Chapter 1 "Experience Psychology" Laura King
operational definition
a definition that provide an objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular studay
independent variable
a manipulated experimental factor, the variable that the experimenter changes to see what its effects are
confederate
a person who is given a role to play in a study so that the social context can be manipulated
critical thinking
a serious examination and judgment of something
longitudinal design
a special kind of systematic observation that involves obtaining measures of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time
hypothesis
a testable prediction that derives logically from a theory
case study
also called a case history, and in-depth look at a single person
evolutionary approach
an approach to phychology centered on evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors
behavioral approach
an approach to psychology emphasizing the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants
psychodynamic approach
an approach to psychology emphasizing unconscious thought, the conflict between biological drives (such as the drive for sex) and society's demands, and early childhood family experiences
Humanistic approach
an approach to psychology that emphasizes a persons positive qualities, the capacity for positive human growth and the freedom to choose one's own destiny
Cognitive Approach
an approach to psychology with an emphasis on mental processes involved in knowing, how we direct attention, perceive, remember, solve problems
double-blind experiment
an experimental design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants are aware of which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group until the results are calculated
demand characteristics
any aspect of a study that communicate to the participants how the experimenter wants them to behave
variable
anything that can change
behavior
everything we do that can be directly observed
empirical method
gaining knowledge through the observation of events, the collection of data and logical reasoning
experimenter bias
he influence of the experimenter's expectations on the outcome of the research
placebo
in a drug study, a harmless substance that has no psysiological effect, given to participants in a control group so they are treated identically to the experimental group except for the active ingredient
research participant bias
in an experiment, the influence of participants' expectations, and of their thoughts about how they should behave, on their behavior
random assignment
researchers' assignment of participants to groups by chance, to reduce the likelihood that an experiments results will be due to preexisting differences between groups
random sample
sample that gives every member of the population and equal chance of being selected
biological approach
An approach to psychology focusing on the boday, especially the brain and nervous system
Sociocultural Approach
An approach to psychology that examines the ways in which social and cultural environments influence behavior
third variable problem
the circumstance where a variable that has not been measured accounts for the relationship between two other variables. Third variables are also known as confounds
external validity
the degree to which an experimental design actually reflects the real-world issues it is supposed to address
internal validity
the degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable
population
the entire group about which the investigator whats to draw conclusions
naturalistic observation
the observation of behavior in a real world setting
dependent variable
the outcome, the factor that can change in an experiment in response to changes in the independent variable
experimental group
the participants in a experiment who receive the drug or other treatment under the study--that is, those who are exposed to the change that the independent variable represents
control group
the particpants in an experiment who are as much like the experimental group as possible and who are treated in every way like the experimental group except for a manipulated factor, the independent variable
neuroscience
the scienctific study of the structure, function, development, genetics, and biochemistry of the nervous system are central to understanding behavior, thought and emotion
psychology
the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
placebo effect
the situation where participants' expectations, rater than the experimental treatment, produces an experimental outcome
validity
the soundnessof the conclusions that a researcher draws from an experiment
sample
the subset of the population chosen by the investigator for stday
mental processes
the thoughts, feelings, and motives that people experience privately but that cannot be observed directly
science
the use of systematic methods to observe the to observe the natural world, including human behavior,and to draw conclusions
Theory
A broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain observations and to make predictions about future observations.
natural selection
Darwin's principle of an evolutionary process in which organisms that are best adapted to their environment and will survive and produce offspring
functionalism
James's approach to mental processes, emphasizing the functions and purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual's adaption to the environment
structuralism
Wundt's approach to discovering the basic elements or structures of mental processes
experiment
a carefully regulated procedure in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables that are believed to influence some other variable
correlational research
research that examines the relationships between variables, whose purpose is to examine whether and how two variables change together
