AP Psychology Vocabulary Chapt. 1 and 2
Terms
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- Experimental Psychologists
- psychologists who do research on basic psychological processes -- as contrasted with applied psychologists
- Empirical Approach
- a study conducted via careful abservations and scientifically based research
- Neuroscience
- the field devoted to understanding how the brain creates thoughts, feelings, motives, consciousness, memories, and other mental processes
- Mean
- the measure of central tendency most often used to describe a set of data - calculated by adding all scores and dividing by the # of scores
- Random Presentation (of the stimulus)
- a process by which chance alone determines the order in which the stimulus is presented
- Empirical Investigations
- an approach to research that relies on sensory experience and observation as research data
- Cross-Sectional Study
- a study in which a representative cross section of the population is tested or surveyed at one specific time
- Expost Facto Design
- research in which we choose subjects based on a pre-existing condition
- Standard Deviation
- a measure of variability that indicates the average difference between the scores and their mean
- Normal Distribution
- a bell-shaped curve, describing the spread of a characteristic throughout a population
- Frequency Distributions
- a summary chart, showing how frequently each of the various scores in a set of data occurs
- Naturalistic Observation
- a research method in which subjects are observed in their natural environment
- Controls
- constraints that the experimenter places on the experiment to ensure that each subject has the exact same conditions
- Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)
- a committee at each institution where research is conducted to review every experiment involving animals for ethics and methodology
- Psychology
- the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
- Psychiatry
- a medical specialty dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders
- Inferential Statistics
- statistical techniques (based on probability theory) used to assess whether the results of a study are reliable or whether they might be simply the result of chance. inferential statistics are often used to determine whether 2 or more groups are essentially the same or different
- Independent Variables
- a stimulus condition so named because the experimenter changes it independently of all the other carefully controlled experimental conditions
- Behavioralism
- a historical school (as well as a modern perspective) that has sought to make psychology an objective science focused only on behavior - to the exclusion of mental processes
- Structuralism
- a historical school of psychology devoted to uncovering the basic structures that make up mind and thought. Structuralists sought the "elements" of conscious experience
- Evolutionary Psychology
- a relatively new specialty in psychology that sees behavior and mental processes in terms of their genetic adaptations for survival and reproduction
- Hypothesis
- a statement predicting the outcome of a scientific study; a statement describing the relationship among variables in a study
- Range
- the simplest measure of variability, represented by the difference between the highest and the lowest values in a frequency distribution
- Correlation Study
- a type of research that is mainly statistical in nature. correlational studies determine the relationship (or correlation) between 2 variables
- Random Assignment
- each subject of the sample has an equal likelihood of being chosen for the experimental group of an experiment
- Clinical View
- the psychological perspective emphasizing mental health and mental illness. psychodynamic and humanistic psychology are variations on the clinical view
- Experiment
- a kind of research in which the researcher controls all the conditions and directly manipulates the conditions, including the independent variable
- Pseudopsychology
- phony, unscientific psychology masquerading as the real thing
- Functionalism
- a historical school of psychology that believed mental processes could best be understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and function
- Scientific Method
- a 5-step process for empirical investigation of a hypothesis under conditions designed to control biases and subjective judgments
- Confounding/ Extraneous Variables
- variables that have an unwanted influence on the outcome of an experiment
- Humanistic Psychology
- a clinical viewpoint emphasizing human ability, growth, potential, and free will
- Correlation
- a relationship between variables, in which changes in one variable are reflected in changes in the other variable-as in the correlation between a child's age and height
- Random Sample
- a sample group of subjects selected by chance (without biased selection techniques)
- Median
- a measure of central tendency for a distribution, represented by the score that separates the upper half of the scores in a distribution from the lower half
- Descriptive Statistics
- statistical procedures used to describe characteristics and responses of groups of subjects
- Longitudinal Study
- a type of study in which one group of subjects is followed and observed (or examined, surveyed, etc) for an extended period of time (years)
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- an interdisciplinary field emphasizing brain activity as information processing; involves cognitive psychology, neurology, biology, computer science, linguistics, and specialists from other fields who are interested in the connection between mental processes and the brain
- Confirmation Bias
- the tendency to attend to evidence that complements and confirms our beliefs or expectations, while ignoring evidence that does not
- Developmental View
- the psychological perspective emphasizing changes that occur across the lifespan
- Theory
- a testable explanation for a set of facts or observations. in science, a theory is "not" just speculation or a guess
- Gestalt Psychology
- a historical school of psychology that sought to understand how the brain works by studying perception and perceptual learning. Gestalt psychologists believed that percepts consist of meaningful wholes
- Dependent Variable
- the measured outcome of a study; the responses of the subjects in a study
- Histogram
- a bar graph depicting a frequency distribution. the height of the bars indicates the frequency of a group of scores
- Psychodynamic Psychology
- a clinical viewpoint emphasizing the understanding of mental disorders in terms of unconscious needs, desires, memories, and conflicts
- Psychoanalysis
- an approach to psychology based on Sigmund Freud's assertions, which emphasize unconscious processes. The term is used to refer broadly both to Freud's psychoanalysis theory and to his psychoanalytic treatment method
- Biological View
- the psychological perspective that searches for the causes of behavior in the functioning of genes, the brain and nervous system, and the endocrine system (hormones)
- Replicate
- in research, this refers to doing a study over to see whether the same results are obtained. as a control for bias, replication often done by somebody other than the original researcher
- Data
- pieces of information, especially information gathered by a researcher to be used in testing a hypothesis
- Introspection
- the process of reporting on one's own conscious mental experiences
- Operational Definitions
- specific descriptions of concepts involving the conditions of a scientific study. operational definitions are stated in terms of how the concepts are to be measured or what operations are being employed to produce them
- Applied Psychologists
- psychologists who use the knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems
- Mode
- a measure of central tendency for a distribution, represented by the score that occurs most often than any other
- Institutional Review Board (IRB)
- a committee at each institution where research is conducted to review every experiment for ethics and methodology
- Survey
- a quasi-experimental method in which questions are asked to subjects.
- Cognitions
- mental processes, such as thinking, memory, sensation, and perception
- Cognitive View
- the psychological perspective emphasizing mental processes, such as learning, memory, perception, and thinking, as forms of information processing
- Cohort-Sequential Study
- a research method in which a cross section of the population is chosen and then each cohort is followed for a short period of time
- Teachers of Psychology
- psychologists whose primary job is teaching, typically in high schools, colleges, and universities
- Correlation Coefficient
- a number between -1 and +1 expressing the degree of relationship between 2 variables