Psychology
The scientific study of the mind, brain, and behavior.
Levels of explanation
The rungs on a ladder of explanation, with lower levels tied most likely to biological influences and higher levels tied most closely to social influences.
Multiply determined
Caused by many factors.
Single-variable explanations
Explanations that try to account for complete behaviors in terms of only a single cause.
Individual differences
Variations among people in their thinking, emotion, and behavior.
Naive realism
The belief that we see the world precisely as it is.
Confirmation bias
The tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypotheses and reject or distort evidence that contradicts them.
Belief perseverence
The tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them.
Scientific theory
An explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world.
Hypotheses
A testable prediction derived from a scientific theory.
Pseudoscience
A set of claims that seems scientific but isn't.
Apophemia
The tendency to perceive meaningful connections among unrelated phenomena.
Metaphysical claims
Assertions about the world that are not testable.
Scientific skepticism
The approach of evaluating all claims in an open mind but insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them.
Critical thinking
A set of skills for evaluating all claims in an open-minded and careful fashion.
Ruling out rival hypotheses
Have important alternative explanations for the findings been excluded?
Correlation-causation fallacy
An error of assuming that because one thing is associated with another, it must cause the other.
Falsifiability
Capable of being disproved.
Replicability
When a study's findings are able to be duplicated, ideally by independent investigators.
Extraordinary claims
Is the evidence as convincing as the claim?
Occam's razor
Does a simpler explanation fit the data just as well?
Variable
Anything that can vary in an experiment.
Introspection
A method by which trained observers carefully reflect and report on their mental experiences.
Structuralism
The school of psychology, founded by E.B. Titcher, that aimed to identify the basic elements of psychological experience.
Functionalism
The school of psychology, founded by William James, that aimed to understand the adaptive purposes of psychological characteristics.
Behaviorism
The school of psychology, founded by John B. Watson, that focuses on uncovering the general laws of learning by looking at observable behavior. (Sometimes called black box psychology.)
Cognitivism
The school of psychology, founded by Jean Piaget, that focuses on the mental processes involved in different aspects of thinking.
Psychoanalysis
The school of psychology, founded by Sigmund Freud, that focuses on internal psychological processes of which we're unaware.
Nature-nurture debate
The debate whether are behaviors are attributed mostly to our genes or to our rearing environments.
Evolutionary psychology
The discipline that applies Darwin's theory of natural selection to human and animal behavior.
Free-will determinism debate
The debate whether our behaviors are freely selected to a certain extent or caused by fators outside of our control.
Basic research
Research examining how the mind works.
Applied research
Research examining how we can use basic research to solve real-world problems.