AP Psychology Unit 0 Vocabulary

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards for AP Psychology Unit 0 based on the 2025 exam trends.

Overconfidence

When someone believes they are smarter than they really are, such as being cocky.

Hindsight bias

When you believe that you knew something for the entire time, such as someone saying I ne it all along.

Confirmation bias

Only paying attention to information that supports what you believe in and ignoring contradicting info.

Theory

Any idea that explains why or how stuff works based on a lot of evidence.

Hypothesis

A descriptive guess about what would happen in an experiment.

Falsifiable

A possibility that an idea hypothesis or Theory can be wrong.

Operational definition

A detailed description of the procedures.

Replication

Repeating a study to see if the results are the same.

Case study

A super detailed examination of an individual or a group.

Meta analysis

Combining results from multiple studies to find overall Trends.

Naturalistic observation

When the subjects are unaware that they are being experimented on.

Survey

Questioning people to gather information, though it is not as detailed as case studies.

Social desirability bias

Answering in a way that makes you look good.

Self-report bias

When people don't accurately report their behavior or feelings.

Experimental bias

When a researchers expectations affect the results or how they interpret data.

Population

The entire group you want to study.

Sample

A smaller group taken from the population for a study.

Sampling bias

When the sample for a study is not from the population so the results are inaccurate.

Random sample

When everyone in the population has an equal chance of being chosen.

Convenience sampling

Choosing participants who are easiest to reach.

Representative sample

A sample that accurately matches the characteristics of the population.

Experimental methodology

Research methods where researchers manipulate one thing (independent variable) to see the effect on another thing.

Non-experimental methodology

A research method where the researcher observes and measures variables without manipulating them.

Correlation

A measure of relationship between two variables showing how one may predict the other.

Correlation coefficient

A number ranging from $-1$ to $1$ that shows the strength between two variables.

Variable

Anything that can change in a study.

Scatter plot

A graph that shows the relationships between two variables.

Illuster correlation

Thinking there's a relationship between two things when there isn't.

Regression towards the mean

The tendency for extreme resource to be closer to average next time.

Experimental group

The group that receives the treatment or change in an experiment.

Random assignment

Assigning participants to groups randomly.

Single blind procedure

An experiment where participants don't know if they are receiving the actual treatment or a placebo.

Double blind procedure

An experiment where neither the participants and researchers know which participants are receiving the treatment or place bow.

Place bow

A substance or treatment with no real effect used as a control bar.

Place both effect

When participants experience changes because they believe they are currently taking the treatment even when they aren't.

Confounding variable

An outside factor that might affect the results of an experiment.

Validity

How well a study or test measures what it's supposed to measure.

Quantitative research

Research that mostly has numbers for data.

Qualitative research

Research that relies on non numerical data like narrative and experiences.

Liquor scales

Scales that range from very dissatisfied to very satisfied.

Informed descent

Agreement from a minor to participate in a research given in a way so there is no confusion.

Informed consent

When participants are fully informed about a study before joining.

Institutional review

When a research is being reviewed by a committee to make sure it is safe for everyone.

Protect from harm

Making sure that participants are not exposed to unnecessary danger.

Confidentiality

Protecting private info of participants by not sharing personal info.

Debriefing

Telling participants what the study was really about after it's finished.

Research Confederates

People who secretly work with the researchers and pretend to be regular participants to influence others.

Descriptive statistics

Summarizing data to describe patterns in a clear way.

Histogram

Graphs that do not have gaps between the bars, differing from bar graphs.

Measure of central tendency

A way to find the center of a data set using mean, median, and mode.

Percentile rank

For example, if you score an $85\%$ on a test and the percentile rank is $90\%$, you did better than $90\%$ of the people who took the test.

Scool distribution

When the data is not evenly spread out and leads to one side.

Measures of variation

Shows how spread out the data is using range and standard deviation.

Standard deviation

A measure of how much scores vary from the average.

Normal curve

A distribution where the mean is always $68.26\%$.

Inferential statistics

Using data from a small group to make guesses for a larger group.

Statistical significance

Tells us if a result is likely due to chance or if it's legit.

Effect size

A measure of how strong the relationship between variables are.