the scientific study of mind and
TRANSCRIPT
psychology, p. 2 The scientific study of behavior and
mental processes.
structuralism, p. 4
Early school of psychology that emphasized the studying the most basic components, or structures, of
conscious experience.
functionalism, p. 6
Early school of psychology that emphasized studying the purpose, or function, of behavior and mental
experiences.
psychoanalysis, p. 7
Personality theory and form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the
role of unconscious factors in personality and behavior.
behaviorism, p. 8
School of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that
emphasizes the study of observable behaviors, especially as they
pertain to the process of learning.
humanistic psychology, p. 9
School of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that
emphasizes each person’s unique potential for psychological growth
and self-direction.
neuroscience, p. 10
The study of the nervous system, especially the brain.
culture, p. 12
The attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people and communicated from
generation to another.
ethnocentrism, p. 12
The belief that one’s own culture or ethnic group is superior to all others
and the related tendency to use one’s own culture as a standard by
which to judge other cultures.
individualistic cultures, p. 12 Cultures that emphasize the needs and goals of the individual over the
needs and goals of the group.
collectivist cultures, p. 12
Cultures the emphasize the needs and goals of the group over the
needs and goals of the individual.
psychiatry, p. 14
Medial specialty area focused on the diagnosis, treatment, causes,
and prevention of mental and behavioral disorders.
scientific method, p. 15
A set of assumptions, attitudes, and procedures that guide researchers in creating questions to investigate,
in generating evidence, and in drawing conclusions.
empirical evidence, p. 15
Verifiable evidence that is based upon objective observation,
measurement, and/or experimentation.
hypothesis, p. 15
A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables; a testable prediction or
question.
variable, p. 15 A factor that can vary, or change, in
ways that can be observed, measured, and verified.
operational definition, p. 15
A precise description of how the variables [or concept] in a study will
be manipulated or measured [or identified].
statistics, p. 17 A branch of mathematics used by
researchers to organize, summarize, and interpret data.
statistically significant, p. 17 A mathematical indication that
research results are not likely to have occurred by chance.
meta-analysis, p. 17
A statistical technique that involves combining and analyzing the results
of many research studies on a specific topic in order to identify
overall trends.
replicate, p. 17
To repeat or duplicate a scientific study in order to increase
confidence in the validation of the original findings.
theory, p. 18
A tentative explanation that tries to integrate and account for the
relationship of various finding and observations.
descriptive research, p. 19
Scientific procedures that involve systematically observing behavior
in order to describe the relationship among behaviors and events.
pseudoscience, p. 20 Fake or false science that makes
claims based on little or no scientific evidence.
longitudinal design, p. 20
Research strategy in which a variable or group of variables are
studied in the same group of participants over time.
cross-sectional design, p. 20
Research strategy in which individuals of different ages or
developmental stages are directly compared.
naturalistic observation, p. 20
The systematic observation and recording of behaviors as they occur in their natural setting.
confirmation bias, p. 21
The tendency to seek out evidence that confirms an existing belief
while ignoring evidence that might contradict or undermine the belief.
case study, p. 22 An intensive study of a single individual or small group of
individuals.
survey, p. 22
A questionnaire or interview designed to investigate the
opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of a particular group.
sample, p. 23 A selected segment of the
population used to represent the group that is being studied.
representative sample, p. 23
A selected segment that very closely parallels the larger
population being studied on relevant characteristics.
random selection, p. 23
Process in which participants are selected randomly from a larger
group such that every group member has an equal chance of
being included in the study.
correlational study, p. 23 A research strategy that allows the calculation of how strongly related
two factors are to each other.
correlation coefficient, p. 24
A numerical indication of the magnitude and direction of the relationship (the correlation)
between two variables.
positive correlation, p. 24
A finding that two factors vary systematically in the same
direction, increasing or decreasing together.
negative correlation, p. 24
The finding that two factors vary systematically in opposite
directions, one increasing as the other decreases.
experimental research, p. 25
A method of investigation used to demonstrate cause-and-effect
relationships by purposely manipulating one factor thought to produce change in another factor.
independent variable, p. 25 The purposely manipulated factor thought to produce change in an
experiment.
dependent variable, p 25
The factor that is observed and measured for change in an experiment, thought to be
influenced by the independent variable; also called the outcome
variable.
confounding variable, p. 26
A factor or variable other than the ones being studied that, if not
controlled, could affect the outcome of an experiment; also called an
extraneous variable.
random assignment, p. 26
The process of assigning participants to experimental
conditions so that all participants have an equal chance of being
assigned to any of the conditions or groups in the study.
experimental group (experimental condition), p. 26
In an experiment, the group of participants who are exposed to all experimental conditions, including
the treatment condition of the independent variable
control group (control condition), p. 26
In an experiment, the group of participants who are exposed to all experimental conditions, except the
treatment condition of the independent variable; the group
against which changes in the experimental group are compared.
testing effect., p 27
The finding that practicing retrieval of information from memory
produces better retention that restudying the same information for
an equivalent amount of time.
double-blind technique, p. 28
An experimental control in which neither the participants nor the researchers interacting with the
participants are aware of the group or condition to which the
participants have been assigned.
demand characteristics, p. 28
In a research study, subtle cues or signals expressed by the
researcher that communicate the kind of response or behavior that is
expected from the participant.
placebo, p. 28 A fake substance, treatment, or
procedure that has no known direct effects.
placebo effect, p. 28
Any change attributed to a person’s belief and expectation rather than to
an actual drug, treatment, or procedure.
natural experiment, p. 29 A study investigating the effects of a naturally occurring event on the
research participants.
critical thinking, p. 31
The active process of minimizing preconceptions and biases while evaluating evidence, determining
the conclusions that can reasonably be drawn from evidence, and
considering alternative explanations for research findings or other
phenomena.
comparative psychology, p. 32 The branch of psychology that
studies the behavior of different animal species.
Warning: not all of the key ideas are on this list of key terms