Unit 1 Study Guide 1 Unit 1 Study Guide Chapters 1 2 and 3 Definitions 1 Psychology the scientific study of the mind brain and behavior 2 Multiply Determined produced by many factors 3 Reciprocal Determinism the fact that we mutually influence each other s behavior 4 Na ve Realism the belief that we see the world precisely as it is Incorrect conclusions 5 Science consists of a set of attitudes and skills designed to prevent us from fooling 6 Empiricism the premise that knowledge should initially be acquired through about human nature ourselves observations 7 Scientific Theory an explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world including the psychological world Offers an account that ties multiple findings together into one pretty package 8 Theory general explanations 9 Hypotheses specific predictions derived from those explanations 10 Confirmation Bias the tendency to seek out evidence that supports our beliefs and deny dismiss or distort evidence that contradicts them Seek and ye shall find 11 Belief Perseverance the tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them 12 Metaphysical Claims assertions about the world that we can t test Includes assertions about the existence of God the soul and the afterlife 13 Skepticism to consider carefully 14 Scientific Skeptic evaluates all claims with an open mind but insists on persuasive 15 Critical Thinking set of skills evaluating all claims in an open minded and careful evidence before accepting them fashion 16 Scientific Thinking set of skills for overcoming our own biases 17 Correlation causation Fallacy error of assuming that because one thing is associated with another it must cause the other 18 Falsifiable capable of being disproved 19 Replicability a study s findings can be duplicated consistently 20 Decline Effect fat that the size of a certain psychological findings appears to be shrinking over time 21 Prefrontal Lobotomy surgical procedure that severs fibers connecting the frontal lobes of the brain from the underlying thalamus 22 Intuitive Thinking quick and reflective thinking Go with your gut 2 23 Analytical Thinking slow and reflective thinking Reasoning 24 Heuristic a mental short cut or rule of thumb 25 Naturalistic Observation watching participant s behavior in real world settings without manipulating their actions 26 External Validity the extent that our findings generalize to real world settings 27 Internal Validity the extent to which we can draw cause and effect inferences 28 Case Study research design that examines one person or a small number of people in depth often over an extended time period 29 Existence Proof demonstration that a given psychological phenomenon can occur 30 Self Report Measures Surveys questionnaires to assess a verity of characteristics such as personality traits mental illnesses and interests 31 Random Selection procedure that ensures every person in a population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate 32 Reliability consistency of measurement 33 Validity extent to which a measure assesses what I purports to measure 34 Response Set tendency of research participants to distort their responses to questionnaire items 35 Malingering the tendency to make ourselves appear psychologically disturbed with the aim of achieving a clear cut personal goal 36 Halo Effect the tendency of ratings of one positive characteristic to spill over to influence the ratings of other positive characteristics 37 Correlational Design research design that examines the extent to which two variables are 38 Scatterplot grouping of points on a two dimensional graph in which each dot represents 39 Illusory Correlation perception a statistical association between two variables where associated a single person s data none exist that you don t know about 40 Spurious Correlation things can be correlated but the correlation is due to a third variable 41 Experimental Designs they permit cause and effect inferences 42 Random Selection a procedure that allows every person an equal chance to participate 43 Experiment research design characterized by random assignment of participants to conditions and manipulation of an independent variable 44 Random Assignment randomly sorting participants into two groups 45 Experimental Groups in an experiment the group of participants that receives the manipulation manipulation 46 Control Group in an experiment the group of participants that doesn t receive the 47 Independent Variable variable than an experimenter manipulates 48 Dependent Variable variable that doesn t change 49 Operational Definition a working definition of what a researcher is measuring 50 Confounding Variable any variable that differs between the experimental and control groups other than the independent variable 3 51 Placebo Effect improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement 52 Blind unaware of whether one is in the experimental group or control group 53 Nocebo Effect harm resulting from the mere expectation of harm 54 Experimenter Expectancy Effect Rosenthal Effect phenomenon in which researchers hypotheses lead them to unintentionally bias the outcome of a study 55 Double blind when neither researchers nor participants are aware of who s in the experimental or control group 56 Demand Characteristics cues that participants pick up from a study that allow them to generate guesses regarding the researcher s hypotheses 57 Informed Consent informing research participants of what in involved in a study before asking them to participate 58 Neuron nerve cell specialized for communication three types of neurons Sensory motor and interneurons 59 Dendrite receives information 60 Axon sends signals Information travels down 61 Synaptic Vesicle spherical sac containing neurotransmitters 62 Neurotransmitters Chemical messenger specialized for communication from neuron to neuron 63 Synapse place where the axon of one neuron meets the dendrite of another neuron 64 Myelin Sheath carries electrical impulses down Accelerates information 65 Cell Body where materials are made that the neuron needs 66 Synaptic Cleft the space between two neurons 67 Glial Cell Cell in the nervous system that plays a role in the formation of myelin and the blood barrier responds to injury removes debris and enhances learning and memory 68 Resting Potential the baseline state of a neuron when it isn t doing much of anything When there are more negative particles inside than outside the neuron 69
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