AP Psychology Unit 0 Guided Notes: Thinking, Scientific Attitude, Research Methods, and Experimentation

Comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering Modules 0.1 through 0.4 of AP Psychology Unit 0, including scientific attitude, critical thinking, flaws in commonsense thinking, descriptive research methods, sampling techniques, correlation, and experimental design.

Critical thinking

Thinking that examines assumptions, looks into the sources, looks for hidden biases, reviews evidence for the purpose of deciding whether the conclusion is justified and reasonable.

Curiosity

An element of the scientific attitude that supports scientific inquiry by encouraging researchers to ask questions and test theories.

Skepticism

An element of the scientific attitude that urges researchers to test doubts or hypotheses to see whether or not evidence supports their theories.

Humility

An element of the scientific attitude that helps ensure researchers are open to not always being correct and are able to strengthen their conclusions in the case that the evidence does not support their claims.

Hindsight bias

The tendency to believe that you "knew it all along" AFTER seeing the outcome to make it seem like the outcome was more predictable than it actually was.

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident in our beliefs or knowledge than we should be or than is justified, causing us to overestimate our intelligence.

Peer reviewers

Scientific experts who evaluate a research article's theory, originality, and accuracy before it is published.

Theory

An explanation that uses an organized set of principles to organize observations and predict behaviors or event.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction based on a theory.

Falsifiable

Able to be tested and possibly proven false.

Operational definition

A precise statement explaining how a variable will be measured or used in a study.

Replication

Repeating the main parts of a research study, usually with different participants and situations in order to see whether the results can be reproduced.

Case study

An in-depth examination of one individual or group of people.

Naturalistic observation

Observing and recording behavior in a natural setting without manipulating the situation.

Survey

A nonexperimental method that asks people to report their attitudes, opinions, or behaviors through questions or interviews.

Wording effects

Changes in people's responses caused by the wording or order of survey questions.

Social desirability bias

The tendency to answer questions in a way that a person thinks will please the researchers or make them seem socially acceptable.

Self-report bias

The tendency for people to report their own behavior inaccurately because they may not accurately remember or may not answer honestly.

Sampling bias

A problem that occurs when a sample doesn't accurately represent the population because the researchers may generalize the sample.

Convenience sampling

Sampling participants because they are easy and readily available rather than because they are actually representative of the population.

Representative sample

A sample that accurately represents the important characteristics of the population.

Random sample

A sample where every person in the population has an equal opportunity to be selected.

Population

The entire group that a researcher wants to study and draw conclusions about.

Correlation

A measure of how closely two variables vary together and how well one variable can predict the other.

Correlation coefficient

A statistical number from $-1.00$ to $+1.00$ that shows the direction and strength of the relationship between the two variables.

Variable

Anything that can vary and is measurable.

Scatterplot

A graph made of dots with each dot representing two variables' values. The direction of the dots shows the direction of the correlation while the amount of scatter shows the strength.

Positive correlation

A relationship where two variables both increase or decrease together.

Negative correlation

A relationship where one variable increases while the other variable decreases.

Illusory correlation

The perception of a relationship between two variables when no real relationship exists.

Regression toward the mean

The tendency for unusually high or low results to be followed by results closer to the average.

Experiment

Research method where researchers manipulate one or more factors so they can observe their effect on a behavior or mental process.

Experimental group

The group exposed to the treatment.

Control group

The group not exposed to the treatment and is compared to the experimental group.

Random assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance to reduce differences between the groups.

Single-blind procedure

A procedure where the participants do not know whether they received the real treatment or a placebo.

Double-blind procedure

A procedure where neither the participants or the researchers interact with them know who received the treatment.

Placebo effect

A change in behavior caused by a person's expectations of what should happen rather than by an active treatment.

Independent variable

Factor being manipulated.

Confounding variable

Factor other than the independent variable that may influence the study's results.

Experimenter bias

Tendency for a researcher's expectations to unintentionally influence participants or the results of a study.

Dependent variable

The outcome measured to determine the effect of the independent variable.

Validity

The extent to which an experiment or test measures what it is supposed to measure.

Directionality problem

A problem in correlational research meaning that even when two variables are related, researchers cannot determine which variable causes the other.

Third variable problem

A problem in correlational research meaning that another unmeasured factor may be causing or influencing both correlated variables.