Research Methodology: Key Concepts

Neurons that fire when observing others, helping us understand and feel their emotions.

Increased response to an outside stimulus after repeated exposure to it.

Stress that motivates and enhances performance.

Stress that leads to negative outcomes and burnout.

Doing something because you enjoy it, not to earn a reward.

Doing something for rewards or to avoid punishment.

Learning by associating a neutral stimulus with a naturally occurring response.

Our innate drive to seek relationships and social connections.

The ability to differentiate between similar stimuli, responding only to specific ones.

A previously neutral stimulus that now triggers a learned response.

A learned response to a conditioned stimulus.

A therapy method that confronts phobias head-on to reduce avoidance.

Gradually exposing someone to their phobia in controlled steps.

Emotions are a result of physical arousal and how we interpret that arousal.

Extrinsic rewards can decrease intrinsic motivation for an activity.

A condition marked by extended periods of low mood, energy, and motivation.

We figure out our own attitudes by observing our actions.

Turning a negative situation into a positive one.

The body's ability to stay balanced, like regulating temperature.

Having more than one mental disorder at once—making diagnosis complicated.

Mental illnesses may develop when a person with a predisposition experiences stress.

Behavior that interferes with daily life or causes distress.

The idea that memory is best when the conditions at retrieval match those at encoding. This includes things like mood, location, and even the person who taught you the information.

When participants in a study guess what the researcher expects to find, potentially influencing their behavior and results. This is a challenge in any research that relies on self-report.

A learning strategy where you actively create new content instead of just passively consuming it. This might involve teaching someone else, explaining the concept in your own words, or making flashcards.

Selecting participants based on their availability or proximity, usually for a specific study. This might be used for a case study but isn't a valid way to generalize results.

Information that individuals report about themselves, like surveys or questionnaires. It's prone to biases like social desirability, and doesn't always match reality.

Focusing on one task and ignoring others. Multitasking reduces learning efficiency and memory retention because our mental resources are limited.

The medulla is responsible for regulating critical life functions like breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. It's essential for basic survival.

Memory for specific events or experiences tied to a particular time and place.

A persuasion technique where getting someone to agree to a small request increases the likelihood they'll agree to a larger, related request later.

The tendency for individuals to feel less personal responsibility to help in an emergency when there are other people present.

Persuasion that relies on factors other than the message itself, like the source's attractiveness or the number of arguments presented.

The tendency to favor members of one's own group (ingroup) over members of other groups (outgroups).

Acting to benefit others without expecting any personal gain or reward.

Sensitization: Increased response to a repeated stimulus. Habituation: Decreased response to a repeated, irrelevant stimulus.

Behaviors that result in positive outcomes are reinforced (strengthened), while those with negative outcomes are punished (weakened).

Escape: Performing a behavior to avoid an aversive stimulus. Reward: Providing positive reinforcement for a desired behavior.

Converting abstract concepts into measurable variables. This is crucial for ensuring clear research and consistent results.

A study method involving practice recall and reviewing answers; delayed feedback is most effective.

Variables that researchers can't directly manipulate, like intelligence, age, or gender.

Techniques to prevent participants from guessing the study hypothesis and influencing their behavior.

Learning to perform an action to avoid an unpleasant or aversive stimulus.

A state of being fully absorbed in an activity, where you forget about external evaluations and worries.

The methods we use to manage and deal with stressors in our lives.

A theory of motivation that states we are driven to reduce biological needs (like hunger, thirst) to maintain homeostasis.

Characteristics that add unusual experiences, such as delusions (false beliefs) and hallucinations (sensory distortions).

Unintended factors that influence the outcome of an experiment, impacting its validity.

Reliability measures the consistency of a test or tool, while validity assesses its accuracy in measuring what it's supposed to.

Techniques to enhance learning and memory by connecting information to existing knowledge, creating analogies, or using mnemonic devices.

A mental workspace where we actively process information, holding it temporarily for further use.

Organizing information into meaningful groups to make it easier to remember.

When previously learned information makes it harder to remember new information.

Chemical messengers that transmit signals between nerve cells, influencing various functions.

Regulates mood, sleep, and appetite. Imbalances are linked to depression.

The idea that the left and right hemispheres of the brain have specialized functions.