| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Gestalt | an organized, meaningful whole |
| Psychoanalysis | Freud's theory of personality and therapeutic technique that attributes our thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts |
| Behaviorism | the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes |
| Cognitive | psychological perspective that studies how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information |
| Biopsychology | psychological perspective that studies the links between biology and behavior |
| Evolutionary | psychological perspective that studies how nature selects traits that promote the perpetuation of one's genes |
| Social-culture | psychological perspective that studies how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures |
| Validity | the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to |
| Reliability | the extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two haves of the test, on alternate forms of the test, or on retesting. |
| hypothesis | a testable prediction, often implied by a theory |
| random sample | a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion |
| experimental method | research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental processes |
| dependent variable | the experimental factor that is being measured; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable |
| independent variable | the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied |
| random assignment | assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to different groups |
| double blind experiment | an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether or not the research participants have received treatment or placebo |
| placebo | an inert substance or a condition that may be administered instead of a presumed active agent, such as a drug, to see if it triggers the effects believed to characterize the active agent |
| correlation | a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus how well either factor predicts the other |
| naturalist observation | observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation |
| case studies | an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in hope of revealing universal principles |
| mean | the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing the number of scores |
| median | the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half below |
| mode | the most frequently occurring score in a distribution |
| neuron | a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system |
| dendrites | the bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body |
| axon | the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages are sent to other neurons or to muscles or glands |
| myelin sheath | a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons, enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next |
| neurotransmitters | chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons |
| synapse | the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron |
| central nervous system | the brain and spinal cord |
| peripheral nerve system | the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system |
| autonomic nervous system | the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs |
| sympathetic nervous system | the division of autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy in stressful situations |
| parasympathetic nervous system | the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy |
| transduction | conversion of one form of energy into another. In sensation, the transforming of stimulus energies into neural impulses |
| opponent-processing theory | the theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red,; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green. |
| place theory | in hearing, the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated |
| frequency theory | in hearing, the theory that the rate of nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the frequency of a tone, thus enabling us to sense its pitch |
| gate-control theory | the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological gate that block pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain. The gate is opened by the activity of pain signals traveling up small nerve fibers and is closed by activity in larger fibers or by information coming from the brain |
| absolute threshold | the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time |
| subliminal | below ones absolute threshold for conscious awareness |
| difference threshold | the minimum difference that a person can detect between two stimuli. |
| signal detection theory | predicts how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus amid background stimulation. Assumes that there is no single absolute threshold and that detection depends partly on a person's experience, expectations, motivation, and level of fatigue. |
| top down processing | information processing guided by higher level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations |
| bottom up processing | analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain integration of sensory information |
| proximity | the rule for grouping that states we group nearby figures together |
| similarity | the rule for grouping that states we group figures similar to eachother |
| continuity | the rule for grouping that states we perceive smooth continuous patters rather than discontinuous ones |
| closure | the rule for grouping that states we fill in gaps to create complete objects |
| connectedness | the rule for grouping that states we perceive spots lines and areas as a single unit when they are uniformed and linked |
| insomnia | recurring problems in falling or staying asleep |
| narcolepsy | a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks |
| night terrors | a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified. occur during stage four sleep |
| dream | a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind. |
| hypnosis | a social interaction in which one person suggests to another that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will spontaneously occur. |
| drug | a chemical substance that alters perceptions and mood |
| classical conditioning | a type of learning in which an organism comes to associate stimuli. |
| operant conditioning | a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment |
| sensory memory | the immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system |
| short term memory | activated memory that holds a few items briefly, such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing, before the information is stored or forgotten |
| long term memory | the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system |
| retrieval | the process of getting information out of memory storage |
| storage | the retention of encoded information over time |
| frontal lobe | involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments |
| parietal lobe | sensory cortex |
| occipital lobe | includes the visual areas, which receive visual information from the opposite visual field |
| temporal lobe | includes auditory areas, each of which receives auditory information primarily from the opposite ear |
| retinal disparity | a binocular cue for perceiving depth. The greater the disparity between the two images the retina receives of an object, the closer the object is to the viewer |
| convergence | a binocular cue for perceiving depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object |
| interposition | if one object partially blocks our view of another, we perceive it as closer |
| relative size | if we assume that two objects are similar in size, we perceive the one that casts the smaller retinal image as farther away |
| relative clarity | because light from distant objects passes through more atmosphere, we perceive hazy objects as farther away than sharp, clear objects |
| texture gradient | a gradual change from a coarse, distinct texture to a fine, indistinct texture signals increasing distance. Objects farther away appear smaller and more densely packed |
| relative height | we perceive objects higher in our field of vision as farther away |
| relative motion | as we move, objects that are actually stable may appear to move. The nearer an object is, the faster it seems to move. |
| linear perspective | parallel lines, such as railroad tracks, appear to converge with distance. The more the lines converge, the greater the perceived distance |
| light and shadow | nearby objects reflect more light to our eyes. Thus given two identical objects, the dimmer one seems farther away. |
| sleep apnea | a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and consequent momentary awakenings |
| depressants | calm neural activity and slow body functions |
| stimulants | temporarily excite neural activity and arouse body functions |
| hallucinogens | distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the absence of sensory input |
Combine with other sets
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