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A comprehensive glossary of key terms and concepts in psychology. It covers various perspectives, historical figures, research methods, and psychological phenomena. It serves as a valuable resource for students and anyone interested in understanding the fundamental building blocks of psychology. It includes definitions of terms such as behaviorism, biopsychology, clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, and developmental psychology. It also covers important figures like wilhelm wundt, william james, and sigmund freud, along with key concepts like critical thinking, hypothesis testing, and research design. This glossary is an essential tool for navigating the complex landscape of psychological terminology and theories.
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American Psychological Association - ☑️ professional organization representing psychologists in the United States behaviorism - ☑️ focus on observing and controlling behavior biopsychology - ☑️ study of how biology influences behavior biopsychosocial model - ☑️ perspective that asserts that biology, psychology, and social factors interact to determine an individual's health clinical psychology - ☑️ area of psychology that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and other problematic patterns of behavior cognitive psychology - ☑️ study of cognitions, or thoughts, and their relationship to experiences and actions counseling psychology - ☑️ area of psychology that focuses on improving emotional, social, vocational, and other aspects of the lives of psychologically healthy individuals developmental psychology - ☑️ scientific study of development across a lifespan dissertation - ☑️ long research paper about research that was conducted as a part of the candidate's doctoral training empirical method - ☑️ method for acquiring knowledge based on observation, including experimentation, rather than a method based only on forms of logical argument or previous authorities forensic psychology - ☑️ area of psychology that applies the science and practice of psychology to issues within and related to the justice system functionalism - ☑️ focused on how mental activities helped an organism adapt to its environment humanism - ☑️ perspective within psychology that emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans
introspection - ☑️ process by which someone examines their own conscious experience in an attempt to break it into its component parts ology - ☑️ suffix that denotes "scientific study of" PhD - ☑️ (doctor of philosophy) doctoral degree conferred in many disciplinary perspectives housed in a traditional college of liberal arts and sciences PsyD - ☑️ (doctor of psychology) doctoral degree that places less emphasis on research- oriented skills and focuses more on application of psychological principles in the clinical context personality psychology - ☑️ study of patterns of thoughts and behaviors that make each individual unique personality trait - ☑️ consistent pattern of thought and behavior postdoctoral training program - ☑️ allows young scientists to further develop their research programs and broaden their research skills under the supervision of other professionals in the field psyche - ☑️ Greek word for soul psychoanalytic theory - ☑️ focus on the role of the unconscious in affecting conscious behavior psychology - ☑️ scientific study of the mind and behavior sport and exercise psychology - ☑️ area of psychology that focuses on the interactions between mental and emotional factors and physical performance in sports, exercise, and other activities structuralism - ☑️ understanding the conscious experience through introspection Wilhelm Wundt - ☑️ established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany Plato - ☑️ Socrates' most well known pupil. Founded an academy in Athens. Descartes - ☑️ French philosopher, nativist, and dualist
cognitive perspective - ☑️ how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information The Interpretation of Dreams - ☑️ the Bible of Psychoanalysis by Freud sociocultural perspective - ☑️ perspective that focuses on the relationship between social behavior and culture critical thinking - ☑️ thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions. Hypothesis - ☑️ A testable prediction, often implied by a theory Stanley Milgram - ☑️ obedience to authority; had participants administer what they believed were dangerous electrical shocks to other participants; wanted to see if Germans were an aberration or if all people were capable of committing evil actions Albert Ellis - ☑️ rational emotive behavior therapy Critical Thinking - ☑️ the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment. Introspection - ☑️ examination of one's own thoughts and feelings Dissertation - ☑️ a formal and long paper, written for a degree at a university or college Herman Ebbinghaus (1850-1909) - ☑️ created the forgetting curve and serial position effect in memory Solomon Asch - ☑️ Conducted famous conformity experiment that required subjects to match lines. Harry Harlow - ☑️ Studied attachment in monkeys with artificial mothers Prefrontal Lobotomy - ☑️ example of what happens when we rely on our subjective impressions; brain damage before and after the surgery remained the same Heuristics - ☑️ mental shortcuts or rules of thumb Healthy Skpeticism -
