psychology, p. 2 The scientific study of behavior and

mental processes.

structuralism, p. 4

Early school of psychology that emphasized the studying the most basic components, or structures, of

conscious experience.

functionalism, p. 6

Early school of psychology that emphasized studying the purpose, or function, of behavior and mental

experiences.

psychoanalysis, p. 7

Personality theory and form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the

role of unconscious factors in personality and behavior.

behaviorism, p. 8

School of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that

emphasizes the study of observable behaviors, especially as they

pertain to the process of learning.

humanistic psychology, p. 9

School of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that

emphasizes each person’s unique potential for psychological growth

and self-direction.

neuroscience, p. 10

The study of the nervous system, especially the brain.

culture, p. 12

The attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people and communicated from

generation to another.

ethnocentrism, p. 12

The belief that one’s own culture or ethnic group is superior to all others

and the related tendency to use one’s own culture as a standard by

which to judge other cultures.

individualistic cultures, p. 12 Cultures that emphasize the needs and goals of the individual over the

needs and goals of the group.

collectivist cultures, p. 12

Cultures the emphasize the needs and goals of the group over the

needs and goals of the individual.

psychiatry, p. 14

Medial specialty area focused on the diagnosis, treatment, causes,

and prevention of mental and behavioral disorders.

scientific method, p. 15

A set of assumptions, attitudes, and procedures that guide researchers in creating questions to investigate,

in generating evidence, and in drawing conclusions.

empirical evidence, p. 15

Verifiable evidence that is based upon objective observation,

measurement, and/or experimentation.

hypothesis, p. 15

A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables; a testable prediction or

question.

variable, p. 15 A factor that can vary, or change, in

ways that can be observed, measured, and verified.

operational definition, p. 15

A precise description of how the variables [or concept] in a study will

be manipulated or measured [or identified].

statistics, p. 17 A branch of mathematics used by

researchers to organize, summarize, and interpret data.

statistically significant, p. 17 A mathematical indication that

research results are not likely to have occurred by chance.

meta-analysis, p. 17

A statistical technique that involves combining and analyzing the results

of many research studies on a specific topic in order to identify

overall trends.

replicate, p. 17

To repeat or duplicate a scientific study in order to increase

confidence in the validation of the original findings.

theory, p. 18

A tentative explanation that tries to integrate and account for the

relationship of various finding and observations.

descriptive research, p. 19

Scientific procedures that involve systematically observing behavior

in order to describe the relationship among behaviors and events.

pseudoscience, p. 20 Fake or false science that makes

claims based on little or no scientific evidence.

longitudinal design, p. 20

Research strategy in which a variable or group of variables are

studied in the same group of participants over time.

cross-sectional design, p. 20

Research strategy in which individuals of different ages or

developmental stages are directly compared.

naturalistic observation, p. 20

The systematic observation and recording of behaviors as they occur in their natural setting.

confirmation bias, p. 21

The tendency to seek out evidence that confirms an existing belief

while ignoring evidence that might contradict or undermine the belief.

case study, p. 22 An intensive study of a single individual or small group of

individuals.

survey, p. 22

A questionnaire or interview designed to investigate the

opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of a particular group.

sample, p. 23 A selected segment of the

population used to represent the group that is being studied.

representative sample, p. 23

A selected segment that very closely parallels the larger

population being studied on relevant characteristics.

random selection, p. 23

Process in which participants are selected randomly from a larger

group such that every group member has an equal chance of

being included in the study.

correlational study, p. 23 A research strategy that allows the calculation of how strongly related

two factors are to each other.

correlation coefficient, p. 24

A numerical indication of the magnitude and direction of the relationship (the correlation)

between two variables.

positive correlation, p. 24

A finding that two factors vary systematically in the same

direction, increasing or decreasing together.

negative correlation, p. 24

The finding that two factors vary systematically in opposite

directions, one increasing as the other decreases.

experimental research, p. 25

A method of investigation used to demonstrate cause-and-effect

relationships by purposely manipulating one factor thought to produce change in another factor.

independent variable, p. 25 The purposely manipulated factor thought to produce change in an

experiment.

dependent variable, p 25

The factor that is observed and measured for change in an experiment, thought to be

influenced by the independent variable; also called the outcome

variable.

confounding variable, p. 26

A factor or variable other than the ones being studied that, if not

controlled, could affect the outcome of an experiment; also called an

extraneous variable.

random assignment, p. 26

The process of assigning participants to experimental

conditions so that all participants have an equal chance of being

assigned to any of the conditions or groups in the study.

experimental group (experimental condition), p. 26

In an experiment, the group of participants who are exposed to all experimental conditions, including

the treatment condition of the independent variable

control group (control condition), p. 26

In an experiment, the group of participants who are exposed to all experimental conditions, except the

treatment condition of the independent variable; the group

against which changes in the experimental group are compared.

testing effect., p 27

The finding that practicing retrieval of information from memory

produces better retention that restudying the same information for

an equivalent amount of time.

double-blind technique, p. 28

An experimental control in which neither the participants nor the researchers interacting with the

participants are aware of the group or condition to which the

participants have been assigned.

demand characteristics, p. 28

In a research study, subtle cues or signals expressed by the

researcher that communicate the kind of response or behavior that is

expected from the participant.

placebo, p. 28 A fake substance, treatment, or

procedure that has no known direct effects.

placebo effect, p. 28

Any change attributed to a person’s belief and expectation rather than to

an actual drug, treatment, or procedure.

natural experiment, p. 29 A study investigating the effects of a naturally occurring event on the

research participants.

critical thinking, p. 31

The active process of minimizing preconceptions and biases while evaluating evidence, determining

the conclusions that can reasonably be drawn from evidence, and

considering alternative explanations for research findings or other

phenomena.

comparative psychology, p. 32 The branch of psychology that

studies the behavior of different animal species.

Warning: not all of the key ideas are on this list of key terms