Psychology In Everyday Life: Chapter 1 Study Guide

Standardized Objective Subjective Surveys

4 Types of Testing

longitudinal studies

A research method that studies the same participants multiple times over a period of time.

cross sectional studies

A type of research method that looks at different age groups at the same time in order to understand changes that occur during the life span.

Biopsychosocial Approach

An approach that integrates different but complementary views from biological, psychological, and social-cultural viewpoints.

correlation coefficient

Closer to +/- 1.0 the greater the relationship.

Wilhelm Wundt

Considered the Father of modern psychology; study of mental processes, introspection, and self-exam; established the first psychology laboratory in Germany

Humanistic Psychology

Emphasized the growth potential of healthy people.

measures of central tendency

Mean Median Mode

Empirical Science

Observable, repeatable, and testable science. Emphasizes facts.

measures of variation

Standard deviation Range

ethics in research

The American Psychological Association promotes the following basic research standards: Informed consent Do no harm Confidentiality Debrief required if deceit must be used

Cognitive Neuroscience

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with mental activity (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).

Psychology

The science of behavior and mental processes.

Critical Thinking

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, uncovers hidden values, weighs evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Scientific Attitude Critical Thinking

What 2 things does the scientific method help promote?

Hindsight Bias Overconfidence Seeing Order (or not) in Random Events Researcher Bias

What 4 things does the scientific method help avoid?

Operational Definition

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study. For example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures.

Survey

a descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of that group.

Case Study

a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Naturalistic Observation

a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to change or control the situation.

Scatterplot

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two factors. The slope of the dots suggests the direction of the relationship between the two factors. How much the dots are scattered suggests the strength of the correlation (with little scatter indicating high correlation).

Correlation

a measure of the extent to which two events vary together, and thus of how well either one predicts the other. The correlation coefficient is the mathematical expression of the relationship, ranging from −1.00 to +1.00, with 0 indicating no relationship.

Experiment

a method in which researchers vary one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable).

Double-Blind Procedure

a procedure in which participants and research staff are ignorant (blind) about who has received the treatment or a placebo.

Random Sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Hypothesis

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory.

Debriefing

after an experiment ends, explaining to participants the study's purpose and any deceptions researchers used.

Population

all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn. (Note: Except for national studies, this does not refer to a country's whole population.)

Theory

an explanation using principles that organize observations and predict behaviors or events.

Placebo

an inactive substance or condition that is sometimes given to those in a control group in place of the treatment given to the experimental group.

Random Assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing any differences between the groups.

sequential studies

combination of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies that examine number of different age groups at several points in time.

psychology's 4 big ideas

critical thinking, the biopsychosocial approach, two track mind, and exploring human strengths

Testing Effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also sometimes called the retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.

Informed Consent

giving people enough information about a study to enable them to decide whether they wish to participate.

Confounding Variable

in an experiment, a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect.

Independent Variable

in an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

Dependent Variable

in an experiment, the factor that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated.

Experimental Group

in an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.

Control Group

in an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment; the control group serves as a comparison with the experimental group for judging the effect of the treatment.

Neuroscience

psychology's current perspectives: How the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences.

Evolutionary

psychology's current perspectives: How the natural selection of traits passed down from one generation to the next has promoted the survival of genes.

Social-cultural

psychology's current perspectives: how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures

Psychodynamic

psychology's current perspectives: how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

Behavior Genetics

psychology's current perspectives: how much our genes, and our environment, influence our individual differences

Cognitive

psychology's current perspectives: how we encode, process, store, and retrieve informtion

Behavioral

psychology's current perspectives: how we learn observable responses

Clinical Research Psychiatry Positive Community

psychology's major subfields

Replication

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances.

Placebo Effect

results caused by expectations alone.

Nature-Nurture Issue

the age-old controversy over the relative influence of genes and experience in the development of psychological traits and behaviors.

Culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and handed down from one generation to the next.

Dual Processing

the principle that, at the same time, our mind processes information on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.

Positive Psychology

the scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strength and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.

Hindsight Bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we could have predicted it.

Behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).