Psych Exam 1 Flashcards
psychology
the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
critical thinking
the process of thinking deeply and actively, asking questions, and evaluating the evidence
William Wundt
A German philosopher-physician who founded structuralism, he measured the time between when a student heard a sound and when they pressed a key to signal they heard it
Structuralism
a perspective for the early history of psychology that focused on breaking down mental processes into their structure or basic parts
Functionalism
A perspective from the early history of psychology that focused on the function of our mental processes and behaviors (tries to determine what our mental processes are for)
William James
Father of psychology in the U.S., founded functionalism
Sigmund Freud
popularized psychology in the U.S. and around the world in the late 1800s,
behavioral approach
a perspective in psychology that emphasizes observable behavior over internal mental processes
humanistic approach
a perspective that emphasizes the notion that human nature is generally good and people are naturally motivated to grow toward their own potential
Sociocultural approach
a perspective in psychology that influences of culture and social events on behavior and mental processes
evolutionary approach
emphasizes charles darwins theory of evolution as an influence on behavior
cognitive approach
emphasizes processes such as thinking, language, attention, memory, and intelligence
neuroscience
study of structure, function, development, genetics, and biochemistry of the nervous system
biopsychosocial approach
a uniquely comprehensive popular perspective in psychology that emphasizes biological, psychological, and social factors as influences on behavior.
Confirmed Bias
A tendency to prefer information that confirms what you thought in the first place
Belief perseverance
A tendency to maintain a belief even when evidence suggests it is incorrect
Descriptive research
research in which the goal is simply to describe a characteristics of the population
Correlational research
research in which the goal is to determine the relationship between two variables.
Correlation coefficient
a statistic that shows the relationship between two variables, ranging from highly positive (+1) to highly negative (-1). It means that as one variable goes up, the other variable goes up with it.
correlation-causation fallacy
The mistaken belief that when two variables correlate strongly with each other, one must cause the other.
Experimental research
research in which the goal is to determine the cause and effect relationship between two variables by manipulating one and observing changes in the other.
Random assignment
a procedure in experimental research by which the assignment of participants into either experimental or control group happens entirely by chance.
Independent Variable
A variable that is manipulated by the researchers
Dependent variable
a variable that is expected to depend u[on the independent variable