AP Psych Unit 0
Decoding Psychology Essential Concepts
This study guide breaks down fundamental concepts in psychology to help you
master the basics quickly and effectively.
1. Applied Research: Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.
2. Basic Research: Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge
base.
3. Behavior: The actions by which an organism adjusts to its environment.
4. Behavioral Data: Observational reports about the behavior of organisms and
the conditions under which the behavior occurs or changes.
5. Behaviorism: A scientific approach that limits the study of psychology to
measurable or observable behavior.
6. Behaviorist Perspective: The psychological perspective primarily concerned
with observable behavior that can be objectively recorded and with the
relationships of observable behavior to environmental stimuli.
7. Biological Perspective: The approach to identifying causes of behavior that
focuses on the functioning of the genes, the brain, the nervous system, and the
endocrine system.
8. Biopsychosocial Approach: An integrated perspective that incorporates
biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.
, 9. Clinical Psychology: A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats
people with psychological disorders.
10. Counseling Psychology: A branch of psychology that assists people with
problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving
greater well-being.
Study Tip: Notice the subtle but important difference between Clinical and
Counseling Psychology. Clinical psychology often deals with more severe mental
health disorders, while counseling psychology focuses on everyday challenges and
well-being.
11. Dispositional Variables: The organismic variables, or inner determinants of
behavior, that occur within human and nonhuman animals.
12. Empiricism: The view that knowledge comes from experience via the senses,
and science flourishes through observation and experiment.
13. Functionalism: A school of psychology that focused on how mental and
behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive,
and flourish.
14. Humanistic Perspective: A psychological model that emphasizes an
individual's phenomenal world and inherent capacity for making rational
choices and developing to maximum potential.
15. Humanistic Psychology: Historically significant perspective that emphasized
the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study
personality in hopes of fostering personal growth.
Decoding Psychology Essential Concepts
This study guide breaks down fundamental concepts in psychology to help you
master the basics quickly and effectively.
1. Applied Research: Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.
2. Basic Research: Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge
base.
3. Behavior: The actions by which an organism adjusts to its environment.
4. Behavioral Data: Observational reports about the behavior of organisms and
the conditions under which the behavior occurs or changes.
5. Behaviorism: A scientific approach that limits the study of psychology to
measurable or observable behavior.
6. Behaviorist Perspective: The psychological perspective primarily concerned
with observable behavior that can be objectively recorded and with the
relationships of observable behavior to environmental stimuli.
7. Biological Perspective: The approach to identifying causes of behavior that
focuses on the functioning of the genes, the brain, the nervous system, and the
endocrine system.
8. Biopsychosocial Approach: An integrated perspective that incorporates
biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.
, 9. Clinical Psychology: A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats
people with psychological disorders.
10. Counseling Psychology: A branch of psychology that assists people with
problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving
greater well-being.
Study Tip: Notice the subtle but important difference between Clinical and
Counseling Psychology. Clinical psychology often deals with more severe mental
health disorders, while counseling psychology focuses on everyday challenges and
well-being.
11. Dispositional Variables: The organismic variables, or inner determinants of
behavior, that occur within human and nonhuman animals.
12. Empiricism: The view that knowledge comes from experience via the senses,
and science flourishes through observation and experiment.
13. Functionalism: A school of psychology that focused on how mental and
behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive,
and flourish.
14. Humanistic Perspective: A psychological model that emphasizes an
individual's phenomenal world and inherent capacity for making rational
choices and developing to maximum potential.
15. Humanistic Psychology: Historically significant perspective that emphasized
the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study
personality in hopes of fostering personal growth.
