unit 0 ap psych

psychology

The scientific study of behavioral and mental processes

neuroscience

The approach that views behavior from the perspective of the brain, the nervous system, and other biological function (how the body and brain create emotions, memories, and sensory experiences)

biological

is a branch in psychology that deals with the biology of behavior, focusing primarily on the nervous system, genetics, and hormones.

Evolutionary

The branch of psychology that seeks to identify behavior patterns that are resulted from our genetic inheritance from our ancestors.

biopsychosocial

the use of biological, psychological, and social principles to address human wellness, health, behavior

confirmation bias

the tendency to seek out and prefer information that supports our preexisting beliefs.

experimental methodology

manipulating one variable to determine if this causes changes in another variable

case study

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

psychodynamic

behavior is motivated by the unconscious inner force over which the individual has little control.

psychoanalytic

abnormal behavior stems from childhood conflicts over opposing wishes regarding sex and aggression

behavioral

the perspective of psychological science that deals with how we learn observable responses

humanistic

a perspective that emphasizes looking at the whole person, and the uniqueness of each individual.

cultural norms

the shared expectations and rules that guide behavior of people within social groups.

hindsight bias

a type of cognitive bias that causes people to convince themselves that a past event was predictable or inevitable.

non–experimental methodologies

research that lacks the manipulation of an independent variable, random assignment of participants to conditions or orders of conditions, or both.

cognitive

the branch of psychology dedicated to studying how people think.

social cultural

different individuals interact with their social groups and how these social groups influence different individuals and how they develop throughout their lives.

cognitive biases

a systematic thought process caused by the tendency of the human brain to simplify information processing through a filter of personal experience and preferences.

overconfidence

the tendency to overestimate our knowledge and abilities in a certain area.

meta analysis

synthesizing the results of multiple studies of a phenomenon into a single result by combining the effect size estimates from each study into a single estimate

correlation

there is a relationship between two or more variables

Hypothesis

A prediction, stemming from a theory, stated in a way that allows it to be tested

Falsifiability

the logical possibility that an assertion, hypothesis, or theory can be shown to be false by an observation or experiment.

Operational definition

The translation of a hypothesis into specific, testable procedures that can be measured and observed in an experiment

Representative sampling

a sample from a larger group that accurately represents the characteristics of a larger population.

sampling bias

occurs when some members of a population are systematically more likely to be selected in a sample than others.

Single-blind procedure

the participants do not know what treatment groups they are in, but the researchers interacting with them do know.

Double-blind procedure

the participants do not know what treatment groups they are in and neither do the researchers who are interacting with them directly.

Experimental bias

factors that distort how the independent variable affects the dependent variable in an experiment

quantitative research

the process of collecting and analyzing numerical data.

Replication

reproducing a study to see if you get the same results.

independent variable

the variable that is manipulated by an experimenter

dependent variable

the variable that is measured in an experiment. It is expected to change as a result of the experimenter’s manipulation of the independent variable

random sampling

a technique in which each person is equally likely to be selected.

experimental group

any group participating in an experiment that receives a treatment

confounding variable

factors other than the independent variable that may cause a result.

participant

any person that take part in an investigation, study, or experiment

sample

a representative subgroup of a population of interest

population

all members of a group of interest

generalizability

a measure of how useful the results of a study are for a broader group of people or situations.

convenience sampling

using respondents who are “convenient” to the researcher

control group

a group participating in an experiment that receives no treatment

placebo effect

when a person's physical or mental health appears to improve after taking a placebo or 'dummy' treatment (false treatment).

Peer review

the quality and potential contribution of each manuscript is evaluated by one's peers in the scientific community.

social desirability bias

people's tendency to respond in ways that are more acceptable to others, regardless of the truth.

Likert scale

a rating scale used to measure opinions, attitudes, or behaviors.

Qualitative research

a method of research that produces descriptive (non-numerical) data, such as observations of behavior or personal accounts of experiences.

structured interviews

a data collection method that relies on asking questions in a standardized order to collect data on a topic.

Institutional review

a committee that reviews, approves, and monitors biomedical and behavioral research conducted on humans.

informed consent

A document signed by participants affirming that they have been told the basic outlines of the study and are aware of what their participation will involve such as risk, purpose, right to alternative and withdraw

Informed assent

a process through which minors agree to participate in clinical trials

Protection from harm

All psychologists have the ethical obligation to ensure that their participants are safe from psychological and physiological harm.

confidentiality

keeping your information private and protecting anonymity

effect size

tells you how meaningful the relationship between variables or the difference between groups is.

deception

when a researcher gives false information to subjects or intentionally misleads them about some key aspect of the research

debriefing

a researcher explains the purpose of the study, allows for deception

mean

a measure of central tendency (average)

median

the middle of a set of numbers

mode

the most often occurring number in a data set.

range

a measure of dispersion. It is the distance between the lowest and the highest value in a set of scores.

standard deviation

An index of the average deviation of a set of scores from the center of the distribution

correlation coefficient

often expressed as r, indicates a measure of the direction and strength of a relationship between two variables.

percentile rank

the percentage of individuals in the distribution with scores at or below the particular value.

normal curve

bell-shaped distribution curve that occurs when a normal distribution is plotted as a frequency polygon.

distribution

a probability distribution that measures the spread of data.

regression towards the mean

where if one sample of a random variable is extreme, the next sampling of the same random variable is likely to be closer to its mean.

correlational data

measuring two variables and assessing the relationship between them, with no manipulation of an independent variable

scatterplot

shows the relationship between two quantitative/numerical variables measured for the same individuals.

statistical significance

how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

positive skewness

the mean is usually greater than the median because the few high scores tend to shift the mean to the right.

negative skewness

the mean is usually less than the median because the few low scores tend to shift the mean to the left.

Bimodal curve

a type of distribution characterized by two distinct peaks.

american psychological association (APA)

governing body for psychology

confederate

an aide of the experimenter who poses as a participant but whose behavior is rehearsed prior to the experiment