AP Psychology Semester 1 Review

Critical thinking

smart thinking; complex way of approaching and analyzing situations/media/contents/etc

Hindsight bias

"I knew it all along"

Overconfidence

belief you know more than you do

Key elements of scientific attitude

curiosity, skepticism, humility

Perceiving order in random events

people perceive patterns to make sense of their world

Peer reviewers

expert scientists who evaluate study's theory, originality, etc

Theory

provide lens for organizing observations that explain behaviors; useful if it 1) organizes observations, 2) implies predictions and 3) stimulates further research

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Falsifiable

measures the scientific strength of a hypothesis; ability to be proven false

Operational definitions

carefully states procedures + concepts; checks bias and allowed replication

Replication

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

Case study

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and 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

Wording effects

when a specific word used in a question affects how respondents answer the question or the order of the questions

Social desirability bias

people want to be socially acceptable, leads to self-report bias

Self-report bias

inaccurate reporting of behavior

Sampling bias

generalize from a few unrepresentative cases

Random sample

all in population have an equal chance of being included

Correlation

traits and behaviors tend to coincide with one-another

Correlation coeficient

+1 is perfect positive correlation, 0 is no correlation and -1 is perfect negative correlation; to find how closely things vary;

Scatterplots

reveal if variables are correlated positive/negative/not at all

Illusory correlation

a perceived but nonexistent correlation

Regression towards the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward their average; feed illusory correlation

Experiment

isolate cause + effect by manipulating a variable

Experimental group

receive the independent variable (changed)

Control group

do not receive independent variable (not changed)

Random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

Single-blind procedure

participants don't know whether they are in the experimental or control group (placebo effect)

Double-blind procedure

neither participants nor researcher knows whether the participant is in the experimental or control group (2 placebo effects)

Placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone

Independent variable

variable that is manipulated

Confounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

Experimenter bias

the influence of the experimenter's expectations on the outcome of research

Dependent variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

Validity

the extent to which the experiment tested what it was meant to

Quantitative research

research that collects and reports numerical data

Qualitative research

research that relies on what is seen in field or naturalistic settings more than on statistical data

Informed consent

participant must be fully informed and debriefed of the study and have the ability to opt out at any point

Debrief

full rundown

Descriptive statistics

measure and describe the group under the study; numerical

Bar graph/histograms

graphing data that is in disconnected groups

Mode

most often seen result

Mean

average result

Median

the middle score in a distribution

Percentile rank

the percentage of scores below a specific score in a distribution of scores

Skewed positive

mode less than mean

Range

the difference between the highest and lower scores in a distribution

Standard deviation

a measure of variability that describes an average distance of every score from the mean; 34%, 13%, 3%

Normal curve

normal bell curve - mode aligns with mean

Inferential statistics

numerical data that allows one to generalize from sample data to a population

Meta-analysis

comparing studies with one-another

Statistically significant

an observed effect so large that it would rarely occur by chance

Effect size

the magnitude of a relationship between two or more variables

Hawthorne effect

knowing you're being watched can/will impact results

Skewed negative

mode greater than mean

Neuron

nerve cell; building block of nervous system

Cell body/soma

contains nucleus and other parts needed to sustain life

Dendrites

receive messages from other cells

Axon

passes messages away from cell body to other neurons, muscles, glands

Myelin sheath

covers axon, speeds neural impulses

Axon terminal

forms junctions with other cells

Glial cells

support, nourish, and protect neurons

Action potential

a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon; Na+ enters axon channel

Threshold of excitation

level of charge in the membrane that causes the neuron to become active

Resting potential

the state of the neuron when not firing a neural impulse

Refractory period

a period of inactivity after a neuron has fired

All-or-none response

nerve responds either completely or not all all to a stimulus

Depolarization

during the cation potential, Na+ enters the cell causing the interior to become more positive

Synapse

junction between neurons

Neurotransmitters

chemical messengers

Acetylcholine

enables muscle action, learning, and memory

Adrenaline/Epinephrine

increases heart rate and blood pressure

Dopamine

influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion

GABA

inhibitory neurotransmitter, prevents seizures

Glutamate

excitatory neurotransmitter (seizures, migraines)

Norepinephrine

helps control alertness and arousal (depress mood)

Oxytocin

hormone causing increased contraction of the uterus during labor and lactation

Serotonin

affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal (depression)

Substance P

involved in pain perception

Reuptake

neurotransmitters taken back into the synaptic vesicles

Multiple sclerosis

myelin sheath destruction; disruptions in nerve impulse conduction

Myasthenia gravis

chronic autoimmune disease that affects the neuromuscular junction and produces serious weakness of voluntary muscles

Reuptake inhibitors

block reuptake

Endorphins

natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked to pain control and pleasure

Endocrine system

"slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream

Agonists

increase the action of a neurotransmitter

Antagonists

decrease or block a neurotransmitter

Nervous system

communication network that takes in info from the world, makes calls, sends back info; brain, spine, nerves

Central nervous system

brain and spinal cord; decision maker

Peripheral nervous system

sensory and motor neurons, gather info and transmits CNS calls

Nerves

bundles of axons in PNS

Sensory neurons

carry messages from tissue to CNS (afferent)

Motor neurons

carry calls from CNS to muscles/glands (efferent)

Interneurons

in CNS, between S and M

Somatic nervous system

enables voluntary control of skeletal muscles; sensory input

Autonomic nervous system

glands, organs, etc; self-regulating

Sympathetic nervous system

arouses and expends energy (fight or flight); alerts you

Parasympathetic nervous system

conserves energy; calms you

Reflex

a simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus