Scientific Foundations of Psychology

Question 1

structuralism

Answer 1

early school of thought promoted by Wundt and his student Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind

Question 2

functionalism

Answer 2

early school of thought promtoed by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function - how they allow the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

Question 3

experimental psychology

Answer 3

study of behavior and thinking using experiments

Question 4

behaviorism

Answer 4

view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without referencing mental processes; most psychologists agree with the former but not the latter

Question 5

humanistic psychology

Answer 5

historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people

Question 6

cognitive neuroscience

Answer 6

interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition (perception, thinking, memory, and language)

Question 7

Mary Whiton Calkins

Answer 7

mentee of William James; memory researcher and first female president of American Psychological Association

Question 8

Margaret Floy Washburn

Answer 8

first woman to receive psychology PhD; animal behavior research (The Animal Mind)

Question 9

Dorothea Dix

Answer 9

led reform movement to humane treatment of those with psychological disorders

Question 10

empiricism

Answer 10

the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

Question 11

nature-nurture issue

Answer 11

controversy over the relative contributions that genes (nature) and experience (nurture) make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors

Question 12

natural selection

Answer 12

among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

Question 13

levels of analysis

Answer 13

differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to sociocultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon

Question 14

clinical psychology

Answer 14

a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

Question 15

psychiatry

Answer 15

branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders

Question 16

testing effect

Answer 16

testing not only assesses learning, but can also improve it

Question 17

hindsight bias

Answer 17

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have forseen it

Question 18

critical thinking

Answer 18

thinking that doesn’t blindly accept arguments and conclusions, but rather examines assumptions, assesses the source, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions

Question 19

theory

Answer 19

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

Question 20

hypothesis

Answer 20

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Question 21

operational definition

Answer 21

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study

Question 22

replication

Answer 22

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

Question 23

case study

Answer 23

a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Question 24

naturalistic observation

Answer 24

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Question 25

survey

Answer 25

technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group

Question 26

sampling bias

Answer 26

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

Question 27

population

Answer 27

all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn (almost never referring to the population of a country)

Question 28

random sample

Answer 28

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Question 29

correlation

Answer 29

measure of the extent to which two variables change together, and thus of how well either variable predicts the other

Question 30

correlation coefficient

Answer 30

a statistical index of the relationship between two variables (from -1.0 to 1.0)

Question 31

scatterplot

Answer 31

graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables; slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables and amount of scatter suggests the amount of correlation

Question 32

illusory correlation

Answer 32

the perception of a relationship where none exists

Question 33

experiment

Answer 33

research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

Question 34

experimental group

Answer 34

in an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment (one version of independent variable)

Question 35

control group

Answer 35

in an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

Question 36

random assignment

Answer 36

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between different groups

Question 37

double-blind procedure

Answer 37

an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo

Question 38

placebo effect

Answer 38

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent

Question 39

independent variable

Answer 39

experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied

Question 40

confounding variable

Answer 40

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

Question 41

dependent variable

Answer 41

the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

Question 42

validity

Answer 42

extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Question 43

descriptive statistics

Answer 43

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups; includes measures of central tendency and measures of variation

Question 44

histogram

Answer 44

bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

Question 45

mode

Answer 45

most frequently occurring score in a distribution

Question 46

mean

Answer 46

arithmetic average of a distribution

Question 47

median

Answer 47

middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it

Question 48

skewed distribution

Answer 48

representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value

Question 49

normal curve

Answer 49

symmetrical, bell-shaped curve with most scores towards the mean and fewer scores toward the extremes

Question 50

inferential statistics

Answer 50

numerical data that allow one to generalize to a larger population

Question 51

statistical significance

Answer 51

statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

Question 52

culture

Answer 52

enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

Question 53

informed consent

Answer 53

ethical principle that research participants be hold enough to enable them to choose whether they whish to participate

Question 54

debriefing

Answer 54

post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deception, to its participants