AP Psychology Chapter 1-2 Vocabulary
Confounding variable
A factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment.
Hindsight bias
"I knew it all along" phenomenon.
Biological psychology
A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior.
Counseling psychology
A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being.
Case study
A detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated.
Scatterplot
A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables.
Placebo
A harmless pill, medicine, or procedure prescribed more for the psychological benefit to the patient than for any physiological effect; (a fake treatment).
Informed consent
A legal procedure to ensure that a patient, client, and participant is aware of all the potential risks and costs involved in a treatment.
Correlation
A measure of the relationship between two variables.
Psychiatry
A medical specialty dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.
Correlation coefficient
A number (from -1 to 1) calculated so as to represent the linear dependence between two variables.
Survey
A questionnaire designed to gather information from people.
Naturalistic observation
A research in which an investigator simply observes some naturally occurring behavior and does not make a change in the situation.
Experiment
A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on behavior or mental process.
Double-blind procedure
A research strategy in which neither subjects nor experimenters know which subjects are in the experimental or control groups.
Random sample
A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.
Operational definition
A statement of the procedures used to define research variables.
Hypothesis
A supposition made on the basis of limited evidence or theory.
Theory
A system of ideas used to explain a set of observations.
Biopsychosocial approach
An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.
Random assignment
Assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups.
Debriefing
At the conclusion of an experimental session, informing the participants about the general purpose of the experiment, including any deception that was involved.
Levels of analysis
Biological, physiological, and social-cultural.
Psychodynamic psychology
Branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior.
Basic research
Investigation and analysis focused on a better or fuller understanding of a subject, in this case psychology.
Structuralism
One of three schools of thought. By using a method, introspection, Edward Bradford Titchener finds the structures which underlie behavior.
Cognitive psychology
School of psychology devoted to the study of mental processes in the broadest sense; how one acquires, processes, remembers, and uses information.
Functionalism
Second school of thought. Aspects of the mind serve different functions but are necessary to make the brain function as a whole.
Educational psychology
The application of psychology and psychological methods to the study of development, learning, motivation, instruction, assessment, and related issues that influence the interaction of teaching and learning.
Clinical psychology
The assessment and treatment of mental illness and disabilities.
Behaviorism
The belief that all human actions and responses can be explained in terms of reflexes brought on by reward and punishment.
Population
The entire set of individuals to which generalizations will be made based on experimental sample.
Independent variable
The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.
Control group
The group of subjects who do not receive the experimental treatment.
Experimental group
The group of subjects who receive the experimental treatment.
Empiricism
The idea that knowledge is based on experience.
Natural selection
The idea that organisms that are better suited to their environment, survive and reproduce most successfully.
Nature-nurture issue
The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.
Dependent variable
The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.
Illusory correlation
The perception of a relationship where none exists.
Replication
The repetition of a scientific experiment or trial to obtain a consistent result.
Psychometrics
The science of measuring mental capacities and processes.
Social psychology
The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.
Behavioral psychology
The scientific study of observable and measurable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning.
Applied research
The scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.
Culture
The set of ideas, behaviors, attitudes, and traditions that exist within large groups of people.
Humanistic psychology
The study of a person as a whole. It focuses on the positive image of what it means to be a human.
Experimental psychology
The study of behavior and human minds through experiments.
Developmental psychology
The study of changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life.
Cognitive neuroscience
The study of how much your brain works linked with the knowledge one acquires (brain activity linked with mental activity).
Social-cultural psychology
The study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking.
Industrial-organizational psychology
The study of human behavior in the workplace.
Personality psychology
The study of personality and individual differences.
Psychology
The study of the human mind and human behavior.
Evolutionary psychology
The study of the phycological adaptations of humans to the changing physical and social environment.
Human factors psychology
The study that deals with human-machine interference.
