Psychology Test 1- Basics Of Psychology

Psychology The discipline concerned w/ behavior & mental processes & how they are affected by an organism's physical state, mental state, & external environment. Empirical Relying on or derived from observation, experimentation, or measurement. Functionalism An early psychological approach that emphasized the function or purpose of behavior and consciousness. Psychoanalysis A theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy, originally formulated by Sigmund Freud, which emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts. Biological Perspective A psychological approach that emphasizes bodily events and changes associated with actions, feelings, and thoughts. Learning Perspective A psych approach that emphasizes how the environment and experience affect a person's or animal's actions. Cognitive Perspective A psych approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior. Sociocultural Perspective A psych approach that emphasizes social and cultural influences on behavior. Psychodynamic/Psychoanalysis A psych approach that emphasizes unconscious dynamics within the individual, such as inner forces, conflicts, or the movement of instinctual energy. Applied Psychology The study of psych issues that have direct practical significance; also, the application of psych findings. Basic/Research Psychology The study of psych issues in order to seek knowledge for its own sake rather than for its practical application. Psychotherapist Someone who does any kind of psychotherapy. Psychoanalyst A person who practices one certain form of therapy. Psychiatrist A medical doctor (M.D.) who has done a three-year residency is psychiatry to learn to diagnose and treat mental disorders. Critical Thinking The ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons and evidence, rather than emotion. Principle of Falsifiability A scientific theory must make prediction that are specific enough to expose theory to the possibility of disconfirmation. Predict what may not happen. Case Study A detailed description of an individual being studied or treated. Observational Studies A study in which the researcher observes & records behavior without interfering with the behavior; either naturalistic/laboratory observation. Standard In test construction, to develop uniform procedures for giving and scoring a test. Norms In test construction, established standards of performance. Reliable In test construction, the consistency of scores derived from a test, from one time and place to another. Valid The ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure. Correlation A measure of how strongly two variables are related to one another. Variables Characteristics of behavior or experience that can be measured or described by a numeric scale; manipulated and assessed in scientific studies. Independent Variable A variable that an experimenter manipulates. Dependent Variable A variable that an experimenter predicts will be affected by manipulations of the independent variable. Control Condition In an experiment, a comparison condition in which subjects are not exposed to the same treatment as in the experimental condition. Random Assignment A procedure assigning people to experimental & control groups where each individual has the same probability as any other of being assigned in either. Placebo An inactive substance or fake treatment used as a control in an experiment or given by a medical practitioner to a patient. Single-bind study An experiment in which subjects do not know whether they are in an experimental or a control group. Experimenter Effects Unintended changes in subjects' behavior due to cues inadvertently given by the experimenter. Double-bind study An experiment in which neither the subjects nor the individuals running the study know which subjects are in the control group and which are in experimental.