Unit one Vocab

Question 1

critical thinking

Answer 1

Thinking that does not blindly except arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discern hidden biases, evaluate evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Question 2

empiricism

Answer 2

The idea that knowledge comes from experience, and that observation and experimentation enable scientific knowledge

Question 3

structuralism

Answer 3

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

Question 4

introspection

Answer 4

The process of looking inward and attempt to directly observe one’s own psychological processes

Question 5

functionalism

Answer 5

An early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin, explored how mental and behavioral processes function- how to enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

Question 6

behaviorism

Answer 6

The view that psychology should be (1) an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to the mental processes. Most psychologists agree to today with (1) but not with (2)

Question 7

humanistic psychology

Answer 7

Historically significant perspective that emphasizes human growth potential

Question 8

cognitive psychology

Answer 8

The study of mental processes, such as occur when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems

Question 9

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 9

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition

Question 10

psychology

Answer 10

The science of behavior and mental processes

Question 11

nature-nurture issue

Answer 11

The long-standing controversy over the relative contributions that jeans and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today science says traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of it it

Question 12

Natural selection

Answer 12

The principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will (in competition with other trait variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

Question 13

Evolutionary psychology

Answer 13

The study of the evolution of behavior in the mind, using principles of natural selection

Question 14

Behavior genetics

Answer 14

The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior

Question 15

Culture

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Positive psychology

Answer 16

The scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities thrive

Question 17

Biopsychosocial approach

Answer 17

An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social- cultural viewpoints

Question 18

Behavioral psychology

Answer 18

The scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning

Question 19

Biological psychology

Answer 19

The scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes

Question 20

Psychodynamic psychology

Answer 20

A branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior and use that information to treat people with psychological disorders

Question 21

Social-cultural psychology

Answer 21

The study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking

Question 22

Testing effect

Answer 22

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply re-reading, information

Question 23

SQ3R

Answer 23

I study method incorporating five steps: survey, question, read, retrieve, review

Question 24

Psychometrics

Answer 24

The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

Question 25

Basic research

Answer 25

Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Question 26

Developmental psychology

Answer 26

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change through the lifespan

Question 27

Educational Psychology

Answer 27

The study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning

Question 28

Personality psychology

Answer 28

The study of individuals characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting

Question 29

Social psychology

Answer 29

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Question 30

applied research

Answer 30

Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

Question 31

Industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology

Answer 31

The application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in work places

Question 32

Human factors psychology

Answer 32

A field of psychology allied with I/O psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use

Question 33

Counseling psychology

Answer 33

A branch of psychology that assist people with problems and living and achieving greater well-being

Question 34

Clinical psychology

Answer 34

A branch of psychology that studies, assassins, and treat people with psychological disorders

Question 35

Psychiatry

Answer 35

A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders, practice by physicians who are licensed to provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy

Question 36

Community psychology

Answer 36

A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups

Question 37

Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 37

Set up the first psychological laboratory in an apartment near the University at Leipzig, Germany. Change subject and introspection and establish the theory of structuralism. Considered the father of scientific psychology

Question 38

G Stanley Hall

Answer 38

Conducted an experiment to measure how long it took for people to press a telegraph key after hearing a ball hit a platform. He wanted to measure the fastest in simplest mental processes

Question 39

Edward Bradford Titchener

Answer 39

Wanted to classify and understand elements of the mind structure. He used introspection, training people to report elements of their experience as they looked at a rose, listened to a metronome, smelled a scent, or tasted a substance

Question 40

William James

Answer 40

Proposed considering that evolved functions of our thoughts and feelings: smelling is what the nose does and thinking is what the brain does. Established the theory of functionalism and brought psychology to the United States

Question 41

Charles Darwin

Answer 41

Created the theory of evolution, which assumed that thinking like smelling developed because it was adaptive.

Question 42

Mary Whiton Calkins

Answer 42

Hey student of William James who became the president of the American psychological association. Although she completed her doctoral studies at Harvard, they refused to award her PhD because at the time they did not grant doctoral degrees to women.

Question 43

Margaret Floy Washburn

Answer 43

First woman to earn a PhD in psychology. Known for her experimental work involving animal behavior and sensation/perception processes

Question 44

John B Watson

Answer 44

Declared that psychology must limit itself to observable phenomena, not an observable concepts like the unconscious mind, if it is to be considered a science. Wanted to establish behaviorism as a dominant paradigm of psychology

Question 45

B F Skinner

Answer 45

Expand of the basic ideas of behaviorism to include the idea of reinforcement and punishment Dash environmental stimuli that either encourage or discourage certain responses. Helped establish and popularized the operant conditioning model of learning.

Question 46

Sigmund Freud

Answer 46

Believed he discovered the unconscious mind - a part of the mind over which we do not have conscious control and which determines, in part, how we think and behave. Propose that we must examine the unconscious mind through dream analysis, word association, and other psychoanalytic therapy techniques if we are to truly understand human thought and behavior. Has been criticized for being unscientific and creating unverifiable theories

Question 47

Carl Rogers

Answer 47

An American psychologist who is one of the founders of humanistic psychology and was well known for his person – centered psychotherapy

Question 48

Abraham Maslow

Answer 48

On American psychologist who created a hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicted on for filling in a human needs in priority, culminating in self actualization.

Question 49

Ivan Pavlov

Answer 49

Performed pioneering conditioning experiments on dogs. Experiments led to the development of the classical conditioning model of learning.

Question 50

Jean Piaget

Answer 50

Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development.

Question 51

Dorothea Dix

Answer 51

A reformer and pioneer in the movement to treat the insane as mentally ill, beginning in the 1820s, she was responsible for approving conditions and jails, poor houses, and insane asylums through the US and Canada. She succeeded in persuading many states to assume responsibility for the care of the mentally ill. She served as the superintendent of nurses for the union army during the Civil War

Question 52

Hindsight bias

Answer 52

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

Question 53

Theory

Answer 53

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

Question 54

hypothesis

Answer 54

A testable prediction, often implied by theory

Question 55

Operational definition

Answer 55

Hey carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study

Question 56

Replication

Answer 56

Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced

Question 57

case study

Answer 57

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

Question 58

Naturalistic observation

Answer 58

I descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior and naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation

Question 59

Survey

Answer 59

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

Question 60

Sampling bias

Answer 60

A floor sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

Question 61

Population

Answer 61

All those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn

Question 62

Random sample

Answer 62

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

Question 63

Correlation

Answer 63

A measure of the extent to which two factors very together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

Question 64

Correlation coefficient

Answer 64

A statistical index of the relationship between two things

Question 65

Variable

Answer 65

Anything that can very end is feasible and ethical to measure

Question 66

Scatterplot

Answer 66

A graft cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggest the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation.

Question 67

Illusory correlation

Answer 67

Proceeding a relationship were none exists, or perceiving a stronger than actual relationship

Question 68

regression toward the mean

Answer 68

The tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back towards the average

Question 69

Experiment

Answer 69

Research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental processes. By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors

Question 70

Experimental group

Answer 70

In an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable

Question 71

Control group

Answer 71

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

Question 72

Random assignment

Answer 72

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing pre-existing differences between different groups

Question 73

Double-blind procedure

Answer 73

An experimental procedure in which both research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or placebo.

Question 74

Placebo effect

Answer 74

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 75

Independent variable

Answer 75

In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated, the variable whose effect is being studied

Question 76

Confounding variable

Answer 76

A factor other than the fact or being studied that might influence of studies results

Question 77

Dependent variable

Answer 77

In an experiment, the outcome that is measured, the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated

Question 78

Validity

Answer 78

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

Question 79

informed consent

Answer 79

Giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

Question 80

Debriefing

Answer 80

The post experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to his participants

Question 81

Descriptive statistics

Answer 81

Miracle data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups. Includes measures of central tendency and measures of variation

Question 82

Histogram

Answer 82

A bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

Question 83

Mode

Answer 83

The most frequently occurring scores in a distribution

Question 84

Mean

Answer 84

The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores

Question 85

Median

Answer 85

The middle score in a distribution, half the scores are above it and half or below it

Question 86

Skewed distribution

Answer 86

A representation of scores that lacks symmetry around their average value

Question 87

Range

Answer 87

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Question 88

Standard deviation

Answer 88

A computer and measure of how much scores very around the mean score

Question 89

Normal curve

Answer 89

A symmetrical, bell shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data, most scores fall near the mean and fewer and fewer around the extremes

Question 90

Inferential statistics

Answer 90

Numerical data that allow one to generalize – to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population

Question 91

Statistical significance

Answer 91

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