Nothing but Study

empirical evidence gathered by careful observation, experimentation, and measurement
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psychology the discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism's physical state, mental state, and external environment.
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critical thinking the ability and willingness to assess claims and make judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons and evidence rather than emotion or anecdote
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assumptions beliefs that are taken for granted
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bias assumption or beliefs that keeps us from considering the evidence fairly
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argument by anecdote generalizing from a personal experience or from a few examples to everyone
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phrenology the now-discredited theory that different brain areas account for specific character and personality traits, which can be "read" from bumps on the skull
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structuralism an early pyschological approach that emphasized the analysis of immediate experience into basic elements. William Wundt, hoped to analyze sensations, images, and feelings into basic elements. Asked what happened
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functionalism an early psychological approach that emphasized the function or purpose and consciousness, emphasized the function or purpose of behavior as opposed to its analysis and description. William James, ask how and why.
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psychoanalysis a theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy originally formulated by Sigmund Frued, that emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts
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biological perspective a psychological approach that emphasizes bodily events and changes associated with actions, feelings, and thoughts
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evolutionary psychology a field of psychology emphasizing evolutionary mechanisms that may help explain human commonalities in cognition, development, emotion, social practices, and other areas of behavior
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learning perspective a psychological approach that emphasizes how the environment and experience affect a person's or animal's actions; it includes behaviorism and social-cognitive learning theories
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cognitie perspective a psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior
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sociocultural perspective a pyschological approach that emphasizes social and culture influences on behavior
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psychodynamic perspective a psychological approach that emphasizes unconscious dynamics within the individual such as inner forces, conflicts, or the movement of instinctual energy
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humanist psychology a psychological approach that emphasizes free will, personal growth, resilience, and the achievement of human potential
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basic psychology the study of psychological issues in order to seek knowledge for its own sake rather than for its practical application
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applied psychology the study of psychological issues that have direct practical significance; also, the application of psychological findings
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experimental psychologists conduct laboratory studies of learning, motivation, emotion, sensation and perception, physiology, and congition.
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education psychologists study psychological principles that explain learning and search for ways to improve education systems. Their interests range from the application of findings on memory and thinking to the use of rewards to encourage achievement
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developmental psychologists study how people grow and change over time physically, mentally, and socially. some specalize in childhood issues; others study adolescence, young adulthood, the middle years, or old age.
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industrial/organizational psychologists study behavior in the workplace. they are concerned with group decision making, employee morale, work motivation, productivity, job stress, personal selection, marketing strategies, equipment design, and other issues
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psychometric psychologists design and evaluate tests of mental abilities, aptitudes, interests, and personality. Nearly all of us have had first hand experience with one or more of these tests in school, at work, or in the military
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counseling psychologists generally help people deal with every day problems of life like test anxiety, family conflicts
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school psychologists work with parents, teachers, and students to help student's performance and resolve emotional difficulties
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psychotherapist anyone who does any kind of psychoterahpy, "therapist" of one sort or another without having any training at all
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psychoanalyst person who practices a form of therapy: psychoanalysis. Must have specialized training and undergo extensive psychoanalysis yourself
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psychiatrist medical doctor with three year residency, learn to diagnose and treat mental disorders
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LCSW licensed clinical social workers
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MFCC marriage, family, and child counselors
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theory an organized system of assumptions and principles that purports to explain a specified set of phenomena and their interrelationships
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hypothesis a statement that attempts to predict or to account for a set of phenomena; scientific hypotheses specify relationships among events or variables and are empirically tested
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operational definition a precise definition of a term in a hypothesis, which specifies the operations for observing and measuring the process or phenomenon being defined
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principle of falsifiability the principle that a scientific theory must make predictions that are specific enough toe pose the theory to the possibility of disconfirmation; that is, the theory must predict not only what will happen but also what will not happen
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confirmation bias the tendency to look for or pay attention only to information that confirms one's own beliefs
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representative sample a group of individuals, selected from a population for study, which matches the population on important characteristics such as age and sex
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descriptive methods methods that yield descriptions of behavior but not necessarily casual explanations
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case study a detailed description of a particular individual being studied or tested
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observational study a study in which the researcher carefully and systematically observes and records behavior without interfering with the behavior; it may involve either naturalistic or laboratory observation
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psychological tests procedures used to measure and evaluate personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, and values
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laboratory observation situation where researchers have more control; a type of setting
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standardize in test construction, to develop uniform procedures for giving and scoring a test
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norms in test construction, established standards of performance
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reliability in test construction, the consistency of scores derived from a test, from one time and place to another
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validity the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure
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surveys questionnaires and interviews that ask people directly about their experiences, attitudes, or opinions