Psych Chapter 1 & 2

PhD

(doctor of philosophy) doctoral degree conferred in many disciplinary perspectives housed in a traditional college of liberal arts and sciences

PsyD

(doctor of psychology) doctoral degree that places less emphasis on research-oriented skills and focuses more on application of psychological principles in the clinical context

A

A researcher interested in how changes in the cells of the hippocampus (a structure in the brain related to learning and memory) are related to memory formation would be most likely to identify as a(n) ________ psychologist. a. biological b. health c. clinical d. social

D

A researcher interested in what factors make an employee best suited for a given job would most likely identify as a(n) ________ psychologist. a. personality b. clinical c. social d. I-O

C

An individual's consistent pattern of thought and behavior is known as a(n) ________ a. psychosexual stage b. object permanence c. personality d. perception

B

Based on your reading, which theorist would have been most likely to agree with this statement: Perceptual phenomena are best understood as a combination of their components. a. William James b. Max Wertheimer c. Carl Rogers d. Noam Chomsky

C

Before psychology became a recognized academic discipline, matters of the mind were undertaken by those in ________. a. biology b. chemistry c. philosophy d. physics

B

In Milgram's controversial study on obedience, nearly ________ of the participants were willing to administer what appeared to be lethal electrical shocks to another person because they were told to do so by an authority figure. a. 1/3 b. 2/3 c. 3/4 d. 4/5

D

In the scientific method, a hypothesis is a(n) ________. a. observation b. measurement c. test d. proposed explanation

D

Rogers believed that providing genuineness, empathy, and ________ in the therapeutic environment for his clients was critical to their being able to deal with their problems. a. structuralism b. functionalism c. Gestalt d. unconditional positive regard

A

The operant conditioning chamber (aka ________ box) is a device used to study the principles of operant conditioning. a. Skinner b. Watson c. James d. Koffka

D

Which of the following was mentioned as a skill to which psychology students would be exposed? a. critical thinking b. use of the scientific method c. critical evaluation of sources of information d. all of the above

C

________ is most well-known for proposing his hierarchy of needs. a. Noam Chomsky b. Carl Rogers c. Abraham Maslow d. Sigmund Freud

falsifiable

able to be disproven by experimental results

validity

accuracy of a given result in measuring what it is designed to measure

Forensic psychology

area of psychology that applies the science and practice of psychology to issues within and related to the justice system

Counseling psychology

area of psychology that focuses on improving emotional, social, vocational, and other aspects of the lives of psychologically healthy individuals

Clinical psychology

area of psychology that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and other problematic patterns of behavior

Sport and exercise psychology

area of psychology that focuses on the interactions between mental and emotional factors and physical performance in sports, exercise, and other activities

peer-reviewed journal article

article read by several other scientists (usually anonymously) with expertise in the subject matter, who provide feedback regarding the quality of the manuscript before it is accepted for publication

cause-and-effect relationship

changes in one variable cause the changes in the other variable; can be determined only through an experimental research design

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

committee of administrators, scientists, and community members that reviews proposals for research involving human participants

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

committee of administrators, scientists, veterinarians, and community members that reviews proposals for research involving non-human animals

cross-sectional research

compares multiple segments of a population at a single time

inductive reasoning

conclusions are drawn from observations

reliability

consistency and reproducibility of a given result

Personality trait

consistent pattern of thought and behavior

operational definition

description of what actions and operations will be used to measure the dependent variables and manipulate the independent variables

statistical analysis

determines how likely any difference between experimental groups is due to chance

hypothesis

entative and testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables

double-blind study

experiment in which both the researchers and the participants are blind to group assignments

single-blind study

experiment in which the researcher knows which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group

Behaviorism

focus on observing and controlling behavior

Psychoanalytic theory

focus on the role of unconscious behavior in affecting conscious behavior

Functionalism

focused on how mental activities helped an organism adapt to its environment (brain has a whole)

