ap psychology unit 0

foundations and research

psychology

the study of mind and behaviors

confirmation bias

the tendency to gather evidence that confirms pre-existing expectations

hindsight bias

the tendency after an event has occurred to overthink an outcome that could have happened

overconfidence

someone who overestimates their ability to do something successfully

operational definition

a description of something in terms of operations that can be observed or measured

replication

a copy of an original to confirm if something is correct

population

total number of people

sample

a piece of something to try and receive feedback

random sample

every person in the entire group has an equal chance to participate

convenience sample

any process for selecting a sample of individuals or cases that is not random but chosen by chance of ready availability

sampling bias

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

case study

in depth investigation of an individual, family, event, etc

naturalistic observation

data collected in a field setting without laboratory controls or manipulation of variables

meta analysis

quantitative technique for synthesizing the results of multiple studies of a phenomenon into a single result by combining the effect size estimates from each study into combined effect size/distribution of effect sizes

correlation

the degree of a relationship between 2 variables which may be quantified as a correlation coefficient

correlation coefficient

a numerical index reflecting the degree of linear relationship of 2 variables

scatterplot

a graphical representation of the relationship between 2 continuously measured variables where one is arrayed on each axis and a dot or other symbol is placed at each point where they intersect

directionality problem

the situation in which it is known that 2 variables are related although it is not known which is the cause and which is the effect

survey

a study in which a group of participants is selected from a population and data about or opinions from the participants are collected/analyzed

third variable problem

there could be an outside variable altering the way the results can come out

self report bias

a methodological problem that arises when researchers rely on asking people to describe their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors rather than measuring directly and objectively

social desirability

the tendency of individuals to present themselves in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others

experiment

series of observations conducted under controlled conditions to study a relationship with the purpose of drawing casual inferences about the relationship

independent variable

the factor of an experiment that changes

dependent variable

the outcome variable that changes post experiment

confounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that can change results

experimental group

a group of people who get tested, treated, or surveyed

control group

a group of people who don’t receive what the experimental group gets

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control group minimizing chances of pre-existing differences

placebo effect

results caused by expectations alone

single blind procedure

participants are unaware of what’s going on until after

double blind procedure

participants and researchers don’t know what they could be receiving

experimenter bias

researchers opinion can alter results

structured interview

each participant is asked the same questions

likert scales

attitude that shows good or bad feeling towards something

descriptive statistics

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups

measures of central tendency

a single score that represents a whole group

mean

the average of numbers

median

the middle score of a distribution

mode

most frequent score

measures of variation

shows how similar the scores are in a distribution

range

the difference between the highest and lowest score

standard deviation

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

normal curve

a symetrical, bell shaped curve that describe the distribution of many types of data

skewed distribution

a set of scores/numbers that is not equal on both sides of the mean. results from scores in data set falling more on one end or the other

bimodal distribution

set of scores with 2 peaks of values that tend to cluster

percentile rank

location of a score in a distribution located on a scale ranking

regression towards the mean

tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back toward their average

inferential statistics

numerical data that allow one to generalize from sample data about something of the population

statistical significance

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

effect size

any of various measures of the magnitude/meaningfulness of a relationship between 2 variables

american psychological association

founded in 1892 that represents USA and is the largest investor in psychological research other than universities

institutional review board

committee that reviews research proposals to see if it will qualify within their company

informed consent

an ethical principle that participants be told enough to enable them to want to participate in the study or not

protection from harm

researchers must minimize potential physical and psychological harm to participants during the study

confidentiality

limits disclosure of patient care, identity, condition, or treatment and any other data entrusted to professionals during assessments

anonymous

the person remains unknown

deception

making something look misleading

confederate

an experimenter who poses as a participant but their behavior is rehearsed prior

debrief

explaining after a study about purpose or questions post experiment/study