AP Psych: ALL UNITS (Semester 1)

psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

levels of analysis

the differing, complementary views - biological, psychological, and social-cultural - for analyzing any given phenomenon

biopsychosocial approach

an integrated perspective that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis

behavioral perspective

theoretical approach to psychology that focuses on how we learn observable responses via learning principles

biological perspective

theoretical approach to psychology that focuses on how the body, the brain, and genetics enable behavior and mental processes

cognitive perspective

theoretical approach to psychology that focuses on how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information

evolutionary perspective

theoretical approach to psychology that focuses on how natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes

humanistic perspective

theoretical approach to psychology that focuses on how we meet our needs for love and acceptance and achieve self-fulfillment

psychodynamic perspective

theoretical approach to psychology that focuses on how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

social-cultural perspective

theoretical approach to psychology that focuses on how behavior and mental processes vary across situations and cultures

scientific attitude

a mindset of curiosity, skepticism, and humility that supports scientific inquiry

curiosity

a strong desire to know more and to keep learning

skepticism

an approach to new claims that achieves a balance between cynicism (doubting everything) and gullibility (believing everything)

humility

an awareness of our vulnerability to error and an openness to being surprised

critical thinking

thinking that examines and challenges the assumptions of others and yourself, assesses the reliability and motives of a source, and uses evidence to draw conclusions

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for and readily notice information that supports our preconceptions and to avoid, ignore, or distort information that contradicts our preconceptions

hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

overconfidence

to tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments

apophenia

the tendency to find order and patterns in events that are totally random and unpredictable

scientific method

a self-correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation and analysis

peer reviewers

scientific experts who evaluate a research article's theory, originality, and accuracy when it is submitted to a scientific journal

theory

an explanation that organizes a large set of observations and data to predict behavior and events

hypothesis

a testable prediction

falsifiable

the possibility that a hypothesis or claim can be disproven by observation or experimentation

operational definitions

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study, especially in defining exactly how a variable is being measured

replication

repeating the essence of a research study to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced

descriptive research

non-experimental methods of scientific investigation that seek to systematically observe and record

case study

descriptive research technique in which one individual or group is studied in great depth

naturalistic observation

descriptive research technique in which behavior is observed and recorded in naturally occurring situations, with no interference or control

survey

descriptive research technique in which a sample of a population self-report attitudes or behaviors

wording effects

the impact that question phrasing can have on results in a survey

social desirability bias

the error that results from people's tendency to say what they believe is appropriate or acceptable rather than just responding authentically

self-report bias

the error that results from people reporting their own behavior or beliefs inaccurately

sample

a small group of subjects or participants, drawn from a population

population

a group being studied, from which a sample is drawn

sampling bias

an error resulting from a flawed sampling process in which some members of the population were more likely to be selected than others, causing an unrepresentative sample

random sample

a sample in which each member of a population has an equal chance of inclusion, ensures a representative sample

convenience sample

a sample in which respondents are chosen because they are readily accessible to the researcher (e.g. friends, neighbors, co-workers), likely producing an unrepresentative sample

correlational study

a descriptive research technique in which data is collected on two or more variables with no manipulation of any variables

correlation

the measure of how linear the relationship between two variables is; communicates how much two variables change together at a constant rate and thus of how well either variable predicts the other

correlation coefficient

a number, referred to as r, between -1.0 and +1.0, that indicates the strength and direction of a linear relationship between variables

variable

in research, anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure

scatterplot

a graphed cluster of dots in which each dot represents the value of two variables

directionality problem

in correlational research, the possibility that even if there is a causal relationship between variables, it cannot be determined which variable is influencing the other

third variable problem

in correlational research, the possibility that a variable not being measured may be exerting a causal influence on both of the observed variables

causation

a cause-and-effect relationship in which one variable directly controls or affects change in another variable

illusory correlations

a perceived, but non-existent, relationship between variables

regression toward the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back toward the average

experiment

research technique in which a researcher manipulates a variable to observe the effect another variable

experimental group

the portion of the sample that is exposed to the manipulated independent variable