☑️ strive to think critically about information we encounter (regardless of the source) Facts - ☑️ observable realities Opinions - ☑️ personal judgements, conclusions, or attitudes Theory - ☑️ a well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation of observed phenomena Hypothesis - ☑️ a testable prediction about how the world will behave if our idea is correct Falsifiable - ☑️ capable of being false Case Study - ☑️ in depth study of rare cases (does not tell cause and effect); ex: Phineas Gage, H.M., Little Albert Anecdote - ☑️ a study of one person Naturalistic Observation - ☑️ watching behavior in real-world settings High Degree of External Validity - ☑️ extent to which we can generalize our findings to the real world Low Degree of Internal Validity - ☑️ extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences Observer Bias - ☑️ the tendency of the observer to unconsciously skew observations to fit the research goal/expectations Operational Definition - ☑️ being specific about what is being observed; important to specify how we're measuring our variables ahead of time Self-Report Measures and Surveys - ☑️ surveys and questionnaires; advantages: -easy to administer -subtle information disadvantages: -may not have insight -may not be honest
Correlational Design - ☑️ research design that examines the extent to which two variables are associated; depicted in a scatter plot; correlations have predictive value; CORRELATION DOES NOT MEAN CAUSATION Negative Correlation - ☑️ as the value of one variable changes, the other goes in the opposite direction (one goes up, other goes down) Positive Correlation - ☑️ as the value of one variable changes, the other goes in the same direction (both goes up) Confounding Variable - ☑️ third-variable problem Illusory Correlation - ☑️ when people believe that relationships exist between two things when no such relationship exists Confirmation Bias - ☑️ looking for evidence to support a preexisting belief and ignoring evidence that contradicts it Experimental Group - ☑️ receives the manipulation Control Group - ☑️ does not receive the manipulation Independent Variable - ☑️ experimenter manipulates Dependent Variable - ☑️ experimenter measures to see whether manipulation had an effect Confounds - ☑️ any difference between the experimental and control groups, other than the independent variable; makes it impossible to interpret any findings Cause and Effect - ☑️ possible to infer, w/ random assignment and manipulation of independent variable Placebo Effect - ☑️ blind Experimenter Expectancy Effect - ☑️ double-blind Hawthorne Effect -
☑️ phenomenon in which participant's knowledge that they're being studied can affect their behavior Demand Characteristics - ☑️ cues that participants pick up from a study that allow them to generate guesses regarding the researcher's hypotheses To Minimize Hawthorne Effects - ☑️ 1. convert observation
Frontal Lobe - ☑️ motorfunction, language, memory, and executive function Motor Cortex - ☑️ voluntary movement Prefrontal Cortex - ☑️ thinking, planning, language, etc. Broca's Area - ☑️ language production Parietal Lobe - ☑️ somatosensory cortex: touch, pressure, pain information; spatial perception; object shape/orientation; integrates vision and touch input w/ motor output Temporal Lobe - ☑️ hearing, understanding language, autobiographical memories Wernicke's Area - ☑️ understanding speech Occipital Lobe - ☑️ visual cortex: vision The Limbic System - ☑️ emotional center Amygdala - ☑️ threat sensor (sometimes hippocampus) Midbrain - ☑️ contains limbic system Reticular Activating System (RAS) - ☑️ regulates cortical arousal Hindbrain (brainstem) - ☑️ between the spinal cord and midbrain Medulla - ☑️ regulation of critical functions (heart rate, breathing, etc.) Ventricles - ☑️ extend throughout the brain and spinal cord, carrying cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) which provides nutrition and cushion Alpha Wave - ☑️ a tiny wave at the start of the sleep cycle where humans are fully awake
