All ap psych notes

Descriptive Statistics

Statistics that allow a researcher to look closely at and notice patterns about the sample group directly studied, such as bar graphs, scatter plots, and pie charts.

Inferential Statistics

Statistics that allow a researcher to apply patterns noticed about a small group to make predictions about a whole population, including normal distribution and tests for significance.

Mean

The distribution’s average, calculated by adding all values together and dividing by the number of values.

Median

The “middle” number of a distribution, found by placing values in order and eliminating from the outside inward to find the center.

Mode

The number that shows up “most” in a distribution; if two numbers tie, the distribution is bimodal.

Range

The difference between the lowest and highest values in a distribution.

Standard Deviation

A measure of how far a value is from the mean of a distribution.

Negative Correlation

An inverse relationship where as one variable goes up, the other goes down; numerically represented as a correlational coefficient between $-0.2$ and $-1$.

Positive Correlation

A direct relationship where as one variable goes up, the other goes up; numerically represented as a correlational coefficient between $0.2$ and $1$.

No Correlation

The absence of a meaningful relationship between variables, represented by a correlational coefficient between $0.19$ and $-0.19$.

Negatively Skewed Distribution

A distribution in which more values are concentrated in the right (negative) side of the distribution.

Positively Skewed Distribution

A distribution in which more values are concentrated in the left (positive) side of the distribution.

Bimodal Distribution

A distribution in which there are two concentrations of values.

Illusory Correlation

The phenomenon of perceiving a relationship between two unrelated variables.

Confounding Variable

A variable that influences both the dependent and independent variables, leading to an illusory correlation.

Informed Consent

An ethical guideline stating that participants must agree to participate in a study.

Deception Debriefing

The requirement that researchers explain the true purpose of an experiment after it has occurred if deception was used.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

A committee that reviews research studies involving humans for ethics.

Stage 1 (Sleep Cycle)

The changeover from wakefulness to sleep where heartbeat, breathing, and eye movement slow, muscles relax, and brain waves get slower and larger.

Stage 2 (Sleep Cycle)

Light sleep where the person is easily woken up, body temperature drops, and brain waves slow with small bursts.

Stage 3 (Sleep Cycle)

Deep sleep needed to feel refreshed; heartbeat and breathing slow to lowest levels, and brain waves are at their slowest and largest.

Stage R (REM Sleep)

Occurs ~$90$ minutes after falling asleep; characterized by rapid eye movement, irregular breathing, muscle paralysis, and most dreaming.

Insomnia

A sleep disorder characterized by difficulty falling asleep, remaining asleep, or persistently waking early.

Narcolepsy

A genetic disorder featuring uncontrollable sleep attacks where the person goes directly into REM sleep.

Sleep Apnea

A disorder involving frequent gasping for air that awakens a person and disrupts sleep, carrying a possibility for death.

Information Processing Theory

A theory that dreams during REM sleep help sort, sift, and secure a day’s experience into memories.

Activation Synthesis Theory

The theory that dreams have no meaning and result from the cerebral cortex trying to interpret firing from the pons and brainstem.

Algorithm

A step-by-step process that guarantees a solution to a particular problem (the long, safe way).

Heuristic

A quick trick that allows for a quick solution to a particular problem (the quick, risky way).

Mental Set

The tendency to solve a problem the same way every time because it worked in the past, which can lead to an inability to solve problems if the approach doesn't change.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

The theory that humans are born with the innate ability to acquire, develop, and produce language.

Critical Period

Noam Chomsky’s theory that people must develop language in childhood or they lose the ability to fully learn it.

Babbling Stage

A stage at $3-4$ months when babies make spontaneous meaningless sounds.

Telegraphic Speech

The two-word stage occurring at $18$ months when toddlers use two-word statements to communicate.

Overgeneralization

The linguistic error of over-applying grammar rules (e.g., saying “eated” instead of “ate”).

Phonemes

The most basic sounds of language.

Morphemes

The smallest meaningful units of speech.

Lexicon

The collection of all the words that a specific person knows.

Bias

The least intense and most subtle evaluation that does not have to be based on identity (unchangeable attributes) and can harm people both with and without privilege.

Stereotypes

Assumed similarities in a group used to label them as "different," occurring when bias becomes more organized and harmful within in-group/out-group dynamics.

Prejudice

The systemic pre-judging of a person facing oppression based on their identity; it is often subconscious or subtle and actively harms or disadvantages the individual.

Discrimination

A systemic phenomenon where prejudices organize to create unfair outcomes for oppressed identities, often visible in statistics regarding organizations or systems.

Ethnocentrism

The perception that one's own culture does things the "right" way and that other cultures are strange, illogical, less important, or "backward."

Out-group homogeneity bias

The tendency for people to stereotype members of an out-group as "all" being the same way or thinking in the same way.

Mere-exposure effect

The phenomenon where people develop warmer feelings toward individuals or groups they see more often, which can lead to a lessening of deeply felt hate.

Scapegoat theory

A theory suggesting that stereotyped out-groups are used by people in power as targets to explain why problems exist, such as the scapegoating of Jewish people for the German economy.

Aggression

A behavior for which testosterone is considered the primary hormone.

Evolutionary perspective on attraction (Women)

The view that women are considered more attractive if they appear more capable of reproduction, specifically indicated by a high hip-to-waist ratio.

Evolutionary perspective on attraction (Men)

The view that men are considered more attractive if they appear able to protect, typically characterized as being tall with big muscles.

Similarity and attraction

The principle that people are more likely to have lasting partners who have a lot in common with them, suggesting that the idea "opposites attract" is usually wrong.

Cognitive dissonance

A concept relating to internal struggle regarding a decision where one's actions or choices may conflict with existing feelings or relationships.

