Summer Reading Test Flashcards
What is empiricism?
The view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation
What is structuralism?
The branch of psychology that focuses on the structure of the mind
What is a functionalist?
Someone who believes in exploration in the function of and down-to-earth emotions, memories, willpower, habits and moment-to-moment streams of consciousness
What is humanistic psychology?
The branch of psychology focusing on current environmental influences on our behavior
What is today’s definition of psychology?
The science of behavior and mental processes
What is the nature-nurture issue?
An issue with ancient roots about how much experience and biology contribute to the mind
What is a biopsychosocial approach?
An approach to the study of psychology that considers the influence of biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors
Who is Charles Darwin and what has he contributed to modern psychology?
He was a scientist in the 1800s and had that theory of evolution and natural selection
What are levels of analysis?
The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon
What is hindsight bias?
The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one could have foreseen it
What is a theory?
An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events
What is a hypothesis?
A testable prediction, often implied by a theory
What is an operational definition? A statement of the procedures used to define research variables, for example human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures
What is replication?
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
What is a case study?
An observation technique in which one person in depth in hope of revealing universal principles
What is the survey method?
A way to look at many cases in less depth, most commonly used to estimate and look at a larger pool of results
What is a naturalistic observation?
A way to record behavior in natural environments, is describes, not explains
What is correlation?
A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other
What is a random sample?
A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
What is illusory correlation?
the perception of a relationship where none exists
What is a double blind procedure?
An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant(blind) about whether the research participants received the treatment or the placebo, commonly used in drug evaluation studies
What is Standard Deviation?
A computed measure of how much scores vary around a mean score
What is a normal curve?
A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data, most scores fall near the mean and fewer fall near the extremes
What is culture?
The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
What is informed consent?
An ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate
What is debriefing?
The post experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants
