Invitation to Psychology, Chapter 1
validity
The ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure
correlation
A measure of how strongly two variables are related to each other
psychoanalysis
A theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy, originally formulated by Sigmund Freud, that emphasizes unconcious motives and conflicts
trained introspection
Volunteers are taught to carefully observe, analyze, and describe their own sensations, mental images, and emotional reactions
volunteer bias
A shortcoming of findings derived from a sample of volunteers instead of a representative sample; the volunteers may differ from those who did not volunteer
hypothesis
A statement that attempts to predict or to account for a set of phenomena
significance tests
Statistical tests that assess how likely it is that a study's results occurred merely by chance
descriptive statistics
Statistics that organize and summarize research data
standard deviation
A commonly used measure of variablity that indicates the average difference between scores in a distribution and their mean
experiment
A controlled test of a hypothesis in which the researcher manipulates one variable to discover its effect on another
evolutionary psychology
A field of psychology emphasizing evolutionary mechanisms that may help explain human commalities in cognition, development, emotion, social practices, and other areas of behavior
representative sample
A group of individuals, selected from a population for study, which matches that population on important characteristics such as age and sex
coefficient of correlation
A measure of correlation that ranges in value from -1.00 to +1.00
biological perspective
A psychological approach that emphasizes bodily events and changes associated with actions, feelings, and thoughts
functionalism
An early psychological approach that emphasized the function or purpose of behavior and conciousness
double-blind study
An experiment in which neither the participants nor the individuals running the study know which participants are in the control group and which are in the experimental group until after the results are tallied
single-blind study
An experiment in which subjects do not know whether they are in an experimental or control group
variable
Characteristics of behavior or experience that can be measured or described by a numeric scale; manipulated and assessed in scientific studies
social-cognitive learning theorists
Combine elements of behaviorism with research on thoughts, values and intentions; believe that people learn not only by adapting their behavior to the environment, but also by imitating others and by thinking about the events happening around them
Wilhelm Wundt
Credited for formally initiating the movement to make psychology a science
clinical psychologist
Diagnose, treat, and study mental or emotional problems; trained to do psychotherapy with severely disturbed people
psychotherapist
Does any kind of psychotherapy; may have anything from no degree to an advanced professional degree; unregulated term
psychiatrist
Does work similiar to that of a clinical psychologist but is likely to take a more biological approach
Sigmund Freud
Father of psychoanalysis
behaviorists
Focus on the environmental rewards and punishers that maintain or discourage specific behaviors
counseling psychologist
Generally help people deal with problems of everday lie such as test anxiety, family conflicts, or low job motivation
control condition
In an experiment, a comparison condition in which subjects are not exposed to the same treatment as those in the experimental condition
William James
Leader of functionalism
descriptive methods
Methods that yield descriptions of behavior but not necessarily causal explanations
replicate
Must avoid drawing firm conclusions until other researchers have repeated their studies and verified their findings
naturalistic observation
Purpose is to find out how people or other animals act in their normal social environments
surveys
Questionnaires and interviews that ask people directly about their experiences, attitudes, or opinions
inferential statistics
Statistical procedures that allow researchers to draw inferences about how statistically meaningful a study's results are
effect size
The amount of variance among scores in a study accounted for by the independant variable; thus it is a measure of strength or power of that variable
psychology
The discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism's physical state, mental state, and external environment
applied psychology
The study of psychological issues that have direct practical significance; also, the application of psychological findings
confirmation bias
The tendency to look for or pay attention only to information that confirms one's own belief, and ignore, trivialize, or forget information that disconfirms that belief
school psychologist
Work with parents, teachers and students to enhance students' performance and resolve emotional difficulties
correlational study
A descriptive study that looks for a consistent relationship between two phenomena
longitudinal study
A study in which individuals are followed and periodically reassessed over a period of time
cross-sectional study
A study in which individuals of different ages are compared at a given time
case study
A detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated
operational definition
A precise definition of a term in a hypothesis, which specifies the operations for observing and measuring the process or phenomenon being defined
random assignment
A procedure for assigning people to experimental and control groups in which each individual has the same probability as any other of being assigned to a given group
meta-analysis
A procedure for combining and analyzing data from many studies; it determines how much of the variance in scores across all studies can be explained by a particular variable
learning perspective
A psychological approach that emphasizes how the environment and experience affect a person's or animal's actions; it includes behaviorism and social-cognitive learning theories
cognitive perspective
A psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior
sociocultural perspective
A psychological approach that emphasizes social and cultural influences on behavior
psychodynamic perspective
A psychological approach that emphasizes unconcious dynamics within the individual, such as inner forces, conflicts, or the movement of instinctual energy
observational study
A study in which the researcher carefully and systematically observes and records behavior without interfering with the behabior; it may involve either naturalistic or laboratory observation
independant variable
A variable that an experimenter manipulates
dependent variable
A variable that an experimenter predicts will be affected by manipulations of the independent variable
negative correlation
An association between increases in one variable and decreases in another
positive correlation
An association between increases in one variable and increases in another, or between decreases in one and in the other
arithmetic mean
An average that is calculated by adding up a set of quantities and dividing the sum by the total number of quantities in the set
placebo
An inactive substance or fake treatment used as a control in an experiment
theory
An organized system of assumptions and principles that purports to explain a specified set of phenomena and their interrelationships
field research
Descriptive or experimental research conducted in a natural setting outside the laboratory
norms
In test construction, established standards of performance
reliability
In test construction, the consistency of test socres from one time and place to another
standardize
In test construction, to develop uniform procedures for giving and scoring a test
psychoanalyst
Practices psychoanalysis and has specific training in this approach with an advanced degree
psychological tests
Procedures used to measure and evaluate personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, and values
empirical
Relying on or derived from observation, experimentation, or measurement
critical thinking
The ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons and evidence rather than emotion or anecdote
informed consent
The doctrine that human research subjects must participate voluntarily and must know enough about a study to make an intelligent decision about whether to participate
phrenology
The now-discredited theory that different brain areas account for specific character and personality traits, which can be "read" from bumps on the skull
principle of falsifiability
The principle that a scientific theory must make predictions that are scientific enough to expose the theory to the possibility of deconfirmation
basic psychology
The study of psychological issues in order to seek knowledge for its own sake rather than for its practical application