Psychology Ch1
Terms
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- Nature-Nurture controversy
- ongoing dispute over the relative contributions of nature (heredity) and nurture (environment) to the development of behavior and mental processes
- Interaction
- a process in which multiple facotrs mutually influence one another and the outcome - as in the interaction between heredity and environment
- Basic research
- research conducted to advance scientific knowledge rather than practical application
- Applied research
- research designed to solve practical problems
- Theory
- an interrelated set of concepts, which explains a body of data
- Hypothesis
- a specific prediction about how one variable is related to another
- Operational Definition
- a precise description of how the variables in a study will be observed and measured
- Meta-analysis
- statistical procedure for combining and analyzing data from many studies
- Experiment
- carefully controlled scientific procedure that determines whether variables manipulated by the experimenter have a casual effect on other variables
- Double-Blind study
- a procedure in which both the researcher and the participants are unaware (blind) of who is in the experimental or control group
- Placebo
- an inactive substance or fake treatment used as a control technique, usually in drug research, or given by a medical practitioner to a patient
- Ethnocentrism
- believing that one's culture is typical of all cultures; also, viewing one's own ethnic group (or culture) as central and "correct" and then judging the rest of the world according to this standard
- Sample bias
- occurs when research participants are not representative of the larger population
- Random assignment
- participants are assigned to experimental conditions on the basis of chance, thus minimizing the possibility of biases or preexisting differences in the groups
- Descriptive research
- research methods that observe and record behavior without producing casual explanations
- Naturalistic observation
- observing and recording behavior in the participant's natural state or habitat
- Correlational research
- any scientific study in which the researcher observes or measures (without directly manipulating) two or more variables to find relationships between them
- Correlation coefficient
- a number that indicates the degree and direction of the relationship between the two variables
- Biological research
- scientific studies of the brain and other parts of the nervous system
- Informed consent
- participant's agreement to take part in a study after being told wha to expect
- Debriefing
- informing participants after the research about the purpose of the study, the nature of the anticipated results, and any deceptions used
- Biopsychosocial model
- a unifying theme of modern psychology, which considers biological, and social processes