Psyche

greek word for soul

empirical

grounded in objective, tangible evidence that can be observed time and time again, regardless of who is observing

experimental group

group designed to answer the research question; experimental manipulation is the only difference between the experimental and control groups, so any differences between the two are due to experimental manipulation rather than chance

generalize

inferring that the results for a sample apply to the larger population

survey

list of questions to be answered by research participants—given as paper-and-pencil questionnaires, administered electronically, or conducted verbally—allowing researchers to collect data from a large number of people

inter-rater reliability

measure of agreement among observers on how they record and classify a particular event

Empirical Method

method for acquiring knowledge based on observation, including experimentation, rather than a method based only on forms of logical argument or previous authorities

random assignment

method of experimental group assignment in which all participants have an equal chance of being assigned to either group

archival research

method of research using past records or data sets to answer various research questions, or to search for interesting patterns or relationships

correlation coefficient

number from -1 to +1, indicating the strength and direction of the relationship between variables, and usually represented by r

fact

objective and verifiable observation, established using evidence collected through empirical research

naturalistic observation

observation of behavior in its natural setting

clinical or case study

observational research study focusing on one or a few people

population

overall group of individuals that the researchers are interested in

placebo effect

people's expectations or beliefs influencing or determining their experience in a given situation

opinion

personal judgments, conclusions, or attitudes that may or may not be accurate

Biopsychosocial model

perspective that asserts that biology, psychology, and social factors interact to determine an individual's health

Humanism

perspective within psychology that emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans

Introspection

process by which someone examines their own conscious experience in an attempt to break it into its component parts

informed consent

process of informing a research participant about what to expect during an experiment, any risks involved, and the implications of the research, and then obtaining the person's consent to participate

American Psychological Association

professional organization representing psychologists in the United States

deception

purposely misleading experiment participants in order to maintain the integrity of the experiment

attrition

reduction in number of research participants as some drop out of the study over time

correlation

relationship between two or more variables; when two variables are correlated, one variable changes as the other does

replicate

repeating an experiment using different samples to determine the research's reliability

experimenter bias

researcher expectations skew the results of the study

deductive reasoning

results are predicted based on a general premise

Developmental psychology

scientific study of development across a lifespan

Psychology

scientific study of the mind and behavior

illusory correlation

seeing relationships between two things when in reality no such relationship exists

control group

serves as a basis for comparison and controls for chance factors that might influence the results of the study—by holding such factors constant across groups so that the experimental manipulation is the only difference between groups

longitudinal research

studies in which the same group of individuals is surveyed or measured repeatedly over an extended period of time

Cognitive psychology

study of cognitions, or thoughts, and their relationship to experiences and actions

Biopsychology

study of how biology influences behavior

Personality psychology

study of patterns of thoughts and behaviors that make each individual unique

Industrial-Organizational psychology (I-O psychology)

subfield of psychology that applies psychological theories, principles, and research findings in industrial and organizational settings

participants

subjects of psychological research

random sample

subset of a larger population in which every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected

sample

subset of individuals selected from the larger population

confirmation bias

tendency to ignore evidence that disproves ideas or beliefs

negative correlation

two variables change in different directions, with one becoming larger as the other becomes smaller; a negative correlation is not the same thing as no correlation

positive correlation

two variables change in the same direction, both becoming either larger or smaller

confounding variable

unanticipated outside factor that affects both variables of interest, often giving the false impression that changes in one variable causes changes in the other variable, when, in actuality, the outside factor causes changes in both variables

Structuralism

understanding the conscious behavior through introspection (break down brain)

independent variable

variable that is influenced or controlled by the experimenter; in a sound experimental study, the independent variable is the only important difference between the experimental and control group

dependent variable

variable that the researcher measures to see how much effect the independent variable had

theory

well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena

debriefing

when an experiment involved deception, participants are told complete and truthful information about the experiment at its conclusion

observer bias

when observations may be skewed to align with observer expectations