2016 Resume Study (White Names)

A study where resumes with white-signaling names received a $25\%$ interview rate.

2016 Resume Study (Black Names)

A study where resumes with Black-signaling names received a $10\%$ interview rate.

Solomon Asch

A researcher whose work contributed to the understanding of conformity, specifically identifying factors that strengthen it such as group unanimity and size.

Stanley Milgram

A researcher known for his study on obedience, which found that most people will obey perceived authority figures' instructions to harm others.

Philip Zimbardo

A researcher who contributed to the psychological understanding of conformity, compliance, and obedience.

Groupthink

When pressure for harmony in a group leads to people suppressing useful - or even critical - dissenting opinions.

The Challenger Explosion (1986)

A classic example of groupthink where engineers had concerns about launching in $32$ degree weather but remained silent due to pressure, leading to a disaster.

Bystander effect

Phenomenon of people hesitating to help others out of expectation that someone else will help.

Diffusion of responsibility

A phenomenon where individuals in groups feel a lower sense of responsibility, which can lead to more irresponsible behavior.

Deindividuation

Phenomenon of a person “losing” a sense of themself when “caught up in” group action; common in riots and group violence (“mob mentality”).

In-group/out-group bias

Tendency of people to overly trust people who are a part of their “group” and overly distrust people who are not a part of their “group”.

Group polarization

Tendency of groups of like-minded people to develop even stronger beliefs or even to radicalize themselves due to in-group agreement.

Social facilitation

The tendency of someone who is already good at a task to do even better at the task when being observed by others.

Social inhibition

The tendency of someone who is not very good at a task to do even worse at the task when being observed by others.

Social norms

The expectations of a particular social group.

Reciprocity norms

The expectation that if I help you, you will help me.

Social traps

Social situation with conflict that pushes a person to fight for their own interests over other’s interests.

Prisoner’s Dilemma

A classic example of a social trap.

Conflict resolution

The process of working through conflict to come to a solution.

Superordinate goals

Goals that both sides of a conflict want to achieve and that require cooperation; these support healthy conflict resolution.

Attitude

Lasting beliefs and feelings toward a particular topic, person, idea, or institution.

Elaboration-likelihood model

A psychological model that describes two routes to changing someone’s attitude: the central route to persuasion (high elaboration) and the peripheral route to persuasion (low elaboration).

Central route to persuasion

Persuasive arguments made through direct, analytical, and deep reasoning; it requires high effort, time, and attention and typically results in lasting attitude change.

Peripheral route to persuasion

Persuasion achieved through shallow associations and conditioning; it requires low effort and attention, is best for unmotivated audiences, and typically results in temporary attitude change.

Foot in the door phenomenon

A psychological manipulation tactic that starts with a small request and slowly builds to larger and larger requests, often used as a metaphor for the "frog in the boiling water."

Door in the face phenomenon

A psychological manipulation tactic where one starts with a "way-too-big" request that is turned down, only to then ask for a "more reasonable" request that was the actual goal.

Leon Festinger

The researcher who conducted a study where subjects were paid either $1$ or $20$ to lie about a boring task to investigate cognitive dissonance and attitude shifts.

Cognitive dissonance

A phenomenon where an individual feels discomfort when holding two conflicting beliefs or values and becomes motivated to change their belief to match their action.

Festinger's Experimental Findings

The finding that the less a person is rewarded for lying (e.g., the $1$ group rating enjoyment at $1.35$ vs the $20$ group at $-0.05$), the more they convince themselves they believe what they said.

Cognitive bias

A pattern of incorrect interpretation of the world or an error in thinking.

Attribution

The process that happens when we decide in our minds why someone did something.

Internal attribution

Deciding that someone did something because of their internal traits, qualities, or personality.

External attribution

Deciding that someone did something because of external circumstances, context, or surroundings.

Fundamental attribution error

A cognitive bias in which a person attributes others’ bad actions to personality and others' good actions to circumstances.

Self-serving bias

A cognitive bias in which a person attributes their own bad actions to circumstances and their own good actions to their personality.

Confirmation bias

A cognitive bias in which people seek out evidence that proves their beliefs to be true and ignore or discount evidence that proves their beliefs to be false.

False consensus effect

A cognitive bias in which people overestimate the extent to which other people share their opinions, beliefs, and values.

Just-world hypothesis

A cognitive bias in which people assume that good things happen to "good people" and bad things happen to "bad people."

Halo effect

A cognitive bias in which people fail to notice bad behavior or traits in someone that they have already labeled as "good"; often influenced by whether someone is considered attractive.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

A cycle in which a person’s thoughts and beliefs influence their actions, which then create outcomes that reinforce their original thoughts.

Availability heuristic

A phenomenon in which people tend to make decisions about the future based on information that is EASIEST to recall, rather than information that is the most important or true.

Sigmund Freud

Associated with the psychoanalytic approach, focus includes exploring unconscious motives, memories, and using free association.

Carl Rogers

Associated with the client-centered approach, focusing on unconditional positive regard, self-awareness, and self-actualization.

B.F. Skinner

Associated with the behavioral approach, focusing on conditioning, interventions, and using rewards/punishments to build better habits.

Aaron Beck

The creator of cognitive therapy and founder of the rational-emotive approach to therapy.

Albert Ellis

The creator of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) who added a behavioral aspect to the rational-emotive approach.

Mary Cover-Jones & Joseph Wolpe

Applied behaviorism to overcome fears and phobias; creators of systematic desensitization.

Unconditional positive regard

A basic principle of psychotherapeutic intervention where the therapist is warm, accepting, supportive, empathetic, and genuine.

Psychoanalytic approach

A therapeutic approach that involves talk therapy to explore unconscious motivations, emotions, and desires.