does psychology cover?
- behavior
2. mental processes
- Psychologist in 400 B.C.
- Believed in nature instead of nurture
Plato
- Psychologist in 300 B.C.
- Believed in nurture instead of nature
- Plato was his teacher
Aristotle
- Psychologist in 1879
- Performed the first psychology lab
Wundt
- Psychologist in 1890s
- Brought psychology to the United States
James
- Psychologist in the 1920s
- operant conditioning
- focused psychology mostly on behavior (until this it focused more on mental processes)
Skinner
What time period (years) did psychology focus mostly on mental processes?
400 B.C.- 1920s
What time period (years) did psychology focus mostly on behavior?
1920s- 1960s
Since the _____, psychology has mostly been focused more on both mental processes and behavior.
1960s
Perspectives Emphasizing INTERNAL Factors
- The Biological Perspective
- physiology
- evolutionary
- genetics
- The Cognitive Perspective
- perception
- thinking
All this belongs to NATURE or NURTURE?
NATURE
Perspectives Emphasizing EXTERNAL Factors
- The Behavioral Perspectives
- Conditioning: classical, operant
- The Sociocultural Perspective
- Culture
- Other People
All this belongs to NATURE or NURTURE?
NURTURE
_______ = biology, genetics
Nature
_______= environmental, experiment
Nurture
Why do we need psychology?
- Somethings seem like common sense but common sense will lead you astray.
- hindsight bias
- overconfidence
- critical thinking
________: we shouldn’t just accept or assume what we hear is true.
critical thinking
What are the research methods used by psychologist?
- Descriptive Methods
- Correlational Studies
- Experimental Research
________: allows us to predict without cause and effect
Correlational Studies
________: looks us to predict with cause and effect
Experimental Research
What are the two observational techniques?
- naturalistic
2. participant
