AP Psychology Lecture Notes

AP Psychology Vocabulary Flashcards

Physiological Perspective

Focuses on the organism's physical processes to explain behavior.

Cognitive Perspective

Focuses on the organism's thinking and understanding processes.

Behavioral Perspective

Studies how all behavior is observable and measurable, focusing on reinforcement and observational learning.

Psychodynamic Perspective

Studies the unconscious, childhood experiences, and aggression and their effects on the adult self; includes Freud’s psychoanalysis.

Humanistic Perspective

Studies how humans differ from animals, emphasizing free will and the potential to reach full potential.

Evolutionary Perspective

Studies the evolution of humans over time and how humans adapt to their environments.

Sociocultural Perspective

Studies how experiences like culture, gender, and family affect our life.

Biological Perspective

Studies the physiology of the body to explain behavior, focusing on neuroscience.

Eclectic Approach

Combining ideas from multiple theories: Biological, Psychological, and Socio-Cultural.

Confirmation Bias

Tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.

Hindsight Bias

Tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we would have predicted it beforehand.

Overconfidence

Tendency to be more confident than correct.

Psychiatrist

A branch of medicine that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders; can prescribe medicine.

Clinical Psychologist

Diagnoses and treats people with emotional disturbances and mental illnesses.

Counseling Psychologist

Helps people with problems of living (family, work, school, etc.).

Developmental Psychologist

Studies physical, emotional, cognitive, and social changes that occur throughout life.

IO Psychologist

Studies human behavior in the workplace/businesses.

Psychometric Psychologist

Studying the measurement of our abilities, attitudes, and traits.

Positive Psychologist

Uses scientific methods to explore the building of a ‘meaningful life’ that points beyond ourselves.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often induced by a theory, to enable us to accept, reject, or revise the theory.

Falsifiability

Must be present in ALL hypotheses - the possibility that an assertion can be shown false.

Operational Definition

A clear statement of what a variable is in an experiment/how the variable is measured.

Peer Review

Scientific experts evaluate a research article’s accuracy.

Replication

Process of repeating research to see if the same results are obtained.

Theory

Is an explanation that integrates principles, organizes, and predicts behavior or event. It must be a highly tested hypothesis.

Generalizability of Results

Results from sample population are applied to the greater population.

Meta Analysis

Combining significant results of multiple studies to strengthen results

Population

The participants that can be selected for the sample.

Sampling

The process by which participants are selected for the experiment.

Sample Population

The small group of participants that a researcher studies.

Representative Sample

The group that is studied measures the intended group of study.

Sampling Bias

Flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample.

Convenience Sampling

Collecting research from readily available participants.

Random Sample

Everyone has an equal chance of being selected for the experiment because the participants are chosen at random.

Independent Variable

A factor, manipulated by the experimenter, and whose effect is studied.

Dependent Variable

A factor that may change in response to the independent variable.

Confounding Variables

An additional factor that may influence results of the experiment.

Experimental Group

The group that receives the treatment.

Control Group

The group that does not receive the treatment or take part in the critical analysis of the hypothesis being studied.

Random Assignment

Randomly assigning the control and experimental groups to limit bias in experiments.

Placebo Effect

Something administered that has no real effect on the person other than what they think mentally.

Single-Blind

The subjects do not know to what group they belong.

Experimenter Bias

The experimenter, either unconsciously or consciously, affects the outcome of the experiment.

Double-Blind

Neither the experimenter nor the subjects know to which group the subjects belong.

Reliability

A study that is replicable and consistent.

Validity

A study that measures what is supposed to be measured.

Case Study

Researching a full and detailed picture of one participant or a small group of participants.

Longitudinal Study

A study that gathers data over a long period of time, usually many years.

Cross-Sectional Study

A study that gathers data once from multiple age groups (cohorts).

Naturalistic Observation

Observing and recording behavior in the natural environment, where the researcher is concealed or hidden.

Survey

A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions, or behavior of people in a questionnaire.

Social Desirability Bias

When people respond in ways that they presume the researcher expects or wishes.

Self Report Bias

When people do not accurately report their behavior.

Correlations

A relationship between two variables, where cause and effect cannot be inferred.

Directionality Problem

Correlation does not imply causation because of directionality; X and Y can be statistically related, but Y may not cause X.

Third Variable Problem

Correlation does not imply causation because of third variables; the correlation between X and Y may be explained by a third variable.

Scatterplots

A graph of participants’ scores on two variables that demonstrates the direction and strength of the relationship.

Positive Correlation

As one variable goes up, the other variable goes up (or both down).

Negative Correlation

As one variable goes up, the other variable goes down (inverse).

Coefficients

Pearson “r” represents the strength and direction of a correlation.

Effect Size

The strength of the relationship between two variables.

Regression Towards the Mean

Variables that are extremely higher or lower than average (outliers) on the first measurement, move closer to the average on the second measurement.

Descriptive Statistics

Describes data listed in a frequency distribution or graph.

Inferential Statistics

Forming conclusions about the effect of the independent variable.

Histogram

Height of bars indicates frequency distribution of a group of scores.

Mean

Average of the scores; most affected by outliers.

Median

The middle score.

Mode

The most frequently occurring score in the distribution.

Outlier

A ‘far out number’; a really high or really low number compared to the other data points that can skew data.

Frequency Distribution

Summary chart that shows how frequently each of the various scores in a set of data occur.

Variance

How spread-out scores are from one another.

Range

The lowest score subtracted from the highest score.

Percentile Rank

How your score compares to the rest of the population.

Normal Distribution

A frequency distribution shaped like a symmetrical bell-shaped curve.

Standard Deviation

The average distance of scores around the mean.

Positive Skew

Long tail in the positive direction, containing more low scores.

Negative Skew

Long tail in the negative direction, containing more high scores.

Null Hypothesis

Opposite of your hypothesis; states there is no relationship between variables.

Statistical Significance

Cause and effect can be gathered from analysis using P values.

P Values

Must be less than 5% for significance (.05).

Quantitative Research

Relies on numerical data.

Qualitative Research

Relies on in-depth narrative data that is not translated into numbers.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Federally mandated groups that evaluate risks and benefits of human participant research to ensure research is ethical.

Informed Consent

Subjects must be informed about the experiment before they participate.

Informed Assent

Young participants (12-18) may give assent to participate with parental authorization.

Protection from Harm

Subjects should not intentionally be harmed from participating.

Confidentiality

Information about the subject remains private.

Deception in Research

Telling the participant they are measuring one thing when really they are measuring another; must be justified.

Debriefing

Subjects must be told about the true intent of the experiment before leaving, especially if deception is used.

Nature versus Nurture

Nature = inherited traits; Nurture = environmental factors.

Darwin & Natural Selection

Among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will mostly likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

Eugenics

Applying principles of the evolutionary perspective in ways that discriminate against others.

Behavior Genetics

The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

Twin Studies

Identical twins = monozygotic; Fraternal = dizygotic.

Central Nervous System

The brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System

Sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body.

Somatic Nervous System

The division of the PNS that controls the body’s skeletal muscles (voluntary actions).

Autonomic Nervous System

The part of the PNS that controls the glands and muscles of the internal organs, like the heart (involuntary ‘automatic’ actions).

Sympathetic NS

Arouses the body (fight or flight); increases heart rate and respiration, and decreases digestion.

Parasympathetic NS

Calms the body (rest and digest).