Beta Wave - ☑️ a small wave that follows alpha waves in NREM-1 in which humans are still awake but getting more drowsy Biological Rhythm - ☑️ Internal rhythms of biological activity Circadian Rhythm - ☑️ Biological rhythm takes place over 24-hour period, sleep-wake cycle, linked to natural light-dark cycle (controlled by the hypothalamus-specifically regarding melatonin that the body makes in response to light and dark) Consciousness - ☑️ Awareness of internal and external stimuli Delta Wave - ☑️ Type of low frequency, high amplitude brain wave characteristic of stage 3 and stage 4 sleep Hallucination - ☑️ fantastic images Hypnagogic sensations - ☑️ vivid bodily sensations Hypothalamus - ☑️ helps maintain homeostasis (balance) within body; controls the circadian rhythm Jet Lag - ☑️ Collection of symptoms brought on by travel from one time zone to another that results from the mismatch between our internal circadian cycles and our enviroment K-Complex - ☑️ Big spurts of brain waves associated with NREM-2 sleep Latent Content - ☑️ Hidden meaning of a dream Lucid Dream - ☑️ People become aware that they are dreaming and can control the dream's content Manifest Content - ☑️ The actual content of storyline of a dream Melatonin - ☑️ Hormone secreted by the endocrine gland that serves as an important regulator of the sleep-wake cycle Narcolepsy -
☑️ Second stage of sleep; the body goes into deeper relaxation; characterized by the appearance of sleep spindles and K complexes; can still be waken up relatively easy and lasts about 20 minutes; theta waves NREM-3 and NREM-4 - ☑️ Third and fourth stages of sleep; deep sleep characterized by very large delta waves; the fourth stage is the deepest stage of sleep and both stages together last approximately 30 minutes Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) - ☑️ Area of the hypothalamus in which the body's biological clock is located Theta Wave - ☑️ the type of wave found in NREM- Wakefulness - ☑️ Characterized by high levels of sensory awareness, thought, and behavior benefits of sleep - ☑️ 1. protected our ancestors from predators, 2. restores and repairs the brain and body,
☑️ Difference threshold Smell receptors send messages to the brain via the______nerve - ☑️ Olfactory The process where raw energy is converted into neural signals that are sent to the brain is called - ☑️ Transduction When we distinguish figures from the background, This is called - ☑️ Figure-Ground Principle Olfactory receptors are built so that only molecules with particular shapes will fit in particular receptors. this is described as - ☑️ Lock and Key which of the following is not part of the skins Four basic Types of sensation - ☑️ Kinesthetic When sensory information is detected by any type of sensory receptor. - ☑️ Sensation Weber's law - ☑️ Just noticeable difference. what we notice varies based on the amount of stimulus in our current environment. (Dark Movie, Out in the sun) Bottom Up processing - ☑️ Perceptions built from sensory inputs Top-Down Processing - ☑️ Perceptions built from knowledge, experiences, and thoughts Inattentional blindness - ☑️ Blindness of perception due to focus on other stimuli. Signal Detection Theory - ☑️ Identifying stimuli in a distraction background due to motivations ROYGBIV (long to short) - ☑️ red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet Frequency Is associated with which aspect of sound - ☑️ Pitch Timbre - ☑️ Quality of sound and a combination of Frequency, amplitude and timing Cornea - ☑️ Transparent covering of the eye Pupil -
Middle ear contains - ☑️ Ear drums and Ossicles (malleus, innis, and stapes) Inner ear - ☑️ Cochlea (basilar membrane) Frequency Theory - ☑️ Neural impulses are stimulated Place theory - ☑️ different portions of the basilar membrane are sensitive to sounds of different frequencie. different parts of basilar membrane - ☑️ the base of the basilar membrane responds best to high frequencies and the tip of the basilar membrane responds best to low frequencies Interaural - ☑️ A difference between the left or right ear is level of sound or timing conductive - ☑️ Failure of vibrations sensorineural hearing loss - ☑️ Problems with transmission from cochlea to brain associated with Skin Senses - ☑️ Touch, temperature, Pain acquisition - ☑️ period of initial learning in classical conditioning in which a human or an animal begins to connect a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus will begin to elicit the conditioned response associative learning - ☑️ form of learning that involves connecting certain stimuli or events that occur together in the environment (classical and operant conditioning) classical conditioning - ☑️ learning in which the stimulus or experience occurs before the behavior and then gets paired or associated with the behavior cognitive map - ☑️ mental picture of the layout of the environment conditioned response (CR) - ☑️ response caused by the conditioned stimulus
