Psych AP Exam Cram

up to Leptin

Hypothesis

tentative explanation — must be falsifiable

falsifiable

able to be supported or rejected

Operational Definition

clear, precise, quantifiable definition of your variables – allows replication and collection of reliable data

Qualitative data

descriptive data (eye color)

Quantitative data

numerical data – IDEAL and necessary for statistics

Population

everyone the research could apply to

Sample

the people (or person) specifically chosen for your study

Correlation

identify relationship between two variables — useful when experiments are unethical — DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION

Directionality problem

which direction does the correlation go? (depression causes low self-esteem, low self-esteem causes depression, or a 3rd variable?)

3rd variable problem

diff. variable is responsible for relationship (ice cream and murder)

Positive Correlation

variables increase and decrease together

Negative Correlation

as one variable increase, other decreases

Experiments

purposefully manipulate variables to determine cause /effect — only research design that establishes cause and effect — can be unethical, too artificial

Independent Variable

purposefully altered by researcher to look for effect

Experimental Group

received the treatment (part of the IV); can have multiple experimental groups

Control Group

placebo, baseline (part of IV)

Dependent Variable

measured variable

Placebo Effect

any observed effect on a behv. That is “caused” by the placebo (shows effectiveness of exp. Treatment). Usually fixed w/ blinded studies

Double-Blind Experiment

Exp. where neither the participant or the experimenter are aware of which condition people are assigned to (drug studies)

Single-Blind Experiment

only participant blind – used if experimenter can’t be blind (gender, age, etc)

Confound

error/ flaw in study that is accidentally introduced (can be called a confounding variable)

Random Assignment

assigns participants to either control or experimental group at random –increase chance of equal representation among groups (spreads the lefties across both groups) – allows you to say Cause / Effect

NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION

observe people in their natural settings — real world validity, but no cause and effect

Case Study

studies one person (usually) in great detail — collect lots of info, but no cause/effect

Meta-Analysis

combines multiple studies to increase sample size and examine effect sizes

Descriptive stats

show shape of the data

mean

Average (use in normal distribution)

Median

middle # (use in skewed distribution)

Mode

occurs most often

Bimodal

has two modes (most common #)

Skews

created by outliers

Negative Skew

mean to the left; mode to the right

positive skew

mean to the right

range

distance between biggest and smallest #

standard deviation

avg. amount the scores are spread from the mean (bigger # = more spread)

inferential statistics

establishes significance (meaningfulness)

statistical significance

results not due to chance, experimental manipulation caused the difference in means; smaller p-value = more statistical significance

effect size

the data’s practical signicial — bigger = better

ethical guidelines (IRB approval needed to experiment on people)

confidentiality, informed consent (or assent for minors), debriefing, deception must be warranted, and no harm

self-report bias

errors when collecting survey data

social desirability

people lying on surveys to look good

working effects

how you frame the question can impact responses on surveys

random sample (selection)

method for choosing participants for your study –everyone has a chance to take part, increases generalizability

representative sample

Sample mimics the general pop. (ethnic, gender, age)

convenience Sample

select participants on availability – less representative and less generalizability this way

sampling bias

sample isn’t representative, due to convenience sample

cultural norms

behavior of a particular group can influence research results

Experimenter bias / Participant bias:

experimenter/participant expectations influences the outcome

cognitive bias

bias in thinking/judgement

confirmation bias

find info that supports our preexisting beliefs

hindsight bias

“i knew it all along”

overconfidence

overestimate our knowlege/abilities

hawthorne effect

people change behavior when watched

evolutionary psych

study how natural selection influences behavior

heredity (nature)

how genes influence behavior

environment (nurture)

how outside situations influence your behavior

nature vs. nurture?

answer is that both work together — twin/adoption studies

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

rest of nervous system — relays to central nervous system

somatic nervous system

voluntary movement, has sensory and motor neurons

autonomic nervous system

involuntary organs (heart, lung etc.); includes sympathetic and parasympathetic

sympathetic nervous system ( part of autonomic )

fight/flight (generally activates — except digestion)

parasympathetic nervous system (part of autonomic)

rest / digest (generally inhibits — except digestion)

neuron

basic cell of the neurotransmitter

dendrites

receive incoming neurotransmitters

axon

action potential travels down this

myelin sheath

speeds up action potential down axon; fatty tissue protecting axon

synapse

gap between neurons

sensory neurons

receive sense signals from environment — send signal to brain

motor neurons

signals to move — send signals from brain

interneurons

cells in spinal cord/brain responsible for reflex arc

reflex arc

important stimuli skips the brain and routes through the spinal cord for immediate reactions (hand on a hot flame)

GLIA

support cells — give nutreitns and clean up around neurons

Neurons Five with an Action Potential

ions move across membrane sends an electrical charge down the axon

resting potential

neuron maintains a -70 mv charge when not doing anything

depolarization

charge of neuron briefly switches from negative to positive — triggering action potential

threshold of depolarization

stimulus strength must reach this point to start the action potential

all or nothing principle

either the action potential fires, or doesn’t — no change in speed or intensity

refractory period

neuron must rest and reset before it can send another action potential

neurotransmitters

chemicals released in synaptic gap, received by neurons

excitatory neurotransmitters

increases action potential in other neurons

inhibitory neurotransmitters

decreases action potential in other neurons

GABA

major inhibitory neurotransmitter

Glutamate

major excitatory neurotransmitter (glutes excite you!!)

Dopamine

reward (short term) & fine movement — in hypothalamus, associated with addiction

Serotonin

moods (long-term), emotion, sleep-in amygdala — too little associated with depression

Acetylcholine (ACh)

memory and movement — in hippocampus, associated with Alzheimer’s

Norepinephrine

sympathetic neurotransmitter — too little associated with depression

endorphins

decrease pain

substance P

pain regulation (abnormality increases pain and inflammation)

oxytocin

hormone — love, bonding, childbirth, lactation

adrenaline

hormone — fight /flight

leptin

hormone — makes you full (stops hunger)