PSYCH
Sample
Part of Population
Applied Research
Research conducted in an effort to find solutions to particular problems
Pure Research
Research conducted without concern for immediate applications
Psychology
Scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
Educational psychologists
research theoretical issues related to learning, measurement, and child development.
Experimental psychologists
specialize in basic processes such as the nervous system, sensation and perception, learning and memory, thought, motivation, and emotion.
Debriefed
To explain the purposes and methods of a completed procedure to a participant
Consumer psychologists
study the behavior of people in organizations such as businesses.
Organizational psychologists
study the behavior of people in organizations such as businesses.
Hypothesis
a specific statement about behavior or mental processes that is tested through research
Forensic psychologists
apply principles of psychology to the criminal justice system.
Industrial psychologists
focus on the relationships between people and work.
Control Groups
groups whose members do not obtain the treatment, while other conditions are held constant
Experimental Groups
groups whose members obtain the treatment
Scientific Method
organized way of using experience and testing ideas to expand and refine knowledge.
Counseling psychologists
typically see clients with adjustment problems but not serious psychological disorders.
Blind
unaware of whether or not one has received a treatment
Placebos
A bogus treatment that has the appearance of being genuine
Population
A complete group of interest to researchers, from which a sample is drawn
Independent Variable
A condition in a scientific study that is manipulated so that its effects may be observed
Correlational Method
A mathematical method of determining whether one variable increases or decreases as another variable increases or decreases
Dependent Variable
A measure of an assumed effect of an independent variable
Surveys
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
Informed Consent
A participant's agreement to participate in research after receiving information about the purposes of the study and the nature of the treatments
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
social-cognitive theorists
A school of psychology in the behaviorist tradition that includes cognitive factors in the explanation and prediction of behavior; formerly termed social learning theory
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
Theories
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
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
reinforced
A stimulus that follows a response and increases the frequency of the response
Double Blind Studies
A study in which neither the subjects nor the observers know who has received the treatment
Critical thinking
A way of evaluating the claims and comments of other people that involves skepticism and examination of evidence
Introspection
Deliberate looking into one's own cognitive processes to examine one's thoughts and feelings
Cognitive
Having to do with mental processes such as sensation and perception, memory, intelligence, language, thought, and problem solving
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
Sociocultural Perspective
The view that focuses on the roles of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status in behavior and mental processes
Correlations
association or relationship among variables, as we might find between height and weight or between study habits and school grades
Case Studies
collect information about individuals and small groups. through interviews, questionnaires, and psychological tests
Gender
concepts of masculinity and femininity
Social psychologists
concerned with the nature and causes of individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behavior in social situations.
Behaviorism
defines psychology as the study of observable behavior and studies relationships between stimuli and responses
Psychoanalysis
emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives and conflicts as determinants of human behavior
Gestalt Psychology
emphasizes the tendency to organize perceptions into wholes and to integrate separate stimuli into meaningful patterns
Clinical Pyschologists
help people with psychological disorders adjust to the demands of life.
School psychologists
help school systems identify and assist students who have problems that interfere with learning.
Personality psychologists
identify and measure human traits and determine influences on human thought processes, feelings, and behavior.
Sport psychologists
improve their performance in sports.
Developmental psychologists
study the changes—physical, cognitive, social, and emotional—that occur throughout the life span.
Health psychologists
study the effects of stress on health problems such as headaches, cardiovascular disease, and cancer
Environmental psychologists
study the ways that people and the environment influence one another.
Human factors psychologists
technical systems more user-friendly.
Structuralism
that argues that the mind consists of three basic elements—sensations, feelings, and images—that combine to form experience
Functionalism
that emphasizes the uses or functions of the mind rather than the elements of experience