Psych Vocab Flashcards
Empirical method
information acquired by observation or experimentation
Systemic Pursuit
scientists try to be objective and not subjective when putting together an experiment group and recording observations
The scientific method is… (3)
- Falsifiable
2.Testable
3.Replicable
a procedure for using empirical evidence to establish facts
Falsifiable
ability to test predictions (hypothesis)
Testable
The phenomenon can be measured
Replicable
The results of testing can be verified
Neuroscience
The study of the interconnectedness of the mind and the brain. The mental events create unique and individual patterns of neural activation throughout the brain.
Functionalism
an approach to psychology that emphasized the adaptive significance of mental processes
Structuralism
which was an approach to psychology that attempted to isolate and analyze the mind’s basic elements.
Empiricism
the belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation
Scientific method
procedure for using empirical evidence to establish facts
Theories
hypothetical explanations of natural phenomena
Hypothesis
a falsifiable prediction made by a theory
Empirical method
gaining knowledge by means of direct and indirect observation or experience
Operational definition
a description of a property in measurable terms
Construct validity
the extent to which a test/experiment adequately characterizes the property
Construct validity
the extent to which a videocamera aimed at a face adequately characterizes the property (to how well a test or tool measures the construct that it was designed to measure)
Demand characteristics
aspects of an observational setting that causes people to behave as they think others want/expect
Naturalistic observation
a technique for gathering scientific information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments
Observers bias
the tendency for observers expectations to influence both what they believe they observed and what they actually observed
Double-blind study
a study where neither the researcher or participant knows how the participants are expected to behave
Sample
a partial collection of people or animals or things drawn from a population
frequency distribution
graphic representation showing the number of times that the measurement of a property takes on each of its own possible values
Negatively skewed
lean more to the right in a graph
Positively skewed
lean more to the left in a graph
Normal distribution
A mathematically defined distribution in which the frequency of measurements is highest in the middle and decreases symmetrically in both directions
Normal distribution
A mathematically defined distribution in which the frequency of measurements is highest in the middle and decreases symmetrically in both directions. Often called ‘bell curve’
Central tendency
Approximate location of the midpoint of a frequency distribution
Variability tendency
Statements about the extent to which the measurements in a fre. dis. differ from each other
Mean
the average value of all the measurements
Median
the value that is in the middle (x< or = half the measurements and x> or = to half the measurements
Mode
the value of the most frequently observed measurement
Range
the value of the largest measurement in a frequency distribution minus the value of the smallest measurement
Standard deviation
a statistic describing how each of the measurements in a frequency distribution differs from the mean (simpler terms: how far, on average the various measurements are from the center of distribution)
Independent variable
variable that is manipulated within the experiment
Dependent variable
The variable that is measured in an experiment
Control group
participants who do not receive the experimental treatment. Members receive either no intervention at all or some established intervention.
Experimental group
the group of participants who are exposed to the independent variable. These participants receive or are exposed to a manipulation of the independent variable.
Random assignment
a procedure that assigns participants to a condition by chance
Correlation
variations in the value of one variable are synchronized with the variations in the value of the other
Variables
properties that can take on different values
Positive correlation
when a “more-is-more” relationship exists between two variables
Negative correlation
when a “more-is-less” relationship exists between two variables
Correlational Coefficient (r)
is a mathematical measure of both the direction and strength of a correlation, and it is symbolized by the letter r
Natural correlation
the correlations we observe in the world around us
Third-variable problem
refers to the fact that the natural correlation between two variables cannot be taken as evidence of a causal relationship between them because a third variable might be causing them both
Behaviorism
an approach to psychology that restricts scientific inquiry to observable behaviour
Introspection
the analysis of subjective experience by trained observers to identify mental processes
Natural Selection
the process by which the specific attributes that promote an organism’s survival and reproduction become more prevalent in the population over time
Learning by association
when 2 stimuli co-occur together, our automatic response to one stimulus gets transferred to the other
Psychoanalysis
a therapy that aims to give people insight into the contents of their unconscious minds
Dream analysis
looking for issues in dreams if the patient is having problems
Free association
saying whatever comes to mind first when showed something
Unconscious ID
unaccepted memories, desires, instincts and general repression
Cognitive psychology
is the study of human information-processing
Gestalt
The brain uses “educated guesses” to organize data bits together and making meaningful exploitations (Our minds fill in the blanks using preexisting knowledge, our best guesses of things)
Classical conditioning
stimulus–>response
unconscious reaction that happens when an automatic conditioned response is paired with a specific stimulus
Operant conditioning
punishment or reinforcement
a method of learning that employs rewards and punishments for behavior
law of effect
any behavior that is followed by pleasant consequences is likely to be repeated Edward Thorndike (1898)
Nativism
the view that some knowledge is innate rather than acquired
Hysteria
a loss of function that has no obvious physical origin. What could possibly explain it
Unconscious
the part of the mind that contains information of which people are not aware
Psychoanalytic theory
is a general theory that emphasizes the influence of the unconscious on feelings, thoughts, and behaviors
Gestalt Psychology
an approach to psychology that emphasized the way in which the mind creates perceptual experience
Developmental psychology
which is the study of the ways in which psychological phenomena change over the life span
Social psychology
which is the study of the causes and consequences of sociality
Evolutionary psychology
the study of the ways in which the human mind has been shaped by natural selection
Cognitive neuroscience
which is the study of the relationship between the brain and the mind (especially in humans)
Behavioral neuroscience
the study of the relationship between the brain and behavior (especially in non-human animals)
Cultural psychology
the study of how culture influences mental life
Experimentation
a technique for establishing the causal relationship between variables
Manipulation
a technique for determining the causal power of a variable by actively changing its value
Self-selection
is a problem that occurs when anything about a participant determines the participant’s condition
Internal Validity
an attribute of an experiment that allows it to establish causal relationships
External Validity
an attribute of an experiment in which variables have been operationally defined in a normal, typical, or realistic way
Replication
an experiment that uses the same procedures as a previous experiment but with a new sample from the same population
Type I error
when researchers conclude that there is a relationship between two variables when in fact there is not
Type II error
when researchers conclude that there is not a relationship between two variables when in fact there is
