Psychology key terms flash cards

The cards, front and back

1. 1
   Front

   Psychology

   Back

   The scientific study of the mind and behaviour.

2. 2
   Front

   Behaviourism

   Back

   An approach that studies observable behaviour and explains it through learning from the environment, rather than through inner mental states.

3. 3
   Front

   Classical conditioning

   Back

   Learning by association, where a neutral stimulus becomes linked with one that already causes a response. Pavlov's dogs learned to salivate at a sound that signalled food.

4. 4
   Front

   Operant conditioning

   Back

   Learning through consequences. Behaviour followed by reinforcement becomes more likely; behaviour followed by punishment becomes less likely. It is linked with B. F. Skinner.

5. 5
   Front

   Positive and negative reinforcement

   Back

   Both make a behaviour more likely. Positive reinforcement adds something pleasant; negative reinforcement removes something unpleasant.

6. 6
   Front

   Cognitive approach

   Back

   An approach that studies internal mental processes such as memory, perception, attention and thinking, often comparing the mind to an information processor.

7. 7
   Front

   Nature vs nurture

   Back

   The debate about how far behaviour is shaped by inherited, biological factors (nature) versus experience and environment (nurture). Most psychologists now see both as interacting.

8. 8
   Front

   Multi-store model of memory

   Back

   A model by Atkinson and Shiffrin describing memory as three stores: sensory memory, short-term memory and long-term memory, with information passed between them.

9. 9
   Front

   Working memory

   Back

   A model by Baddeley and Hitch of short-term memory as an active system with parts such as the central executive, the phonological loop and the visuospatial sketchpad.

10. 10
    Front

    Encoding, storage and retrieval

    Back

    The three stages of memory: putting information in, keeping it over time, and getting it back out when needed.

11. 11
    Front

    Conformity

    Back

    Changing behaviour or beliefs to fit in with a group. Asch's line studies are a well-known investigation of it.

12. 12
    Front

    Obedience

    Back

    Following a direct order from a person seen as an authority. Milgram's studies investigated how far people would obey.

13. 13
    Front

    Attachment

    Back

    A close, two-way emotional bond between two people, most studied between infants and their caregivers.

14. 14
    Front

    Hypothesis

    Back

    A clear, testable statement predicting what a study will find.

15. 15
    Front

    Independent and dependent variables

    Back

    The independent variable is what the researcher changes; the dependent variable is what is measured to see the effect.

16. 16
    Front

    Extraneous variable

    Back

    Any variable other than the independent variable that might affect the results and needs to be controlled.

17. 17
    Front

    Validity and reliability

    Back

    Validity is whether a study measures what it claims to measure. Reliability is whether it gives consistent results when repeated.

18. 18
    Front

    Sampling

    Back

    Choosing participants from a target population. Methods include random, opportunity, volunteer and stratified sampling.

19. 19
    Front

    Informed consent

    Back

    An ethical requirement that participants are told what a study involves and agree to take part, with the right to withdraw.

20. 20
    Front

    Placebo

    Back

    An inactive treatment given to a control group so researchers can tell whether an effect is caused by the real treatment or by expectations.

21. 21
    Front

    Confirmation bias

    Back

    The tendency to notice, seek out and remember information that supports what we already believe.