applied research
research that aims to solve practical human problems
archival research
a form of research that relies on existing records of past behavior
basic research
pure science" research that tests theories and builds a foundation of knowledge
behavior observations
a form of research that is based on the firsthand observation of a subject's behavior
behavioral genetics
a subfield that examines the role of genetics factors on behavior
behavioral neuroscience
a subfield that studies the links among the brain, nervous system, and behavior
behaviorism
a school of though that defines psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior
case studies
a type of research that involves making in-depth observations of individual persons
cognition
a general term that refers to mental processes such as thinking, knowing, and remembering
control group
the condition of an experiment in which subjects are not exposed to the independent variable
correlation
a statistical measure of the extent to which two variables are associated
cross-cultural research
a body of studies designed to compare and contrast people of different cultures
deception
a research procedure used to mislead subjects about the true purposes of a study
dependent variable
a variable that is being measured in an experiment (the proposed effect)
dualism
the assumption that the body and mind are separate, though perhaps interacting, entities
epidemiology
the study of the distribution of illnesses in a population
evolutionary psychology
a subfield that uses the principles of evolution to understand human social behavior
experiment
a type of research in which the investigator varies some factors, keeps others constant, and measures the effects on randomly assigned subjects
experimental group
any condition of an experiment in which subjects are exposed to an independent variable
field research
research that is conducted in real-world locations
generalizability
the extent to which a finding applies to a broad range of subject populations and circumstances
hypothesis
a specific testable prediction, often derived from a theory
independent variable
any variable that the researcher manipulates in an experiment (the proposed cause)
informed consent
the ethical requirement that prospective subjects receive enough information to permit them to decide freely whether to participate in a study
introspection
Wundt's method of having trained observes report on their conscious, moment-to-moment reactions
laboratory research
research conducted in an environment that can be regulated and in which subjects can be carefully observed
meta-analysis
a set of statistical procedures used to review a body of evidence by combining the results of individual studies
multicultural research
a body of studies designed to compare and contrast racial and ethnic minority groups within cultures
naturalistic observation
the observation of behavior as it occurs naturally in real-world settings
psychoanalysis
Freud's theory of personality and method of psychotherapy, both of which assume the importance of unconscious processes
psychology
the scientific study of behavior and the mind
random assignment
the procedure of assigning subjects to conditions of an experiment in an arbitrary manner
random sample
a method selection in which everyone in the population has an equal chance of being chosen
replication
the process of repeating a study to see if the results are reliable enough to be duplicated
scatterplot
a graph in which paired scores (X,Y) for many subjects are plotted as single points to reveal the direction and strength of their correlation
self-report
a method of observation that involves asking people to describe their own thoughts, feelings, or behaviors
statistics
a branch of mathematics that is used for analyzing research data
survey
a research method that involves interviewing or giving questionnaires to a large number of people
theory
an organized set of principles that describes, predicts, and explains some phenomenon