Psych | Unit 1 - Terms

idea that knowledge comes from experience.

scientific knowledge = observation and experimentation

empiricism

used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind

structuralism

explored how mental and behavioral processes work

functionalism

american psychological association

APA

the view that psychology should be 1) an objective science, 2) study behavior without referencing mental processes

behaviorism

how the unconscious mind and childhood influence behavior

psychoanalytic

emphasized human growth and potential

humanistic

the study of mental processes

cognitive psychology

cognitive psychology + neuroscience

cognitive neuroscience

the science of behavior and mental processes

psychology

principle that traits that best help organism survive will be passed down to future generations

natural selection

how humans are alike because of common biology & evolutionary history

evolutionary psychology

how humans differ because of differing genes and environments

behavior genetics

enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted across generations

culture

w: Western

E: Educated

I: Industrialized

R: Rich

D: Democratic

WEIRD cultures

study of human flourishing

positive psychology

bio, psycho, and social-cultural viewpoints

biopsychosocial

studies how unconscious drives and personality influence behavior

psychodynamic psychology

study of how situations and cultures affect thinking and behavior

social-cultural behavior

specific small group/person of interest used to study unusual behavior

case study

observe people/behavior in a naturally occurring setting, no manipulation/control

naturalistic observations

statement of exact procedures used in a study

operational definition

repeating a study with different participants

replication

causation

correlation does not equal

a measure of the extent to which 2 factors coexist and predict each other

correlation

statistical index of the relationship between two things

positive correlation= +1.00

no correlation= 0

negative correlation= -1.00

correlation coefficient

perceiving a relationship where none/only a small one exists

illusory correlation

factors (ind. variable) manipulated, effect (dep. variable) is observed

experiment

manipulated by the experimenter

independent variable

changes because of the in. variable, is measured/observed by the researcher

dependent variable

receives treatment

experimental group

doesn’t receive treatment

control group

experimental and control groups chosen by chance

random assignment

both participants and researchers don’t know who got drug/placebo

double-blind procedure

a factor not being studied that could influence results of an experiment

confounding variable

the extent to which a test/experiment measures/predicts what it’s supposed to

validity

a third thing causes a correlation between two things (ice cream, summer, and murders)

third variable problem

establish cause and effect

the experimental method is the only method that can

numerical data, measures/describes characteristics of groups

what the data looks like

(central tendency and variation)

descriptive statistics

bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

histogram

the most frequently occuring scores in a distribution

mode

the average; all scores added together and then divided by the number of scores

mean

the middle score/the midpoint

median

data is not symmetrical

skewed distribution

how similar or diverse the scores are

variation

difference (gap, subtraction) between the highest and lowest scores

range

computed measure of how many scores vary around the mean score

standard deviation

diverse scores

high standard deviation means…

similar scores

low standard deviation means…

symmetrical bell-shaped curve that many data sets follow

normal curve

numerical data that allows one to generalize/infer the probability of something about the general population. the conclusions that can be made from the data

inferential statistics

statistical statement of how likely it is that a result is by chance (less than 5% likely)

statistical significance

in statistical significance, how likely a statement is to be by chance

p value

examination of one’s own thoughts and feelings

introspection

the simplest explanation is better than a complex one (easier to verify)

occam’s razor

collect data from different individuals all at the same time

cross sectional research

collect data over long period of time (follow a child from birth to adulthood)

longitudinal research