AP Psych Vocab 1 + Perspectives

humanistic

explain behaviors through physiological, emotional, and spiritual needs

psychoanalytical

examination of the “unconscious mind”

neuroscience/biopsychology

explain psychology strictly on the basis in terms of biological processes

behavioral

explain psychology in terms of “conditioning” – they look strictly at behaviors and what reaction (reinforcement/punishment) organisms get in response to specific behaviors

cognitive

examine psychology in terms of how we interpret, process, and remember environmental events

social-cultural

examine psychology based on “culture”

eclectic

belief that no one psychological perspective has the answers to all thought and behavior

evolutionary

examine psychology based in terms of “natural selection”:

case study

psychologists study one individual in great depth in order to reveal universal principles

correlational study

research in which we look for a relationship between 2 variables

scatterplot

a visual graph of a correlation using dots

dependent variable

results from varying independent variables

independent variable

variables we can manipulate

confounding variable

any factor other than the independent variable that affects the dependent variable

mean

average, most commonly published

median

midpoint

range

gap between the highest and lowest

mode

the most frequently occurring score(s)

standard deviation

how much scores deviate from one another; tight or dispersed

random sample

method of choosing participants where every member of the target population has an equal and independent chance of being selected

random assignment

researchers use chance to assign participants to experimental or control groups

double blind procedure

neither the researcher nor the participants are aware of what group individuals are separated into

illusory correlation

perceived nonexistent correlations

naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations, without trying to manipulate anything

operational definition

how a variable is measured in an experiment

placebo effect

when one experiences improvements/changes only because they believe they will—not because they were given anything of medicinal, physical, etc. value

statistical significance

if/when averages are reliable and applicable to the general public; results did not occur by chance

replication

multiple trials