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