Assam HS Class 11-12 Psychology key terms

The scientific study of mental processes and behaviour. It uses systematic observation and evidence rather than intuition to describe, explain, predict and influence how people think, feel and act.

A method in which a person reports their own inner experiences, thoughts and feelings as they occur. It was central to early structuralist psychology but is criticised for being subjective and hard to verify.

An early school of psychology, associated with Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener, that tried to analyse conscious experience into its basic elements using introspection.

A school of psychology, linked to William James, that focused on how mental processes help people adapt to their environment rather than on breaking experience into parts.

Sigmund Freud's theory and therapy holding that much behaviour is driven by unconscious conflicts, wishes and early childhood experiences, which may be explored through free association and dream analysis.

A school of psychology, associated with Watson and Skinner, that studies only observable behaviour and treats learning as the result of conditioning by stimuli and consequences, avoiding reference to inner mental states.

A school, associated with Maslow and Rogers, that emphasises free will, self-actualisation and the person's subjective view of themselves, treating people as inherently growth-oriented rather than as machines or animals.

The branch that studies mental processes such as attention, memory, problem solving and language, often using experiments and information-processing models of how the mind takes in and uses information.

In psychoanalytic theory, the part of the mind holding wishes, memories and conflicts outside awareness that still influence behaviour, dreams and slips of the tongue.

In humanistic theory, the highest level of growth in which a person realises their full potential. Maslow placed it at the top of his hierarchy of needs.

A clear, testable prediction about the relationship between variables, stated before data collection so that the study can confirm or reject it.

Any characteristic or condition that can take different values across people or situations, such as age, reaction time or anxiety level, and that a study measures or manipulates.

A precise statement of how a variable will be measured or manipulated in a particular study, for example defining anxiety as a score on a given questionnaire, so others can replicate the work.

The variable that the researcher deliberately manipulates or selects in order to see whether it produces a change in the outcome being measured.

The outcome variable that is measured in an experiment; its value is expected to depend on, or change with, the independent variable.

A research design in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable and controls other conditions so that cause-and-effect conclusions about the dependent variable become possible.

In an experiment, the group that does not receive the treatment or manipulation, providing a baseline against which the performance of the experimental group is compared.

Placing participants into experimental or control groups by chance so that the groups are roughly equivalent at the start, reducing bias from pre-existing differences.

An unintended factor that varies along with the independent variable and could also affect the dependent variable, making the true cause of a result unclear.

A statistical relationship in which two variables change together, either in the same direction (positive) or opposite directions (negative). Correlation does not by itself prove causation.

A research approach in which behaviour is watched and recorded as it occurs, either in a natural setting or in a controlled laboratory, without the researcher manipulating variables.

A method in which the researcher asks questions and records spoken answers, ranging from structured schedules with fixed questions to open-ended conversations that explore a person's experiences in depth.

An in-depth, often long-term investigation of a single person or small group, using multiple sources of information to understand unique experiences or rare conditions.

The consistency of a measure: whether it gives stable, similar results when repeated on the same person or when scored by different observers.

The extent to which a test or study measures or demonstrates what it claims to measure, rather than something else, so conclusions drawn from it are sound.

The principles guiding psychologists to protect participants, including informed consent, confidentiality, the right to withdraw, and avoiding harm or deception without justification and debriefing.

An ethical requirement that participants be told the purpose and procedures of a study, and any risks, before agreeing in writing or verbally to take part.

The orderly, progressive changes in physical, cognitive, social and emotional functioning that occur across the lifespan, from conception through childhood to old age.

The debate over how much development is shaped by inherited biological factors (nature) and how much by environment, experience and upbringing (nurture); most psychologists now see them as interacting.

A limited window in development during which a particular ability, such as language or attachment, must be acquired for it to develop normally; deprivation in that window can cause lasting difficulty.

A strong emotional bond an infant forms with a caregiver, studied by Bowlby and Ainsworth; secure attachment provides a base for exploration and later relationships.

In Piaget's theory, assimilation fits new information into existing mental schemas, while accommodation changes those schemas to fit new information that does not match.

The understanding, developing in infancy, that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight, so a hidden toy is still searched for.

The process by which sensory receptors detect physical energy, such as light, sound or pressure, and convert it into neural signals sent to the brain.

The process of selecting, organising and interpreting sensory information to give it meaning, such as recognising a sound as a friend's voice.

The weakest intensity of a stimulus that a person can detect reliably about half the time, such as the faintest sound that is just audible.

The smallest detectable change in a stimulus, also called the just noticeable difference; Weber's law states that it grows in proportion to the original stimulus strength.

The process of focusing mental resources on selected stimuli or tasks while ignoring others, allowing deeper processing of what is attended to.

The ability to concentrate on one source of information, such as one conversation, while filtering out competing stimuli, as in the cocktail-party effect.

The attempt to process two or more tasks or inputs at the same time; performance usually suffers when tasks demand the same mental resources.

The tendency to perceive objects as remaining the same in size, shape and brightness even when the retinal image changes with distance, angle or lighting.

The ability to judge distance and see the world in three dimensions, using binocular cues such as retinal disparity and monocular cues such as size and overlap.

A relatively permanent change in behaviour or knowledge that results from experience or practice, rather than from maturation, fatigue or temporary states.

Pavlov's learning process in which a neutral stimulus, after repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to elicit a conditioned response on its own.

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without prior learning, such as food causing salivation in Pavlov's dogs.

A learned response elicited by a previously neutral stimulus after it has been paired with an unconditioned stimulus, such as salivating to a tone.

The gradual weakening and disappearance of a learned response when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, or when reinforcement stops.

Skinner's learning process in which behaviour is strengthened or weakened by its consequences, such as rewards and punishments, rather than by association between stimuli.

Any consequence that increases the likelihood of the behaviour it follows; positive reinforcement adds a pleasant stimulus, while negative reinforcement removes an unpleasant one.

A consequence that decreases the likelihood of the behaviour it follows, either by adding an unpleasant stimulus or by removing a pleasant one.

Bandura's form of learning in which a person acquires new behaviour by watching a model and observing the consequences of that model's actions, without direct reinforcement.