RESEARCH METHODS
All scientific research is based upon this framework of scientific investigation.
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
The group that receives the experimental treatment.
EXPERIMENTAL GROUP
A bundle of neural axons that allow communication between the central and peripheral nervous systems.
NERVES
This lobe of the brain contains the primary visual processing area.
OCCIPITAL LOBE
Psychiatrists are different from psychologists because only psychiatrists can do this.
PRESCRIBE MEDICINE
In this research method, one individual is studied in-depth.
CASE STUDY
The outcome factor in an experiment.
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
The two main divisions of the peripheral nervous system.
SOMATIC AND AUTONOMIC
The oldest section of the brain.
BRAIN STEM
This is known as the “master gland” of the endocrine system.
PITUITARY
This type of research aims to increase the knowledge base.
BASIC RESEARCH
This is the experimental factor that is being studied; it is manipulated by the experimenter.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
These chemical messengers allow neurons to communicate with each other.
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
Damage to this section of the brain may lead to a condition known as Cerebral Palsy.
CEREBELLUM
Psychology was established as a science in this year, in Leipzig, Germany.
1879
The way that these are worded can very subtly influence the way your participants respond.
SURVEYS
By using these, researchers are able to give specific descriptions of their experimental conditions so that others may replicate them.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
This is a simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus which does not require a brain.
REFLEX
A group of structures in the center of the brain, responsible for motivation and emotions. (“doughnut-shaped”)
LIMBIC SYSTEM
Through this man’s accident with a railroad spike, we learned a great deal about the frontal lobe of the brain.
PHINEAS GAGE
The good thing about this research method is that it allows for one event to predict another. The bad thing is that it cannot prove causation.
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
Experimental research, if done correctly, is the only research method that can prove this.
CAUSATION or CAUSE-AND-EFFECT
If this is severed, the body will not work because there is no communication with the brain.
SPINAL CORD
This brain structure is sometimes surgically severed to control seizures. After surgery, the two cerebral hemispheres can no longer communicate.
CORPUS CALLOSUM
This type of “smart thinking” does not blindly accept the arguments and conclusions of others.
CRITICAL THINKING