AP Psych Unit 1 Quiz

Behavioral

how we learn observable responses

biological

how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences; how genes combine with environment to influence individual differences

Hormones, frontal cortex development, etc.

Cognitive

how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information

Evolutionary

how the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes

Self defense

Flight or fight response

Humanistic

How we meet our needs for love and acceptance and achieve self-fulfillment

Everybody needs love to hit their full potential

Psychodynamic

how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

Early Trauma

Agression

Sociocultural

study of how cultural and political experiences affect our life

Anything in your environment

Case study

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

Very in depth, but can lead to generalizability

Survey

A questionnaire or interview designed to investigate the opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of a particular group.

Cheap and fast, but can become ineffective with wording and bias

naturalistic observation

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

Bigger sample size in a natural setting, but not as in-depth

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.

Postive correlation

a relationship between two variables in which both variables either increase or decrease together

negative correlation

as one variable increases, the other decreases

meta-analysis

a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

Gets most data, compares multiple things that are similar, but too hard to conduct

Experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

Proves causation, but hardest to conduct, expensive, and requires approval

Falsifiability

ability of a hypothesis to be proven false

independent variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

dependent variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

experimental group

In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.

control group

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent.

single blind

An experiment in which either the subjects or those who interact with them and measure the response variable, but not both, know which treatment a subject received.

double blind

an observation whose true purpose is hidden from both the observer and the person being observed

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

replication/peer review

replication/peer review

reproducing an experiment to see if they can obtain the same results; a process in which work is received by professionals of similar backgrounds

confounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

Population

total group you want to study

random sample

represents the group proportionally

convenience sample

a form of nonprobability sample using respondents who are convenient or readily accessible to the researcher—for example, employees, friends, or relatives

representative sample

randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects

experimenter bias

a phenomenon that occurs when a researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained

participant bias

a tendency for research participants to respond in a certain way because they know they are being observed, or they believe they know what the researcher wants

directionality problem

a problem encountered in correlational studies; the researchers find a relationship between two variables, but they cannot determine which variable may have caused changes in the other variable

operational definition

a statement of the procedures used to define research variables