Unit 0- AP Psych Test Review

Biological Psychology

a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior, specifically the brain and how our brain reacts to certain issues

Evolutionary Psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

Psychodynamic Psychology

how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

Behavioral Psychology

the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning

Cognitive Psychology

the scientific study of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Cognitive Neuroscience

A field that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity.

Positive Psychology

the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

Humanistic Psychology

historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual's potential for personal growth

The study of environmental influences and the need for love and acceptance best describes:

Sociocultural Psychology

perspective concerned with how cultural differences affect behavior

Biopsychosocial Approach

an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis

Hindsight Bias

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

Confirmation Bias

a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions

Overconfidence

Tendency to overestimate our ability to make correct predictions

How is psychology a science?

Psychology's findings, based on an empirical approach, are the result of careful observation and testing. Sifting sense from nonsense requires a scientific attitude.

What're the 3 key elements of scientific attitude?

Curiosity (Does it work?) Skepticism (How do you know?) Humility (Exploring further)

Critical Thinking

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Peer reviewers

scientific experts who evaluate a research article's theory, originality, and accuracy

hypothesis in psychology

statement of relationship between and among variables, that is testable

Falsifiable

able to be disproven by experimental results

Operational Definition

a statement of the procedures used to define research variables

Replication

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

Case Study

A non experimental technique where a person or group is studied in depth in order to discover universal principles

Meta-Analysis

A procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies to create an all encompassing study

Survey

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

Social Desirability Bias

A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself.

Population

A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

Sample

part of a population

Sampling Bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

Random Sample

method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected

Convenience sampling

choosing individuals who are easiest to reach

Representative Sampling

a sample from a larger population that is statistically typical of that population.

How do theories advance psychological science?

Psychological theories organize observations and imply predictive hypotheses. After constructing precise operational definitions of their procedures, researchers test their hypotheses, validate and refine the theory, and, sometimes, suggest practical applications. If other researchers can replicate the study with similar results, we can then place greater confidence in the conclusion.

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 things (from -1 to +1)

Stronger is closest to one

What is an example of a negative correlation? Positive?

-people who spend time exercising, tend to weigh less -people who eat more carrots, have better vision

Regression Towards the Mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward their average.

Experiment

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

Experimental Group and Control Group

exposed to the cause & not exposed to the cause/normal treatment

Independent and Dependent variables

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.

Single-Blind Procedure

research design in which participants don't know whether they are in the experimental or control group

Double-Blind Procedure

A research strategy in which neither subjects nor experimenters know which subjects are in the experimental or control groups.

Placebo

something which has a positive mental effect, but no physical effect

Confounding Variable

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

Describe the characteristics of experimentation that make it possible to isolate cause and effect.

(1)manipulating the factors of interest and (2) holding constant ("controlling") other factors

Quantitative Research

research that collects and reports data primarily in numerical form

Qualitative Research

seeks in-depth, open-ended responses, not yes or no answers

Institutional Review

process of examining studies for ethical concerns by a committee of peers

Informed Consent

an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

Informed Assent

Participant's agreement to participate in the absence of full understanding Commonly applies to individuals who have not attained legal majority and/or capacity (minors)

Protect from Harm

Participants should be free from physical and psychological harm in research

Confidentiality

the act of holding information in confidence, not to be released to unauthorized individuals in research

Debriefing

the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants

Explain the process of determining which research design to use.

Step 1: Consider your aims and approach. ... Step 2: Choose a type of research design. ... Step 3: Identify your population and sampling method. ... Step 4: Choose your data collection methods. ... Step 5: Plan your data collection procedures. ... Step 6: Decide on your data analysis strategies.

Describe how psychologists' values influence what they study and how they apply their results.

Depending on what psychologists value, they may research certain aspects of phenomena or certain behaviors, this research could be used for both good and evil

Mode

the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

Mean

the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores

Median

the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it

Percentile rank

the percentage of scores below a specific score in a distribution of scores

Skewed distribution

What does a left and right skew look like?

a representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value

directional skews are opposite of the direction shown/said

Range

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Standard Deviation

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

Normal Curve

the bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes 68% first deviation 95% second deviation

Statistical significance

a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

When P value is .5 or lower

Effect size

a measure of the strength of the relationship between two variables or the extent of an experimental effect

Generalizability

the extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about a group larger than the one we studied

Inferential Statistics

numerical data that allow one to generalize- to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population

Introspection

the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes.

used by structuralists

Nature v.s. Nurture

behavioral psychology

The debate on the contributions of biology and expierence to human development is called:

Coercion

persuading someone to do something

1920-1960 shifted psychology to focus on what?

Observable behavior

Reliability

Consistency is reliability

Validity

Validity is the extent to which the scores actually represent the variable they are intended to

Longitudinal study

employ continuous or repeated measures to follow particular individuals over prolonged periods of time

random assignment

a procedure used in experiments to create multiple study groups that include participants with similar characteristics so that the groups are equivalent at the beginning of the study

Prior to 1920, psychology focused on what?

mental life