AP Psychology - Unit 2 - Scientific Foundations of Psychology

Unit 2 Vocabulary

Culture

The distinctive customs, values, beliefs, knowledge, art, and language of a society or a community

Hindsight Bias

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

Critical Thinking

Thinking that analyzes and evaluates evidence rather than relying on blindly accepting arguments or opinions as facts

Theory

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Operational Definition

A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study

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

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

Naturalistic Observation

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

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

Sampling Bias

A systematic and directional error involved in the choice of units, cases, or participants from a larger group for study

Population

All the cases in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn

Random Sample

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

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which two variables change together, and thus of how well either variable predicts the other.

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical index of the relationship between two variables

Variable

Something in an experiment that can change or be altered such as a characteristic or value

Scatterplots

A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables.

Illusory Correlation

The perception of a relationship where none exists

Regression Toward The Mean

The tendency of results that are extreme by chance on first measurement ie. extremely high or low than average to move closer to the average when measured a second time

Vaildity

The extent to which a test measures or predicts what its supposed to

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

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, serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

Randomly Assign

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance

Double Blind Procedure

Experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo

Placebo Effect

Experimental results caused by expectations alone

Independent Variable

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

Confounding Variable

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

Dependent Variable

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

Descriptive Statistics

Numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups. Includes measures of central tendency and measures of variation.

Histogram

A bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

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

Range

The gap between the lowest and highest scores

Skewed

One where frequency data is not spread evenly; data is cluster at one end

Normal Curve

A symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data

Standard Deviation

A measure of dispersion that shows the spread of scores around the mean

Statistical Significance

The degree to which a research outcome cannot reasonably be attributed to the operation of chance or random factors

Participant Bias

When the participants involved in research respond in a manner that suggests they are trying to match up with the desired result of the researcher

Informed Consent

The process by which researchers working with human participants describe their research project and obtain the subjects consent to participants in the research based on the subjects understanding of the projects methods and goals

Debriefing

A set of procedures including counseling and the giving of information aimed at preventing psychological morbidity and aiding recovery after a traumatic event

Skewed Distribution

One where frequency data is not spread evenly; the data is clustered at one end

Inferential Statistics

Ways of analyzing data using statistical tests that allow the researcher to make conclusions about whether a hypothesis was supported by the results

Meta Analysis

Where researchers combine the findings from multiple studies to draw an overall conclusion

External Validity

The extent to which we can generalize findings of a study to other situations, people, settings, and measures

Internal Vailidity

The degree of confidence that the causal relationship being tested is trustworthy and not influenced by other factors or variables

Nominal

Frequency or count data that consists of the number of participants falling into categories

Ordinal

A variable whose possible values have a clear rank order

Z-Score

A statistic that tells us where a score lies in relation to the population mean

P-Score

A number, calculated from a statistical test, that describes how likely you are to have found a particular set of observations if the null hypothesis were true

IRB

Federally-mandated, locally-administered groups changed with evaluating risks and benefits of human participant research at their institution

Coercion

The process of attempting to influence another person through the use of threats, punishments, force, direct pressure, and other negative forms of powers

Anonymity

There is no way for anyone (including the researcher) to personally identify participants in the study