Chapter One

Naturalistic observation

Observing behaving as it unfolds in natural settings

Natural selection

Physical features that help plants and animals adapt to their environments are retained evolution

Psychoanalysis

A Freudian approach to psychotherapy emphasizing the exploration of unconscious using free association, dream interpretation, resistances, and transference to uncover unconscious conflicts

Uncritical acceptance

A failure to evaluate claims with sufficient logical rigor

Cognitive unconscious

A part of the mind of which we are subjectively aware and therefore not open to introspection

Imageless thought

An old term describing the inability of introspectionists to become subjectively aware of some mental processes; an early term describing the cognitive unconscious

Superstition

An unfounded belief help without objective evidence or in the face of falsifying evidence

Stimulus

Any physical energy that affects a person and evokes a response

Psychodynamic theory

Any theory of behavior that emphasizes internal conflicts, motives, and unconscious forces

Radical behaviorism

B.F. Skinner's philosophy of the science of human behavior; most influential type of behaviorism for guiding the science and practice of behavior analysis.

Phrenology

Claimed that the shape of the skull reveals personal traits; was revealed to be a pseudoscience since psychological research demonstrated that bumps on the head have nothing to do with talent or ability

Observational data

Data that come form watching participants and recording their behavior

Physiological data

Data that comes from participants' physiological processes (including measures of the brain and heart, muscles, and the production of hormones

Dynamic unconscious

In Freudian theory, the parts of the mind that are beyond awareness, especially conflicts, impulses, and desires not directly known to a person

Empirical evidence

Information gained from direct observation

Structured observation

Observing behavior in situations that have been set up by the researchers

Self-report data

Probably the most common form of data collection that psychologists use

Neo-Freudians

Psychologists who accepts the broad features of Freud's theory but have revised the theory to include the role of cultural and social factors while still accepting some of its basic concepts

Biopsychology

Study of the physical brain and body structures that underlie behavior and mental processes

Free will

The ability to freely make choices that are not controlled by genetics, learning, or unconscious forces; the idea that human being are capable of making choices or decisions themselves

Determinism

The idea that all behavior has prior causes that would completely explain one's choices and actions if all such causes were known

Graphology

The study of handwriting; a more recent example of flawed a reasoning characteristics

Industrial/organizational psychology

The study of people at work

Confirmation bias

The tendency to remember or notice things that confirm our expectations and ignore the rest