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Psych 100 D. Butler
All semester definitions
67
Psychology
Undergraduate 1
12/11/2008

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Term
autism
Definition
marked by especially abnormal or impaired development in social interactions, such as hiding to avoid people, not making eye contact, not wanting to be touched. atuism is marked by difficulties in communication, such as grave problems in developing spoken language or initiating conversations. Autistics are characterized by having very few activities and interests, spending long periods repeating the same behaviors (hand flapping), or following the same rituals.
Term
test anxiety
Definition
refers to a combination of physiological, emotional, and cognitive components that are caused by the stress of taking exams and that may interfere with one's ability to think, reason, and plan.
Term
pyschology
Definition
systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes.
Term
4 goals of psychology
Definition
describe, explain, predict, control
Term
approaches to the understanding of behavior
Definition
include the biological, cognitive, behavioral, psychoanalytic, humanistic, and cross-cultural. Each approach has a different focus or perspective and may use a different research method or technique.
Term
biological approach
Definition
focuses on how our genes, hormones, and nervous system interact with our environments to influence learning, personality, memory, motivation, emotions, coping techniques, and other traits and abilities.
Term
cognitive approach
Definition
examines how we process, store, and use information and how this information influences what we attend to, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel
Term
behavioral approach
Definition
studies how organisms learn new behaviors or modify existing ones, depending on whether events in their environments reward or punish these behaviors.
Term
psychoanalytic approach
Definition
based on the belief that childhood experiences greatly influence the development of later personality traits and psychological problems. it also stresses the influence of unconscious fears, desires, and motivations on thoughts, behaviros, and the development fo personality traits and psychological problems later in life.
Term
humanistic approach
Definition
emphasizes that each individual has great freedom in directing his or her future, a large capacity for personal growth, a considerable amount of intrinsic worth, and enormous potential for self-fulfillment
Term
cross-cultural approach
Definition
examines the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on psychological and social functioning of a culture's members
Term
cognitive neuroscience
Definition
involves taking pictures and identifying structures and functions of the living brain during performance of a wide variety of mental or cognitive processes, such as thinking, planning, naming, and recognizing objects
Term
procrastination
Definition
refers to the tendency to always put off completing a task to the point of feeling anxious or unconfortable about one's delay
Term
structuralism
Definition
study of the most basic elements, primarily sensations and perceptions, that make up our conscious mental experiences.
Term
introspection
Definition
a method of exploring conscious mental processes by asking subjects to look inward and report their sensations and perceptions
Term
functionalism
Definition
the study of the function rather than the structure of consciousness, was interested in how our minds adapt to our changing environment
Term
Gestalt approach
Definition
emphasized that perception is more than the sum of its parts and studied how sensations are assembled into meaningful perceptual experiences
Term
behavioral approach
Definition
emphasized the objective, scientific analysis of observable behaviors
Term
psychologist
Definition
usually someone who has completed 4 to 5 years of postgraduate education and has obtained a Ph.D., PsyD., or Ed.D. in psychology
Term
clinical psychologist
Definition
has a Ph.D., PsyD., or Ed.D., has specialized in a clinical subarea, and has spent an additional year in a supervised therapy setting to gain experience in diagnosing and treating a wide range of abnormal behaviors
Term
psychiatrist
Definition
a medical doctor (M.D.) who has spent several years in clinical training, which includes diagnosing possible physical and neurological causes of abnormal behaviors and treating these behaviors, often with prescription drugs
Term
social psychology
Definition
involves the study of social interactions, stereotypes, prejudices, attitudes, conformity, group behaviors, and aggression
Term
personality psychology
Definition
involves the study of personality development, personality change, assessment, and abnormal behaviors
Term
developmental psychology
Definition
examines moral, social, emotional, and cognitive development throughout a person's entire life
Term
experimental psychology
Definition
includes areas of sensation, perception, learning, human performance, motivation, and emotion
Term
biological psychology (psychobiology)
Definition
involves research on the physical and chemical changes that ovvur during stress, learning, and emotions, as well as how our genetic makeup, brain, and nervous system interact with our environments and influence our behaviors
Term
cognitive psychology
Definition
involves how we process, store, and retrieve information and how cognitivie processes influence our behaviors
Term
psychometrics
Definition
focuses on the measurement of people's abilities, skills, intelligence, personality, and abnormal behaviors
Term
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Definition
not diagnosed by any medical tests but on teh basis of the occurrence of certain behavioral problems. A child must have six or more symptoms of inattention, such as making carless mistakes in schoolwork, not following instructions, and being easily distracted, and six or more symptoms of hyperactivity, such as figeting, leaving classroom seat, running about when should not, and talking excessively. These symptoms should have been present from an early age, persisted for at least six months, and contributed to maladaptive development.
Term
survey
Definition
a way to obtain information by asking many individuals--either person to person, by telephone, or by mail--to answer a fixed set of questions about particular subjects
Term
case study
Definition
an in-depth analysis of the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, experiences, behaviors, or problems of a single individual
Term
experiment
Definition
a method for identifying cause-and-effect relationships by following a set of rules and guidelines that minimize the possiblity of error, bias, and chance occurrences.
