General Psychology Final

dendrites

root-like structures, attached to the cell body of a neuron, that receive impulses, or incoming messages, from other neurons

gender

the culturally defined concepts of masculinity and femininity

hypothesis

in psychology, a specific statement about behavior or mental processes that is tested through research

Consumer

Consumer psychologists study the behavior of shoppers in an effort to predict and influence their behavior.

Clinical

Clinical psychologists specialize in the diagnosis of mental and behavioral disorders. Clinical psychologists help people with psychological disorders adjust to the demands of life.

Health

Health psychologists study the effects of stress on health problems, such as headaches, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Human

Human factors psychologists make technical systems more user-friendly.

Industrial

Industrial psychologists focus on the relationships between people and work.

Industrial/organizational

Industrial/organizational psychologists study the relationships between people and their work environments.

Organizational

Organizational psychologists study the behavior of people in organizations, such as businesses.

School

School psychologists specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of learning and behavior problems that interfere with academic performance. School psychologists help school systems identify and assist students who have problems that interfere with learning.

Social

Social psychologists are concerned with the nature and causes of individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behavior in social situations.

Social

Social psychologists look at how an individual feels, thinks and behaves in a social setting or groups.

case study

a carefully drawn biography that may be obtained through interviews, questionnaires, and psychological tests

Behavioral perspectives

emphasize environmental factors

Psychoanalytic perspectives

emphasize unconscious motivations and early childhood experiences

sample

part of a population

Developmental

Developmental psychologists study how people grow and develop through their lifespan, from babies through the elderly.

Developmental

Developmental psychologists study the changes—physical, cognitive, social, and emotional—that occur throughout the life span.

Educational

Educational psychologists research theoretical issues related to learning, measurement, and child development.

Educational

Educational psychologists specialize in the study of teaching and learning in typically developing people (as opposed to school psychologists).

selection factor

a source of bias that may occur in research findings when participants are allowed to choose for themselves a certain treatment in a scientific study

neuron

a specialized cell of the nervous system that receives and transmits messages

correlation

an association or relationship among variables, as we might find between height and weight, or between study habits and school grades

scientific method

an organized way of using experience and testing ideas to expand and refine knowledge

biological perspective

biological perspective the approach to psychology that seeks to understand the nature of the links between biological processes and structures such as the functioning of the brain, the endocrine system, and heredity, on the one hand, and behavior and mental processes, on the other

psychology

the science that studies behavior and mental processes

Describe the origins of psychology and discuss people who have made significant contributions to the field.

An ancient contributor to the modern field of psychology, Aristotle argued that human behavior, like the movements of the stars and the seas, is subject to rules and laws. Today, as then, the subject matter of the study of human behavior includes the study of personality, sensation and perception, thought, intelligence, needs and motives, feelings and emotion, and memory. The following is a list of the historic schools of psychology and the major proponent(s) of each: Structuralism: Wilhelm Wundt; Functionalism: William James; Behaviorism: John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner; Gestalt Psychology: Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler; and Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Karen Horney, and Erik Erikson.

Counseling

Counseling psychologists work with people who have adjustment problems that are not as severe as clinical psychologists address. Counseling psychologists typically see clients with adjustment problems but not serious psychological disorders.

Environmental

Environmental psychologists study the ways that people and the environment influence one another.

Forensic

Forensic psychologists apply principles of psychology to the criminal justice system.

Forensic

Forensic psychologists specialize in areas of psychology that involve the law.

Neuropsychologists

Neuropsychologists study the relationship between physiological processes and behavior.

Sport

Sport psychologists help people improve their performance in sports.

population

a complete group of interest to researchers, from which a sample is drawn

myelin

a fatty substance that encases and insulates axons, facilitating transmission of neural impulses

axon

a long, thin part of a neuron that transmits impulses to other neurons from bulb-shaped structures called axon terminals or terminal buttons

correlational method

a mathematical method of determining whether one variable increases or decreases as another variable increases or decreases

survey

a method of scientific investigation in which a large sample of people answer questions about their attitudes or behavior

correlation coefficient

a number between +1.00 and -1.00 that expresses the strength and direction (positive or negative) of the relationship between two variables

random sample

a sample drawn so that each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected to participate

stratified sample

a sample drawn so that identified subgroups in the population are represented proportionately in the sample

naturalistic observation

a scientific method in which organisms are observed in their natural environments

experiment

a scientific method that seeks to confirm cause-and-effect relationships by introducing independent variables and observing their effects on dependent variables

theory

a set of hypothesized statements about the relationships among events

volunteer bias

a source of bias or error in research reflecting the prospect that people who offer to participate in research studies differ systematically from people who do not

behaviorism

behaviorism the school of psychology that defines psychology as the study of observable behavior and studies relationships between stimuli and responses

glial cells

cells that remove dead neurons and waste products from the nervous system, nourish and insulate neurons, form myelin, and play a role in neural transmission of messages

cognitive

cognitive having to do with mental processes such as sensation and perception, memory, intelligence, language, thought, and problem solving

The biological perspective

emphasizes biological structures and physiology

The evolutionary perspective

emphasizes inherited traits

The humanistic perspective

emphasizes intrinsic motivation and subjective experiences

The cognitive perspective

emphasizes mental processes

The sociocultural perspective

emphasizes social and cultural variables.

functionalism

functionalism the school of psychology that emphasizes the uses or functions of the mind rather than the elements of experience

gestalt psychology

gestalt psychology the school of psychology that emphasizes the tendency to organize perceptions into wholes and to integrate separate stimuli into meaningful patterns

introspection

introspection deliberately looking into one's own cognitive processes to examine one's thoughts and emotions

psychoanalysis

psychoanalysis the school of psychology that emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives and conflicts as determinants of human behavior

Experimental

psychologists specialize in basic processes, such as the nervous system, sensation and perception, learning and memory, thought, motivation, and emotion.

pure research

pure research research conducted without concern for immediate applications

reinforcement

reinforcement a stimulus that follows a response and increases the frequency of the response

social cognitive theory

social cognitive theory a a school of psychology in the behaviorist tradition that includes cognitive factors in the explanation and prediction of behavior; formerly termed social learning theory

structuralism

structuralism the school of psychology that argues that the mind consists of three basic elements—sensations, feelings, and images—that combine to form experience

sociocultural perspective

the view that focuses on the roles of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status in behavior and mental processes