Psychological Perspectives
This perspective explains behavior through brain chemicals, hormones, and genetic influences.
What is the biological perspective?
A scientist interviews a single firefighter over several months to understand trauma recovery.
What is a case study?
A researcher randomly assigns half the participants to study with music and half to study in silence to compare test scores.
What is random assignment?
A researcher defines “stress level” as the score on a specific 20‑item questionnaire.
What are operational definitions?
Researchers must keep participants’ personal information private and secure.
What is confidentiality?
This perspective focuses on how people think, interpret, and process information.
What is the cognitive perspective?
A researcher watches shoppers in a grocery store to see which products they pick up first, without interacting with them.
What is naturalistic observation?
In a study testing whether peppermint scent improves focus, the group that smells peppermint is this group.
What is the experimental group?
A study recruits only people who visit a gym at 6 a.m., creating an unrepresentative sample.
What is sampling bias?
Participants must be told the purpose of the study and their rights before agreeing to join.
What is informed consent?
A therapist believes a client’s panic attacks stem from unresolved childhood conflicts.
What is the psychoanalytic perspective?
A study compares 10‑year‑olds, 20‑year‑olds, and 30‑year‑olds at the same time to examine memory differences.
What is a cross‑sectional study?
A researcher gives one group a real energy supplement and another group a sugar pill. The sugar pill group is called this.
What is the control group?
Participants try harder on a test because they know they’re being studied.
What is participant bias?
After a study involving deception, researchers must explain what really happened.
What is debriefing?
A researcher examines how traditions and social expectations shape people’s attitudes toward mental health.
What is the sociocultural perspective?
A researcher randomly assigns participants to either listen to music or sit in silence before solving puzzles.
What is an experiment?
A study tests whether screen brightness affects eye strain. The researcher manipulates brightness levels. This manipulated factor is known as this.
What is the independent variable?
Only the participants are unaware of whether they received the real vitamin supplement or a sugar pill.
What is a single‑blind study?
A study involving mild discomfort must ensure that risks are as low as possible.
What is risk minimization?
A counselor focuses on helping a client reach their full potential and make meaningful life choices.
What is the humanistic perspective
A researcher analyzes hundreds of TikTok videos to see how often mental‑health misinformation appears.
What is content analysis?
In a study on reaction time, participants who drank coffee performed better, but they also happened to have eaten breakfast while the other group had not. The breakfast difference represents this.
What is a confounding variable?
A study on caffeine and alertness accidentally tests one group early in the morning and the other late at night.
What is a confounding variable?
Researchers must ensure participants are never pressured or threatened into joining a study.
What is voluntary participation?