Ap Psychology: Unit 0

Key terms for Unit 0

Biological Perspective

The influence of biological factors like hormones, drugs, and neurotransmitters on the body and behavior

Evolutionary perspective

Traits, typically universal, that allowed for a genetic advantage (natural selection)

Psychodynamic Perspective

Behavior stemming from unconscious drives and conflicts, typically from childhood

Humanistic Perspective

Emphasizes free will, self actualization and innate drive for humans to reach full potential

Behavioral Perspective

Humans learn through observable responses and consequences, learning is automatic and thoughtless

Cognitive perspective

Behavior and thinking are influenced by how a person thinks and remembers

Socio-cultural Perspective

behavior and thinking are products of social and cultural norms and expectations

Biopsychosocial perspective

thinking and behavior are results of a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors

Eclectic perspective/approach

using multiple psychological perspectives, not just one

Experimental v. nonexperimental

Non experimental

no variables are manipulated so cannot prove causation, only observing and recording

Experimental

variables are manipulated through isolation to prove causation and their effects

Independent variable (IV)

the variable that is manipulated, controlled by scientist

Dependent variable (DV)

the variable that is expected to change in response to IV, measured effect

Confounding variable/Third-variable problem

a third, unaccounted for factor that affects both variables

Random assignment

randomly assigning research participants by chance into different experimental or control groups. This reduces biases and confounding variables and allows us to confidently ascribe cause.

Population

a group of people you want to study and draw conclusions from. Clearly defined populations are important to select samples and generalize results.

Sample

smaller subset of a population chosen for research study

Random sampling

Randomly picking from a population. This allows for a representative sample that can allow for generalized results.

Representative samples

subset of a population that accurately reflects characteristics of the population.

Convenience samples

non random sampling that selects participants based on availability and accessibility

Sampling bias

flaws sampling process that produces a sample that is unrepresentative of the population

Generalizability

the ability to apply the results of a study to a larger population

Experimental group

the group that changes the IV and tests for the effect of DV

Control group

the group that doesn’t change the IV and is used for comparison of the effect size of DV

Placebo group

group receiving an inactive change that shouldn’t affect the DV. they are expecting active treatment

Placebo effect

a change in a person’s body or mind caused by an expectation of a change via treatment which is actually inactive

Single-blind procedure

only researcher knows who is in control or experiment (Reduces placebo effect and participant bias)

Double-blind procedure

when both the researcher and participants don’t know who is in control or experimental group.

Experimenter bias

during naturalistic observation, experimenter’s expectations or desires unintentionally influence the result of the study

Case study

focus on one individual or a small group

Correlation (does not equal causation)

identifies patterns and makes predictions about variables and their relationships

Positive correlation

a direct relationship where 2 variables increase together

Negative correlation

an inverse relationship where when 1 variable increases, the other decreases

Illusory correlation

tendency to perceive random coincidence as correlation

Directionality problem

when it is not possible to determine which variable is influencing the change in the other

Scatterplots

graphical relationship between 2 variables

Correlation coefficient

statistical number that measures direction and strength of a correlation. (+/-) indicates direction while the number (0-1) indicates strength

Quantitative measures (e.g. Likert scales)

relies on numerical data

Qualitative measures (e.g. structured interviews)

in depth, narrative data that are not translatable into numbers

Surveys

a data collection tool that aims to gather attitudes, opinions, and behaviors of a population through interviews or questionnaires

Framing

how a researcher presents their data to potentially overexaggerate (changing y-axis, etc)

Social desirability bias

people will lie to present themselves in a socially favorable light.

Self-report bias

when people report their behavior inaccurately due to misremembering and lack of remembering or social desirability bias and suppressing

Meta-analysis

non experimental research method that combines data from multiple previous studies to reach a conclusion on a specific topic

Naturalistic observation

a non experimental research method where a researcher observes and records behaviors of subjects in their natural habitats without interacting with them

Hypothesis

a prediction that can be tested

Falsifiability

the capacity for a hypothesis to be proven wrong or right via experimentation

Operational definitions

defining abstract concepts in experiments to make them measurable, replicable, and valid

Replication and Peer review

researchers repeating the same experiment and reaching the same results

Ethical guidelines

guidelines of psychological research to make an experiment ethical.

Institutional review board (for human and non-human research)

an ethics committee that reviews proposed research and approves or disapproves proposals based on ethical guidelines

Informed consent

the idea that participants must know about the research and what they are involved in to be able to give consent for an experiment. They must be competent and must volunteer with no coercion.

Informed assent

same as informed consent, except for minors. Permission given through parent/guardian.

Nonmaleficence

protecting participants from physical or emotional harm

Confidentiality of participants

participant privacy is guaranteed and protected. Their identities and actions cannot be revealed.

Minimal deception

researchers must be transparent with participants. Deception is only allowed if the experiment cannot be done without it, it doesn’t cause trauma, it doesn’t invalidate informed consent, and there is a full debriefing at the end.

Confederates

people who secretly work with the researcher by acting as a participant. Their role is to manipulate the situation

Debriefing

at the end of an experiment, participants must be told the purpose of the study and given the contact of the researcher. If there was deception, they must be informed of the real purpose of the study.

Central tendency (mean, median, mode)

a single middle statistical value which aims to represent the middle of a dataset

Measures of variation (range and interpret standard deviation)

statistical values which aim to describe a spread around the middle of the dataset.

Normal curve (percentages and percentiles)

a symmetrical bell shaped curve that shows the normal distribution of a dataset. 68-95-99.

Positive and negative skews

Positive Skew

When the tail is longer on the right side because the mean is larger than median.

Negative Skew

When tail is longer on left side because the mean is less than the median

Bimodal distributions

There are 2 distinct peaks reflecting 2 different groups in 1 data set

Regression toward the mean

statistical concept to describe the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to regress toward the average performance by chance.

Statistical significance

Determined by p-value. p<0.05.

Effect sizes

how much an effect a treatment has is because of the IV

Cognitive biases (confirmation bias, hindsight bias, overconfidence)

Confirmation bias

tendency to ignore evidence that contradicts your opinions and only search and select evidence that supports your beliefs.

Hindsight bias

when our brains trick us into believing an outcome was obvious and predictable after learning about the outcome of the event

Overconfidence

when we think we know more than we know