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Psychology Midterm

Terms

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Psychology
the scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes.
Scientific Method
set of procedures used for gathering and interpreting objective information in a way that minimizes error and yeilds dependable generalizations.
Behavior
the actions by which and orgnism adjusts to its environment
Behavioral data
observationa reprots oabout the behavior of organisms and the conditions under which the behavior occurs or changes.
organismic variables
the inner determinantes of an organisms behavior
dispositional variables
the organismic variables, or inner determinants of behavior that occour with human and nonhuman animals
environmental variables
external influences on behavior
situational variables
external influences on behavior
structuralism
the study of the structure of mind and behavior; the view that all human mental experience can be understood as a combination of simple elements or events.
functionalism
the perspective on mind and behavior that focuses on the examination of their functions in an organism's interactions with the environment.
biological perspective
behavior is explained based on the functioning of the genes, the brain, the nervous system, and the endocrine system
psychodynamic perspective
behavior is explained in terms of past experiences and motivational forces; actions viewed as stemming from inherited instincts, biological drives, and attempts to resolv onfliscts between personal needs and social requirements.
behaviorist perspective
observable behavior that can be objectively recorded and with the relationships of observable behavior to environmental stimuli.
behaviorism
limits the study of psychology to measureable or observable behavior
humanistic perspective
emphasizes a persons capacity for making rational choices and developing to max. potential
cognitive perspective
stresses human thought and process of knowing (attending, thinking, remembering,etc)
evolutionary perspective
stresses importance of behavioral and mental adaptiveness, based on assumption that mental capabilities evolved over milions of years to serve particular adaptive purposes
cultural perspective
focuses on cross- culturall differences in the causes and consequences of behavior
context of discovery
initial phase of research, in which obervations, beliefs, info, and knowledge lead to a new idea or a different way of thinking
determinism
all event, physical, behavioral, and mental, are determined by specific causal factors that are potentially knowable
context of justification
research phase in which evidence is brought to bear on hypotheses
observer bias
distortion of eveidence because of personal motives and expectations
standardization
set of uniform procedures for treating each participant
operational definition
definition of a variable or condition in terms of specific operation or procedure used to determine its presence
confounding variable
stimulus other than the variable an experimenter explicitly introduces into a research stting that affects behavior
expectancy effects
results that occur whe a researcher or oberver subtly communicates to participants the kind of behavior they expect
placebo effect
a change in behavior in the absence of an experimental manipulation
double blind control
participants and experimental assistants are unaware of who has recieved what treatment
placebo control
treatment is not given
between- subjects design
groups of participants are randomly assigned to experimental or controlled conditions
within- subjects design
each participant is their own control
A-B-A design
baseline condition, experimental treatment, return to baseline
reliability
degree to which a test produces similar scores each time it is used
validity
the extent to which a test measures what it was intented to measure
number of chromosomes
46
sociobiology
focuses on evolutionary explanations for the social behavior and socil systems of humans and other animal species
broca's area
region of brain that translates thoughts into speech
eeg
recording of electrical activity of the brain
PET scans
detailed pictures of activity in living brain by recording radioactivity emitted by cells during different activites
MRi
scans brain using magnetic fields and radio waves
fMRi
combines mri and Pet scans by detectin magnetic changes in the flow of blood cells to the brain
Somatic
connects central nervous system to muscles and skin
autonomic
controls involuntary motor responses by connectin sensory receptors to the CnS and the CnS to muscle and glands
sympathetic division
deals with emergency response and mobilzation of energy
parasympathetic
moniters routine operation of body's internal functions, conserves and restores energy
discovery
using observations, beliefs, and knowledge to come up with a different way of thinking
psychological theories should...
avoid making claims about causal factors

Deck Info

47

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