Glossary

Glossary Methods and Approaches


 * Pseudopsychology- phony, unscientific psychology masquerading as the real thing.
 * Experimental Psychology- Research on basic psychological processes.
 * Applied Psychologists use knowledge developed by experimental psyches to solve human problems.
 * Structualism-Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology lab in Germany. He was interested in the development of the periodic table.
 * Random Assignment- People have an equal chance of being placed in a group.
 * Group Matching-grouping people together based on things like sex, age, IQ scores, ect.
 * Correlational Method- •   Expresses a relationship between two variables without ascribing cause.
 * Positive Correlation- The presence of one thing predicts the presence of another
 * Negative Correlation- The presence of one thing predicts the absence of another.
 * Naturalistic Observation- The presence of one thing predicts the absence of another.
 * Case Study- Used to get a detailed pictureof one participant or a group of participants.
 * Humanist- Stress individual choice and free will. Think that people's decisions are based off of psychological, emotional, or physical needs.
 * Psychoanalytic- The unconscious mind controls much of thoughts and actions
 * Evolutionary- Examines human thoughts and actions of natural selection.
 * Behavioral-Explains Human thoughts and behaviors in terms of conditioning.
 * Cognitive- Examines thoughts and behaviors in terms of how we interpret, process, and remember events.
 * Sociocultural- Look at how our thoughts and behaviors vary from people in other cultures.
 * Sources found from outline and barrons book