intro Flashcards
Psychology
The scientific study of individual behavior and mental processes
Mental Process
The internal tasks we perform with our minds. Examples include thinking, decision making, remembering, and problem solving
Cognition
Another term for mental process and means the same thing
Behavior
An observable action. Although in IB psychology it means actions and mental processes
Empirical Evidence
Evidence that has been gathered using observation and/or experimentation
Independent variable
The variable in a study that the researcher manipulates in order to create different conditions for comparison of effects
Dependent variable
The variable that the researcher measures. It is the effect of the IV.
Treatment group
The group that receives a treatment that is hypothesized to have an effect
Control Group
A group in an experiment that receives no treatment, so comparisons can be made with the treatment group and conclusions drawn about the effect/s of the treatment.
Causation
When on variable directly causes a change in another
Correlation
When two variable are related to one-another in that as one increases or decrease, so does the other
Extraneous variable
A variable that could influence the DV but is not the subject of studdy
Negative correlation
As one variable increases, the other decreases
Positive correlation
As one variable increases, so does the other
Phenomenon
Anything that has been observed to commonly occur. In other words, it’s something that we know happens a lot, and often there might not be an obvious explanation
