Psychology Keywords

• Internal Validity:

  The degree of confidence to which the causal relationship being tested is trustworthy and is not influenced by other variables.
• External Validity:

  The extent to which results can be generalised to situations outside of the study (other situations, other groups, other events).
• Ethics:

  Refer to standards of behaviour. This involves behaving with due respect for the people (or animals).
• Biological Approach:

  This explains behaviour in terms of physical causes inside the body such as genes.
• Psychodynamic Approach:

  Freud- believed that the causes of behaviour lie within the unconscious mind. The "iceberg" metaphor.
• Humanistic Approach :

  Firmly based on the concept of yourself and is to do with self esteem.
• Behaviourist Approach:

  "Tabula rasa" - "blank slate

  We are born as blank slates and our experiences shape us. We learn through assosciation. (classical and operant conditioning)
• Cognitive Approach:

  This approach focuses on thinking - our feelings, beliefs, attitudes and expectations. These can have effects on our behaviour.