Key Words- Ms Priest

Question 1

Empiricism

Answer 1

A method of gaining knowledge which relies on direct observation or testing.

Question 2

Objectivity

Answer 2

Being uninfluenced by personal opinions or past experiences, being free of bias.

Question 3

Subjectivity

Answer 3

A person’s perspective or opinion- unsubstantiated personal opinions

Question 4

Reductionism

Answer 4

The belief that human behaviour can be most effectively explained by breaking it down into its constituent parts.

Question 5

Biological reductionism

Answer 5

reducing behaviour to a physical level and explain it in terms of neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones, brain structure, etc.

Question 6

Environmental reductionism; stimulus-response (S-R) reductionism

Answer 6

All behaviour can be reduced to the simple building blocks of S-R associations and that complex behaviours are a series of S-R chains.

Question 8

Holism

Answer 8

A theory that proposes it only makes sense to study a whole system rather than its constituent parts.

Question 9

Determinism

Answer 9

The view that an individuals behaviour is shaped or controlled by internal or external forces rather than a persons will to do something.

Question 10

Hard determinism

Answer 10

Hard determinism is the view that forces outside of our control shape our behaviour. This is incompatible with free will.

Question 11

Soft determinism

Answer 11

Behaviour is constrained by the environment or biological make-up, but only to a certain extent.
Suggesting that there is an element of free will in all behaviour.

Question 12

Free will

Answer 12

The notion that humans can make choices and are not determined by biological or external forces.

Question 13

External validity

Answer 13

a measure of whether data can be generalised to other situations outside of the research environment they were originally gathered in.

Question 14

Internal validity

Answer 14

a measure of whether results obtained are solely affected by changes in the variable being manipulated (i.e. by the independent variable) in a cause-and-effect relationship.

Question 15

Mundane realism

Answer 15

• How an experiment is mirrored in the real world.
• The simulated task environment is realistic to the extent at which experiences encountered in the simulated environment will occur in the real world

Question 16

Reliability

Answer 16

A measure of whether something stays consistent

Question 17

Demand Characteristics

Answer 17

Any cue from the researcher or from the research situation that may be interpreted by participants as revealing the purpose of the investigation.
This may lead to the participant changing their behaviour within the research situation .

Question 18

Experimenter/researcher bias

Answer 18

When the experimenter consciously or subconsciously influences the results of an experiment, in order to portray a certain outcome.

Question 19

Idiographic Research

Answer 19

An approach which focuses more on an individual case as a means to understanding behaviour.

Question 20

Nomothetic Research

Answer 20

An approach that focuses more on general laws of behaviour.

Question 23

Machine reductionism

Answer 23

• A feature of the cognitive approach

- the brain is described as being similar to a computer, ignoring the influence of emotion on behaviour.