AP Psychology Unit 0 - Modules 0.0-0.3

Psychology

The scientific study of mind and behavior, covering conscious and unconscious phenomena as well as feeling and thought.

Curiosity, Skepticism, and Humility

The three essential components of the scientific attitude: a passion to explore, a critical mindset that asks for evidence, and an awareness of one's own vulnerability to error.

Critical Thinking

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions, but rather examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Hindsight bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (also known as the "I-knew-it-all-along" phenomenon).

Confirmation bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident than correct—to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgments.

Peer reviewers

Independent scientific experts who evaluate a study's quality, methodology, and validity before it is published in a journal.

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, that specifies what results would support or disconfirm the theory.

Operational definition

A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures or measures used in a research study 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 can be reproduced.

Case study

An in-depth descriptive research method in which one individual or small group is studied in detail to reveal universal principles.

Meta-analysis

A statistical technique for combining the findings from multiple independent studies to determine overall trends.

Naturalistic observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or 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.

Social desirability bias

The tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others.

Self-report bias

The tendency for people to inaccurately report their own behaviors, thoughts, or feelings due to selective memory, exaggeration, or misunderstanding.

Experimenter bias

A process where a researcher's expectations, beliefs, or preferences unintentionally influence the outcome of a study.

Population

All those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn for a research project.

Sample

A subset of individuals chosen from a larger population to represent the group as a whole.

Sampling bias

A flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample of a population.

Random sample

A sample that fairly represents a population because every member has an equal chance of being included.

Representative sample

A sample that accurately reflects the key characteristics and demographics of the larger population from which it was drawn.