Psychology Unit 0

psychology

scientific study of mental processes and behavior

confirmation bias

interprets or remembers information that confirms what they believe

hindsight bias

people believe they knew something was going to happen after it occurred

overconfidence

when people have too much faith in judgments and abilities

empirical evidence

info obtained through observation experimentation, or measurement

scientific method

systematic approach used to study human behavior and mental process

hypothesis

specific testable predication or educated guess

falsifiable

a statement that can be potentially proven false through experimentation

peer review

process where experts evaluate a research study

replication

process of repeating a study to find if its consistent

reliability

produces consistent results

validity

accurately measures what it intends to measure

research design

plan of how you will construct your research

methodology

systematic procedures and techniques used to conduct research withing specific research

quantitative data

numbers based information gathered from experiment

qualitative data

insight into complex topics

likert scale

used in surveys to asses attitudes, opinions, or perspectives

structured interviews

research method with predetermined questions that are asked to everyone

survey technique

psychology used to data from a sample of individuals through self-reporting

wording effect

subtle changes in wording of question can influence responses

social desirability bias

tendency of individuals to respond in order to be favored by others

naturalistic observation

researchers observe behavior in real-world without person knowing

case study

involves in-depth examination of single individual, group of phenomenon

correlational research

used to examine relationships, no manipulation

third variable problem

possibility that 3rd unmeasured variable may be influencing relationship

scatter plot

visual representation used in correlational research to display relationship

correlation coefficient

used to quantify the strength and direction of relationship

no correlation

r=0, no relationship

positive correlation

variable increase or decrease consistently

negative correlation

as one increases the other decreases

experimental method

used to investigate cause and effect relationship between variables

confounding variable

variable that was not accounted for

operational definition

specifies how research will be measured

placebo effect

people change behavior because they think they are in the experiment

experimental bias

researcher’s expectations or beliefs influence the results

single-blind study

participants are unaware of whether they belong to experimental group

double-blind study

researchers and participants don’t know which group is which

sample

subset of individuals that represent population

representative sample

sample reflects population different demographics

random sample

any participant has ability to be included

sample bias

sample is not representative of whole population

generalizability

research findings can be applied to the general popul

descriptive statistics

used to summarize and describe characteristics of dataset

inferential statistic

using data to make inferences or predictions about the larger population

measures of central tendency

mean, median, mode

bell curve

majority of the data fall in the center

regression to mean

extreme scores get closer to average when measured again

positive skew

majority of data is on left, tail is toward the positive or right

negative skew

majority of data is on the right, tail is toward negative or left

standard deviation

how far apart your numbers are

percentile rank

indicates the percentage of score distrubution

bimodal

two peaks

statistical significance

likelihood that observed results are not due to change

meta analysis

multiple research studies on the same topic to draw conclusions

protect participants from harm

obligation of researchers to minimize risk and ensure well-being of participants

informed consent

individuals agree to participate in study

informed assent

involving children or people who have limited decision making skills

confidentiality

researchers handle sensitive data and personal information

deception

misleading participant about true purpose of study

confederates

individuals who are part of research study but aware of purpose

debriefing

providing comprehensive information about the purpose of study