AP Psychology Vocab

Positive Psychology

The study of human happiness, growth and well-being

The GI Joe Fallacy

Knowing is only half of the “battle,” nothing will happen or change if no action is taken

Subjective Well-Being

Being happy with the idea of you life, being happy by experiencing good and bad emotions (excitement, joy, fear, pain, love), self evaluation of own life

Life Satisfaction

Evaluation of overall quality of life

Self-Report Bias

Method of research, asking someone directly about their feelings, opinions, and beliefs (their POV), where people give inaccurate or misleading answers to how they think the experimenter wants them to answer

Feel-Good Do-Good Phenomenon

When people are in a good mood, they are more willing to help others and act nicer

Miswanting

Act of wanting something that we think we’ll like in the future but in reality no matter how much or what you want, it won’t make us as happy as we think

Meta-Analysis

Developing a conclusion based on multiple scientific studies and therefore has greater statistical power (more accurate)

Active Social Network Use

Actively engaging and having social interactions online (ex. chatting with other users, commenting on posts, posting a story)

Passive Social Network Use

Viewing content without social interactions (ex. looking at posts, reading news feed, “lurking”)

Affective Forecasting

Our predictions about our own affective state in the future

Impact Bias

The tendency to overestimate the emotional impact of a future event both in terms of its intensity and duration

Hedonic Adaptation

The process of getting accustomed to a positive/negative stimulus such that the emotional effects of that stimulus are attenuated over time

Psychological Immune System

A set of unconscious psychological mechanisms that help us to recover from bad events

Savoring

The act of stepping outside of an experience to review and appreciate it

Negative Visualization

The act of thinking about the bad counterfactual of a good thing in your life

Reference Point

A salient (but often irrelevant) standard against which subsequent information is compared

Social Comparison

The act of evaluating one’s own salary/status/possessions/abilities/etc relative to those of other people

Attention

The set of processes that allow us to consciously focus on a particular bit of sensory information at the expense of other information

Bottom-Up Attention

Attention that is allocated effortlessly/automatically to salient stimuli in the environment

Top-Down Attention

Attention that is allocated effortfully and consciously based on our current goals or prior knowledge

Change Blindness

A phenomenon in which we fail to perceive changes in a stimulus that occur in plain sight

Attentional Hygiene

Using a variety of strategies to take control of your attention and minimize distraction

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

A form of therapy based on the idea that how we think (thoughts), what we feel (emotions and bodily sensations) and how we act (behavior) interact together

Flow

A mental state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment (aka “the zone”)

Fun

A joy-filled experience that’s characterized by a combination of playfulness, connection, and flow

Character Strengths

A desire, a disposition to act, or a feeling that involves the exercise of judgement that leads to a recognizable human excellence or instance of human flourishing

Signature Strengths

Those character strengths that are most essential to who you are as a person

Job Crafting

The process of shaping your own job demands/activities/environments to fit with more of you signature strengths

Time Affluence

The subjective feeling that one has sufficient time to pursue leisure and other activities that are personally meaningful

Time Confetti

The small “scraps” of time we have in between important tasks during the day

Gratitude

A positive emotional state in which one recognizes and appreciates what one has received in life

Benefit Finding

The process of looking for the bright side of negative events and deriving positive growth from adversity

Mind-Wandering

A shift in the contents of thought away from an ongoing task and/or from events in the external environment to self-generated thoughts and feelings

Self-Compassion

An attitude that involves treating oneself with kindness and understanding in difficult times and recognizing that making mistakes is part of being human

Rumination

A perseverative thought pattern that focuses on negative content (generally in the past and present) and results in emotional distress

Worry

A repetitive thought pattern that focuses on negative and uncertain future possibilities/threats and results in emotional distress

Distanced Self-Talk

The act of talking to yourself in second-person or third-person to increase psychological distance

Fixed Mindset

The belief that a person’s basic qualities (e.g. intelligence, talent, fitness, kindness) are fixed traits

Growth Mindset

The belief that a person’s qualities (e.g. intelligence, talent, fitness, kindness) can change and be developed through dedication and hard work

Ironic Process Theory

An idea which posits that deliberate attempts to suppress thoughts/emotions makes them more likely to resurface

Hot-Cold Empathy Gap

A bias in which people underestimate the influence of their current internal state on their attitudes, preferences, and behaviors

Hot Cognition

Thought processes that occur when under bodily/emotional stress

Cold Cognition

Thought processes that occur when under low bodily/emotional stress

Situation

All of the factors outside of a person (external cues, the environment, the people around, etc.) that are often trivial but influence our behavior anyway