control group

the portion of the sample that is not exposed to the manipulated independent variable, that is used for comparison

random assignment

selecting participants for the experimental and control groups by chance, to minimize preexisting differences between groups

single-blind procedure

an experimental procedure in which the participants are ignorant about whether they are in the experimental group or the control group

double-blind procedure

an experimental procedure in which both the participants and the researchers are ignorant about whether the participants are in the experimental group or the control group

placebo

an inert substance or condition which the recipient assumes is an active agent

placebo effect

a result or change caused by mere expectations alone

independent variable

the factor that is manipulated that might affect the dependent variable

dependent variable

the factor being measured, that may be affected by the independent variable

confounding variables

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect on the dependent variable

experimenter bias

an experimenters unconscious impact on the results of an experiment due to their own expectations

participant bias

a participants impact on the result of the study due to their understanding of the researcher's expectation

quantitative research

research that collects and reports data in numerical form

Likert scale

a research tool that uses a numerical scale to assess attitudes by placing a set of possible answers on a spectrum (e.g. "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree")

qualitative research

research that collects and reports in-depth, narrative data that are not translated into numbers

structured interviews

a research procedure in which all participants are asked the same questions in the same order to maintain validity and reliability in data collection

ethics

moral principles that govern research procedures

deception

misleading participants about the purpose or procedures of a research study; ethically acceptable if it is essential to a justifiable end

confederate

in psychology research, someone who poses as a participant in a study but who is actually an aide to the experimenter, placed in order to manipulate social factors or conditions in an experiment

APA Code of Ethics

the American Psychological Association's principles and rules regarding morally appropriate conduct for psychologists in their scientific, educational, or professional roles

informed consent

the ethical principle that researchers should get a subject's agreement to participate in a study after giving them an idea of what to expect

informed assent

a child subject's agreement to participate in a study, even if they are not yet old enough to give legal consent

protection from harm

the ethical principle that participants should not be subjected to physical or emotional pain or injury

confidentiality

the ethical principle that individual information about a study's participants should be safeguarded and kept private

debriefing

the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

an ethical committee for a university that safeguards human participant's well-being via it's authority to approve, require modification of, or reject research proposals

descriptive statistics

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups

histogram

a bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

measures of central tendency

a measure that describes the approximate middle of a set of scores; mean, median, and mode

mean

the arithmetical average of a distribution, calculated by adding all of the scores together then dividing by the total number of scores

median

the middle score in a distribution

mode

the most frequently occurring score or scores in a distribution

percentile rank

the percentage of scores in a distribution that are lower than a given score

skewed distribution

a representation of scores that is asymmetrical, often lopsided due to a few extreme scores

positive skew

describes an asymmetrical set of scores in which the right-tail is longer, and often the mean is greater than the median and mode

negative skew

describes an asymmetrical set of scores in which the left-tail is longer, and often the mean is smaller than the median and mode

bimodal distribution

a representation of scores in which there are two peaks instead of one

measures of variation

a measure that describes how similar or diverse a set of scores are; range and standard deviation

range

the gap between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

standard deviation

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

normal curve

a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data, in which most scores fall near the mean and fewer and fewer fall near the extremes

inferential statistics

numerical data used to help determine whether one can generalize data or conclusions from the sample to the population

meta-analysis

a procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion

null hypothesis

the assumption that the effect or relationship being studied does not exist; must be confidently rejected for an observed difference to be considered statistically significant

statistical significance

a measure of how likely it is that an observed difference could have occurred by chance if the null hypothesis were correct

p-value

a numerical value that represents statistical significance; a difference is generally considered significant if p ≤ .05

effect size

the measure of the magnitude of one variable's impact on the other and thus how well one variable can be explained by the other

Cohen's d

a numerical value that represents effect size; an effect is generally considered small if d ≤ .2, an effect is generally considered large if d ≥ .8

confidence interval

the numerical range of values that likely includes the population's true mean value

nature-nurture issue

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions of our heredity and our environment to the development of psychological traits and behaviors

natural selection

the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations