Intro to Psychology

• psychology


  the science that

  studies behavior and mental

  processes
• research

  conducted without concern for

  immediate applications

  pure research
• research

  conducted in an effort to find

  solutions to particular problems

  applied research
• deliberate

  looking into one’s own cognitive

  processes to examine one’s thoughts

  and emotions

  introspection
• the school of

  psychology that argues that the mind

  consists of three basic elements—

  sensations, feelings, and images—

  that combine to form experience

  structuralisim
• functionalism the school of

  psychology that emphasizes the uses

  or functions of the mind rather than

  the elements of experience
• behaviorism the school of

  psychology that defines psychology

  as the study of observable behavior

  and studies relationships between

  stimuli and responses
• reinforcement a stimulus that

  follows a response and increases the

  frequency of the response
• gestalt psychology the school

  of psychology that emphasizes the

  tendency to organize perceptions

  into wholes and to integrate separate

  stimuli into meaningful patterns
• psychoanalysis the

  school of psychology that

  emphasizes the importance

  of unconscious motives and

  conflicts as determinants of

  human behavior
• biological perspective the

  approach to psychology that seeks

  to understand the nature of the links

  between biological processes and

  structures such as the functioning

  of the brain, the endocrine system,

  and heredity, on the one hand, and

  behavior and mental processes, on

  the other
• having to do

  with mental processes such as

  sensation and perception, memory,

  intelligence, language, thought, and

  problem solving

  cognitive
• social cognitive theory


  a school of psychology in the

  behaviorist tradition that includes

  cognitive factors in the explanation

  and prediction of behavior; formerly

  termed social learning theory
• the view that focuses on the roles

  of ethnicity, gender, culture, and

  socioeconomic status in behavior and

  mental processes

  sociocultural perspective
• the culturally defined concepts of

  masculinity and femininity

  gender
• an organized

  way of using experience and

  testing ideas to expand and refine

  knowledge

  scientific method
• in psychology, a

  specific statement about behavior

  or mental processes that is tested

  through research

  hypothesis
• an association or

  relationship among variables, as

  we might find between height and

  weight, or between study habits and

  school grades

  correlation
• a source of bias

  that may occur in research findings

  when participants are allowed to

  choose for themselves a certain

  treatment in a scientific study

  selection factor
• a sample

  drawn so that identified subgroups

  in the population are represented

  proportionately in the sample

  stratified sample
• a sample

  drawn so that identified subgroups

  in the population are represented

  proportionately in the sample

  volunteer bias
• a method of scientific

  investigation in which a large sample

  of people answer questions about

  their attitudes or behavior

  survery
• naturalistic observation

  a

  scientific method in which organisms

  are observed in their natural

  environments
• in experiments, groups whose

  members obtain the treatment

  experimental groups
• in experiments,

  groups whose members do not

  obtain the treatment, while other

  conditions are held constant

  control groups
• a bogus treatment

  that has the appearance of being

  genuine

  placebo
• in experimental terminology,

  unaware of whether or not one has

  received a treatment

  blind
• a study

  in which neither the subjects nor the

  observers know who has received the

  treatment

  double blind study
• informed consent


  a

  participant’s agreement to

  participate in research after receiving

  information about the purposes

  of the study and the nature of the

  treatments
• to explain the purposes

  and methods of a completed

  procedure to a participant

  debrief
• a way of

  evaluating the claims and comments

  of other people that involves

  skepticism and examination of

  evidence

  critical thinking
• a specialized cell of the

  nervous system that receives and

  transmits messages

  neuron
• cells that remove dead

  neurons and waste products from the

  nervous system, nourish and insulate

  neurons, form myelin, and play a role

  in neural transmission of messages

  glial cells
• root-like structures,

  attached to the cell body of a neuron,

  that receive impulses, or incoming

  messages, from other neurons

  dendrites
• a long, thin part of a neuron

  that transmits impulses to other

  neurons from bulb-shaped structures

  called axon terminals or terminal

  buttons

  axon
• a fatty substance that

  encases and insulates axons,

  facilitating transmission of neural

  impulses

  myelin
• neurons that

  transmit messages from sensory

  receptors to the spinal cord and

  brain; also called sensory neurons

  afferent neurons
• neurons that

  transmit messages from the brain or

  spinal cord to muscles and glands;

  also called motor neurons

  efferent neurons
• the

  electrochemical discharge of a nerve

  cell or neuron

  neural impulses
• to ready a neuron for

  firing by creating an internal negative

  charge in relation to the body fluid

  outside the cell membrane

  polarize