Research Design
The experimental variable that researchers manipulate to prove whether or not it is the cause of the outcome
Independent Variable
Almond-shaped part of brain involved in emotion processing, fear/threat stimuli, motivation
Amygdala
Intelligence theory that there are three aspects of intelligence: practical, creative, and analytic
Sternberg's Triarchic Theory
This personality disorder is characteristic of people who often break laws, harm people, and show no remorse when confronted about it.
Antisocial Personality Disorder
In this famous study, regular people were placed as guards in a fictional prison environment and became abusive, researchers said because of their role and situation.
Stanford Prison Study/Zimbardo Prison Study
The variable that is measured as the effect or outcome in an experiment
Dependent Variable
A monocular depth cue using the apparent speed of objects to judge their distance - objects moving faster are perceived as closer, objects moving slower are perceived as farther away
Motion Parallax
Discomfort a person feels when their behavior and their stated values and beliefs don't align
Cognitive Dissonance
Seratonin
The perceived psychological phenomenon that people do less work to achieve a goal in a group setting than when working alone
Social Loafing
A third variable in an experiment that may distort the outcome
Confounding Variable
Sensory system of the inner ear (cochlea, semicircular canals) associated with balance, coordination, spatial sense
Vestibular sense
A mental shortcut in which you use existing prototypes or things you already have in mind to make new judgments
Representativeness Heuristic
Neurotransmitter that plays a role in calming anxiety, stress, and fear, and is linked to Generalized Anxiety Disorder
GABA
The tendency to attribute someone else's actions to a character or personality flaw but one's own actions to the situation or external factors
Fundamental Attribution Error/Misattribution
The group in an experiment that does NOT receive the independent variable
Control Group
Psychological tendency to dislike those outside your own identity groups
Out-Group Bias
Increase in IQ scores among all groups over the last century is explained by access to education and information, health and nutrition, in this "effect"
Flynn Effect
A somatic symptom disorder in which someone complains of physical symptoms for which there is no physiological (bodily) basis
Conversion disorder
Phenomenon in which people engage in seemingly violent or deviant acts because they believe they can't be individually identified
Deindividuation
An actor who poses as a participant in the experiment but is actually working for the researcher
A "confederate"
Conflict occurring when a person must decide between two appealing outcomes, like two job offers
Approach-Approach Conflict
This researcher created a "Forgetting Curve," showing that memory of information drops off rapidly at first then levels off over time.
Ebbinghaus
Dr. Harley decides his patient's specific fear can best be treated by systemic desensitization. His patient has this diagnosis.
Specific Phobia
Phenomenon in which someone's expectations about a given situation cause that situation to come true
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy