AP Psychology Unit 0 Science Practices Vocabulary

Flashcards covering experimental methodology, research design and ethics, and statistical reasoning terms from the AP Psychology Unit 0 study guide.

What is an experiment?

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process.

What is an experimental group?

In an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment – that is, to one version of the independent variable.

What is a control group?

In an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment; serves as a comparison group for evaluating the effects of the treatment.

What is an independent variable?

In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

What is a dependent variable?

In an experiment, the outcome that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated.

What is random assignment?

Assigning participants to experiment and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups.

What is a single-blind procedure?

An experimental procedure in which the research participants are unaware about whether they have received the treatment or a placebo.

What is a double-blind procedure?

An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are unaware of whether the participants have received the treatment or a placebo.

What is a placebo?

An inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes in an active agent.

What is the placebo effect?

Experimental results caused by expectation alone; when a participant shows a reaction to the placebo.

What is a confounding variable?

In an experiment, a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s results.

What is experimenter bias?

Errors in research caused when researchers may unintentionally influence results to confirm their own beliefs.

What is validity?

The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to.

What is qualitative research?

A research method that relies on in-depth, narrative data that are not translated into numbers.

What is quantitative research?

A research method that relies on quantifiable, numerical data.

What is a Likert scale?

A questionnaire used to gather numerical data, where responses fall on a continuum (such as from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree”).

What is institutional review?

A process where a board of at least five people within a university screens research proposals to make sure they adhere to ethical guidelines.

What is informed consent?

Giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.

What is informed assent?

A process through which a parent/guardian gives permission for a minor to participate in psychological research.

What does the ethical principle 'protect from harm' entail?

The idea that experimenters must guard the physical and psychological well-being of their research participants.

What is confidentiality in research?

The idea that experiments should not share identifying personal information about their research participants.

What is a research confederate?

A person playing a role within a research experiment, but who is not the focus of the researcher’s observation.

What is debriefing?

The post experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deception, to its participants.

What are descriptive statistics?

Numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups; includes measures of central tendency and measures of variation.

What is a histogram?

A bar graph depicting a frequency distribution.

What is a measure of central tendency?

A way to describe an “average” within a data set.

What is the mean?

The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and dividing by the number of scores.

What is the median?

The middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it, half are below it.

What is the mode?

The most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution.

What is percentile rank?

The percentage of scores that are lower than a given score.

What is a skewed distribution?

A representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value; scores cluster more towards one end (positive skew) or the other end (negative skew) of the range.

What is a bimodal distribution?

A data distribution with two distinct peaks around which the scores cluster.

What are measures of variation?

Numerical ways to describe how far away individual data points are from the mean within a set of data, including range and standard deviation.

What is the range?

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

What is standard deviation?

A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score.

What is a normal curve?

A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean and fewer scores lie near the extremes.

What are inferential statistics?

Numerical data that allow one to generalize – to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population.

What is a meta-analysis?

A statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion.

What is statistical significance?

A statistical statement of how likely it is that a result occurred by chance, assuming there is no difference between the populations being studied.

What is effect size?

The strength of the relationship between two variables, describing how much one variable is affected by the other variable.

What is effortful processing?

A way of committing something to long-term memory through conscious effort and understanding – e.g. make connections, create examples, use mnemonic devices, draw a picture.