Acculturation is the process people go through when coming into contact with a new culture, which usually involves adaptation.

The process of psychological and cultural change that follows sustained contact between people from different cultural backgrounds. Individuals adapt to the norms, values, and behaviours of the host culture while negotiating which parts of their heritage culture to retain.

A brief electrical signal that travels down the axon of a neuron when it is activated.

Research comparing adopted children to their biological and adoptive relatives to separate genetic and environmental influences on behaviour.

A substance that mimics or enhances the activity of a neurotransmitter at its receptor.

A form of gender bias that exaggerates differences between men and women.

The tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered (the "anchor") when making decisions, even if it is irrelevant or arbitrary.

Research that uses non-human animals as experimental subjects to investigate biological, behavioural, or psychological processes.

A substance that blocks or reduces the activity of a neurotransmitter at its receptor.

The obligation practitioners carry when psychological research is translated into real-world interventions.

A form of gender bias that hides or downplays real differences between men and women.

Bias is a systematic error that can distort the results of a study, leading to invalid conclusions.

A systematic distortion that pushes research findings in one direction.

A systematic error that skews results in a particular direction.

A situation where two correlated variables could each be the cause of the other, and the design cannot tell which.

Explaining behaviour by breaking it down into smaller biological components such as genes, neurotransmitters, or brain structures.

A relationship in which a change in one variable produces a change in another.

A relationship in which a change in the independent variable directly produces a change in the dependent variable.

Classical conditioning is a learning process where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response.

This concept was first demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov in his famous experiments with dogs.

The idea that working memory has limited capacity, and learning is more effective when unnecessary demands are reduced.

A form of social influence where individuals change their behavior in response to a direct request from another person or group.

The probability that if one relative shows a trait, another relative will show it too.

A change in behaviour, attitude, or belief that results from real or imagined pressure from a group, even when no specific request or direct order has been made.

An unmeasured variable that influences both the proposed cause and the proposed effect, producing a spurious correlation.

A statistical association between two variables, captured by the correlation coefficient r, which runs from -1 to +1.

A research design that measures different age groups or cohorts at the same point in time.

A systematic tendency to apply one cultural group's norms and assumptions as if they were universal.

Measurable scales, originally developed by Geert Hofstede, along which whole societies vary in values, beliefs, and behaviour, allowing systematic comparison across cultures.

Data analysis is the process of examining, organising, and interpreting research data to identify patterns and draw conclusions about the question being studied.

A session after a study in which the researcher tells participants its true purpose and addresses any deception or distress.

Reasoning from a general theory to a specific prediction.

Cues in a study that signal to participants what the researcher expects, leading them to alter their behaviour.

The process of growth and change that occurs throughout a person's life, influenced by biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors.

A model proposing that disorders develop when an underlying biological vulnerability is triggered by environmental stress.

A question that asks about two things at once, so the respondent cannot answer one without also answering the other (e.g., "Do you find this app fast and reliable?").

A research design where neither the participant nor the experimenter who interacts with them knows which condition the participant is in.

The mistake of assuming that every individual in a culture follows that culture's norms, when people within any culture vary widely.

A research approach that studies a culture from the inside, using categories defined within that culture.

The process by which individuals learn and adopt the cultural norms, values, and behaviors of their society.

The obligation researchers carry to design studies that respect participants and minimise harm.

A research approach that compares cultures using standardised categories defined from outside.

The error of applying your own cultural norms and frameworks when studying another culture, treating your own standard as the universal one.

A systematic distortion in psychological research caused by how gender is sampled, measured, or interpreted.

A pattern where the effect of a gene on behaviour depends on the environment a person experiences, and vice versa.

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease (World Health Organization). Because well-being is partly social, what counts as 'healthy' varies across cultures.

The proportion of variation in a trait within a population that can be attributed to genetic differences.

A chemical messenger produced by an endocrine gland and released into the bloodstream to act on distant organs.

An approach that studies psychological phenomena from inside a specific cultural community, using concepts built within that culture.

Reasoning from specific observations to a general conclusion.

Agreement to participate in a study after being told its purpose, procedures, foreseeable risks, and right to withdraw.

A qualitative research method in psychology in which a researcher asks a participant questions directly, in person or remotely, to understand the thinking, feelings, or experience behind a behaviour in the participant's own words.

A qualitative research method in which the researcher asks open or semi-open questions and records the participant's answers.

A question whose wording subtly suggests a particular answer or activates a specific schema, biasing the response of the person being asked.

A question that contains an unjustified assumption, so that any answer the respondent gives appears to confirm it (e.g., "Have you stopped lying to your parents?").

The principle that specific psychological functions are carried out by specific regions of the brain.

A long-lasting strengthening of the connection between two neurons that fire together repeatedly.

A research design that follows the same participants over time, taking measurements at multiple points.

A pattern of behaviour or thinking that causes significant distress or impairment in daily functioning, and that deviates from cultural norms about what is expected or healthy.

A simplified representation of a psychological process or structure, often visualised as a diagram.

The brain's ability to change its structure and function in response to experience.

A chemical messenger released by a neuron at the synapse that carries a signal to the next neuron.

A research method that records behaviour directly, without asking the participant to report it.

Operant conditioning is a type of learning where behaviour is shaped by its consequences.

Defining an abstract concept in terms of specific, observable, and measurable variables.

Posting a study's hypotheses and analysis plan to a public registry before any data is collected.

The tendency for journals to publish positive results far more often than null findings or failed replications.

A research design that compares groups on a pre-existing variable the researcher cannot manipulate or randomly assign.

Sorting participants into experimental conditions by chance, so each participant has an equal probability of being in any condition.

The consistency of a measure across occasions, coders, or items.

The tools psychologists use to investigate questions and test hypotheses.

Bias introduced when a researcher's expectations or behaviour push a study's results toward a preferred outcome.

The reabsorption of neurotransmitters by the sending neuron after they have been released into the synapse.

When the sample studied does not represent the population the researcher claims to describe.

The view that knowledge is stored in long-term memory as organised mental frameworks called schemas, which guide attention, fill in missing information, and shape memory by reconstructing events to fit prior expectations.

An interview in which the researcher has a planned set of topics or core questions but can ask follow-ups and rephrase as the conversation develops.

The tendency for participants to answer in a way that makes them look good rather than report honestly.

The theory that a person's sense of self is shaped by group memberships, producing in-group favouritism and out-group discrimination.

Social learning theory (SLT), developed by Albert Bandura, proposes that humans learn social behaviour by observing and imitating others. Reinforcement, punishment, and the perceived similarity between observer and model all shape whether the behaviour is reproduced.

The obligation psychologists carry to ensure their findings benefit society and do not cause harm when communicated and applied.

An interview in which every participant is asked the same set of pre-written questions in the same order, prioritising comparability over flexibility.

A research method that collects self-report data from a large sample using a standardised questionnaire.

The small gap between two neurons across which chemical signals are transmitted.

A general, testable explanation for a pattern of behaviour or mental processes.

A research design that manipulates the independent variable, randomly assigns participants to conditions, and controls confounding variables.

Research that compares identical and fraternal twins to estimate the genetic contribution to a behaviour or trait.

The extent to which a measure accurately reflects the construct it is intended to measure.