Term
testimonial
Definition
statement in support of a particular viewpoint based on detailed observations of a person's own personal experience
Term
self-fulfilling prophecy
Definition
involves having a strong belief or making a statement (prophecy) about the future behavrior and then acting, usually unknowingly, to fulfill or carry out the behavior
Term
placebo
Definition
some intervention, such as taking a pill, receiving an injection, or undergoing an operation, that resembles medical therapy but that, in fact, has no medical effects
Term
placebo effect
Definition
change in the patient's illness that is attributable to an imagined treatment rather than to a medical treatment
Term
correlation
Definition
an association or relationship between the occurrence of two or more events
Term
correlation coefficient
Definition
a number that indicates the strength of a relationship between two or more events: the closer the number is to -1.00 to +1.00, the greater is the strength of the relationship
Term
interview
Definition
a technique for obtaining information by asking questions, ranging from open-ended to highly structured, about a subject's behaviors and attitues, usually in a one-on-one situation
Term
quesstionnaire
Definition
a technique for obtaining information by asking subjects to read a list of written questions and check off specific answers
Term
laboratory experiment
Definition
technique to gather information about the brain, genes, or behavior with the least error and bias by using a controlled environment that allows careful observation and measurement
Term
standardized test
Definition
technique to obtain information by administering a psychological test that has been standardized, which means that the test has been given to hundreds of people and shown to reliably measure thought patterns, personality traits, emotions, or behaviors
Term
animal model
Definition
involves examining or manipulating some behavioral, genetic, or physiological factor that closely approximates some human problem, disease, or condition
Term
naturalistic setting
Definition
relatively normal environment in which researchers gather information by observing individuals' behaviors without attempting to change or control the situation
Term
laboratory setting
Definition
involves studying individuals under systematic and controlled conditions, with many of the real-world influences eliminated
Term
scientific method
Definition
an approach of gathering information and answering questions so that errors and biases are minimized
Term
hypothesis
Definition
an educated guess about some phenomenon and is stated in prcise, concrete language to rule out any confusion or error in the meaning of its terms
Term
independent variable
Definition
a treatment or somethign that the researcher controls or manipulates
Term
depenedent variable
Definition
one or more of the subjects' behaviors that are used to measure the potential effects of the treatment or independent variable
Term
random selection
Definition
each participant in a sample population has an equal chance or being selected for the experiment
Term
experimental group
Definition
composed of those who receive the "treatment"
Term
control group
Definition
composed of participants who undergo all the same procedures as the experimental participants exept that the control participants do not receive the "treatment"
Term
double-blind procedure
Definition
neither participants nor researchers know which group is receiving which treatment
Term
statistical procedures
Definition
used to determine whether differences observed in depenedent variables (behaviors) are due to independent variables (treatment) or to error or chance occurence.
Term
debriefing
Definition
includes explainiing the purpose and method of the experiment, asking the participants their feelings about being participants in the experiment, and helping the participants deal with possible doubts or guilt that arise from their behaviors in the experiment
Term
transduction
Definition
refers to the process in which a sense organ changes, or transforms, physical energy into electrical signals that become neural impulses, which may be sent to the brain for processing
Term
adaptation
Definition
refers to the decreasing response of the sense organs, the more they are exposed to a continuous level of stimulation
Term
sensations
Definition
relatively meaningless bits of information that result when the brain processes electrical signals that come from the sense organse
Term
perceptions
Definition
meaningful sensory experiences that result after the brain combines hundreds of sensations
Term
visible spectrum
Definition
one particular segment of electormagnetic energy that we can see because these waves are the right length to stimulate receptors in the eye
Term
cornea
Definition
the rounded, transparent covering over the front of your eye. As the light waves pass through the cornea, its curved surface bends, or focuses, the waves into a narrower beam
Term
pupil
Definition
round opening at the front of your eye that allows light waves to pass into the eye's interior
Term
iris
Definition
a circular muscle that surronds the pupil and controls the amount of light entering the eye. In dim light, the iris relaxes, allowing more light to enger--the pupil dilates; in bright light, the iris constricts allowing less light to enter--the pupil constricts. The iris muscle contains the pigment that gives your eye its characteristic color
Term
lens
Definition
transparent, oval structure whose curved surface bends and fosucses light waves into an even narrower beam. The lens is attached to muscles that adjust the curve of the lens, which, in turn, sadjusts the focusing
Term
retina
Definition
located at the very back of the eyeball, is a thin film that contains cells that are extremely sensitive to light. These light-sensitive cells, called photoreceptors, begin the process of transduction by absorbing light waves
Term
nearsightedness (myopia)
Definition
results when the eyeball is too long so that objects are focused at a point in front of the retina. In this case, near objects are clear, but distant objects are blurry.
Term
farsightedness (hyperopia)
Definition
occurs when
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