Chameleon Effect

A phenomenon in which people unconsciously mimic the postures, facial expressions, and other behaviors of another person

Emotional Contagion

A phenomenon in which people tend to express and feel emotions that are similar to the people around them

Conformity

The act of matching one's attitudes, beliefs, & behaviors to those of other people and/or a group

Social Benchmarking

A psychological phenomenon in which other people's behavior gives you a standard from which to assess your own behavior

Social Proof

A psychological phenomenon in which people assume the actions of others reflect correct behavior for a given situation

Habit

Automatic behavioral responses to a situational or environmental cue to which the behavior has been performed consistently in the past

Reward

The positive outcomes that are earned as a result of our behaviors

Cue

A perceptual stimulus that triggers an automatic habit

Routine

The physical, mental, or emotional action you take when a cue is present to get a reward

Temptation Bundling

A strategy in which people restrict their access to instantly rewarding experiences (e.g. watching TV) only to occasions when they engage in goal-consistent behaviors (e.g. exercising)

Association

Mental connection between concepts, behaviors, events and/or feelings that are formed through specific experiences

Implementation Intention

A self-regulatory strategy in the form of an "if-then plan" that can lead to more goal-directed behaviors

WOOP Method

A method for setting goals in which you think about (1) your wish, (2) the best outcome, (3) potential obstacles, & (4) your if/then plan

Fresh-Start Effect

A psychological phenomenon in which it's easier to adopt new habits and make changes at natural temporal landmarks (new year, birthday, new semester, etc.)

Critical Thinking

Thinking that does not automatically accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, examining assumptions, appraises (officially assess) the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Hindsight Bias (I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)

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

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information that matches what we already believe while ignoring facts that do not fit

Overconfidence

The tendency to think that we humans know more than we do

Case Study

A non-experimental technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principals

Naturalistic Observation

A non-experimental technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Survey

A non-experimental technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative random sample group

Social Desirability Bias

Bias from people’s responding in ways they presume a researcher expects or wishes

Self-Report Bias

Bias when people report their behavior inaccurately

Sampling Bias

A flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

Random Sample

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Population

All those in a group being studied, from which random samples may be drawn. (Except for national studies, this does not refer to a country’s whole population)

Convenience Sampling

Collecting research from a group that is readily available (ex. friends at school instead of sample that represents all students at school)

Representative Sample

A group of participants that accurately mirrors the key characteristics, demographics, and diversity of a larger target population

Sample

A manageable group of participants chosen from a larger target population to take part in a study

Experimenter Bias

Process where a researcher’s unconscious expectations, beliefs, or desires unintentionally influence the outcome of a study or interpretation of its data

Operational Definition

An exact description of what was done in the study to research a specific variable to allow others to replicate the study

Replication

The process of repeating a previously published study using new participants and data to see if the same results and conclusions can be obtained

Falsifiability

A rule that a scientific theory must be able to be proven wrong by an observation or an experiment

Peer Reviewers

Experts in the same scientific field who critically evaluates a research manuscript before publication to assess it validity methodology and overall quality

Hypothesis

A testable prediction about the expected relationship between two or more variables in research study

Theory

A fact-based framework that describes, explains and predicts human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

Experimental methodology

A systematic scientific approach used to test cause-and-effect relationships by actively manipulating an independent variable and measuring its impact on a dependent variable

Nonexperimental methodology

A type of research where the scientist measures variable naturally without changing or manipulating them

Correlation

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

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical index of the relationship between two variables (from -1.00 to +1.00)

Variable

Anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure

Scatterplot

A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables (slope of points suggests direction of relationship, amount of scatter suggests strength of correlation)

Illusory Correlation

Perceiving a relationship where non exists, or perceiving a stronger-than-actual relationship

Regression Toward the Mean

The tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back (regress) toward the average

Experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors

Experimental Group

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

Control Group

In an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment (serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment)

Random Assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups

Independent Variable(s)

In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied

Dependent Variable(s)

In an experiment, the outcome that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated

Single-Blind Procedure

An experimental procedure in which the research participants are ignorant (blind) about whether they have received the treatment or a placebo

Double-Blind Procedure

An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.

Placebo

Latin for “I shall please”

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 (someone’s symptoms improve after receiving fake treatment)

Confounding Variable

In an experiment, a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s results