conditioned stimulus (CS) - ☑️ stimulus that elicits a response due to its being paired with an unconditioned stimulus continuous reinforcement - ☑️ rewarding a behavior every time it occurs extinction - ☑️ decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the conditioned stimulus fixed interval reinforcement schedule - ☑️ behavior is rewarded after a set amount of time fixed ratio reinforcement schedule - ☑️ set number of responses must occur before a behavior is rewarded habituation - ☑️ when we learn not to respond to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly without change higher-order conditioning - ☑️ (also, second-order conditioning) using a conditioned stimulus to condition a neutral stimulus instinct - ☑️ unlearned knowledge, involving complex patterns of behavior; instincts are thought to be more prevalent in lower animals than in humans latent learning - ☑️ learning that occurs, but it may not be evident until there is a reason to demonstrate it law of effect - ☑️ behavior that is followed by consequences satisfying to the organism will be repeated and behaviors that are followed by unpleasant consequences will be discouraged learning - ☑️ change in behavior or knowledge that is the result of experience model - ☑️ person who performs a behavior that serves as an example (in observational learning) negative punishment - ☑️ taking away a pleasant stimulus to decrease or stop a behavior negative reinforcement - ☑️ taking away an undesirable stimulus to increase a behavior neutral stimulus (NS) - ☑️ stimulus that does not initially elicit a response
variable interval reinforcement schedule - ☑️ behavior is rewarded after unpredictable amounts of time have passed variable ratio reinforcement schedule - ☑️ number of responses differ before a behavior is rewarded vicarious punishment - ☑️ process where the observer sees the model punished, making the observer less likely to imitate the model's behavior vicarious reinforcement - ☑️ process where the observer sees the model rewarded, making the observer more likely to imitate the model's behavior Algorithm - ☑️ problem-solving strategy characterized by a specific set of instructions analytical intelligence - ☑️ aligned with academic problem solving and computations anchoring bias - ☑️ faulty heuristic in which you fixate on a single aspect of a problem to find a solution artificial concept - ☑️ concept that is defined by a very specific set of characteristics availability heuristic - ☑️ faulty heuristic in which you make a decision based on information readily available to you cognition - ☑️ thinking, including perception, learning, problem solving, judgment, and memory Cognitive Psychology - ☑️ field of psychology dedicated to studying every aspect of how people think cognitive script - ☑️ set of behaviors that are performed the same way each time; also referred to as an event schema concept - ☑️ category or grouping of linguistic information, objects, ideas, or life experiences confirmation bias - ☑️ faulty heuristic in which you focus on information that confirms your beliefs convergent thinking - ☑️ providing correct or established answers to problems
creative intelligence - ☑️ ability to produce new products, ideas, or inventing a new, novel solution to a problem creativity - ☑️ ability to generate, create, or discover new ideas, solutions, and possibilities crystallized intelligence - ☑️ characterized by acquired knowledge and the ability to retrieve it cultural intelligence - ☑️ ability with which people can understand and relate to those in another culture divergent thinking - ☑️ ability to think "outside the box" to arrive at novel solutions to a problem Dysgraphia - ☑️ learning disability that causes extreme difficulty in writing legibly dyslexia - ☑️ common learning disability in which letters are not processed properly by the brain emotional intelligence - ☑️ ability to understand emotions and motivations in yourself and others event schema - ☑️ set of behaviors that are performed the same way each time; also referred to as a cognitive script fluid intelligence - ☑️ ability to see complex relationships and solve problems Flynn effect - ☑️ observation that each generation has a significantly higher IQ than the previous generation functional fixedness - ☑️ inability to see an object as useful for any other use other than the one for which it was intended grammar - ☑️ set of rules that are used to convey meaning through the use of a lexicon Heuristic - ☑️ mental shortcut that saves time when solving a problem hindsight bias - ☑️ belief that the event just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn't intelligence quotient -