AP Psych Unit 0

Psychodynamic perspective

Unconscious mind + childhood experiences shapes behavior

Behaviorism perspective

Reinforcement vs punishment (enviornment) + observable behaviors

Humanistic perspective

Personal growth + less scientific + free will

Cognitive perspective

Mental Processes (thinking + memory + problem solving)

Biological perspective

Physiological bases + can be tested + answers with medicine

Evolutionary perspective

Behavior + mental processes as adaptation for survival

Sociocultural perspective

Culture + social norms + social environments influencing behavior

Biopsychosocial

Combines bio + psych + social + factors for a deeper understanding

Confirmation bias

People looking/interpreting/looking for info in a way that confirms what they already believe

Hindsight bias

People believing they knew something was gonna happen after it occurs even if they didn’t know beforehand “I knew it all along“

Overconfidence

People having too much faith in themselves/thinking they more than they actually do

Social desirability bias

Tendency to respond in a way that is viewed favorably/conform to social norms

Empirical evidence

Info from observation + experimentation + measurement

Scientific method

Systematic approach to study human behavior + mental processes + hypothesis + collect data + repeat until confident

Peer review

Process were research is reviewed by peers/experts before they are published

Replication

Process of repeating a research study to see if findings are consistently observed

Reliability

Produces consistent results (RRR, Repeated, Reliable Results)

Validity

Extent of which study/measurement tool accurately measures what it intends to measure (VET, Valid Evidence, True)

American Psychological Association

Promotes psych research + writes guidelines

Quantitative data (also a basic research subfield)

Number based data mostly used because its cheap and easy, gathered from surveys + tests + experiments

Qualitative data

Non numerical data gathered from interviews + observations, expensive

Likert scales

Measurement tool used in surveys to assess attitudes, opinions etc

Structured interviews

Research method where predetermined questions are asked in the same order

Survey technique

Research method used to collect data from a sample through self reported measures

Wording Effect

Subtle changes in words can influence interpretations and responses

Naturalistic observation

Researchers observe and record behavior in real world settings without intervention

Case study

In depth examination of a individual/group/phenomenon that may not always be generalizable (but hopefully it reveals universal principles)

Correlational research

Sci method used to examine relationship between two or more variables (identifies patterns and predictions, not causation)

Third variable problem

Possibility that a third unmeasured variable may be influencing the relationship between two variables

Scatterplot

VIsual representation used to display relationship between two variables in correlational research

Correlation coefficient

Statistical measure in correlational research used to determine the strength + direction between two variables (r= -1 to +1 and 0=no relationship)

Positive correlation

Variables moving in the same direction

Negative correlation

Variables moving in opposite directions

Experimental method

Research technique to investigate cause and effect between variables

Independent variable

Variable that the researcher manipulates

Dependent variable

Variable that is measured and observed

Confounding variables

Variable that wasn’t accounted for but still affects results

Operational definitions

Carefully worded statement about the procedures used in the study so it can be replicated

Experimental group

Gets the treatment/is exposed to the independent variable

Control group

No treatment/exposure to independent variable

Random assignment

Research method used to assign people into different groups randomly to minimize bias

Placebo effect

People experience improvement solely because they believe it works

Experimenter bias

Researcher’s expectations/beliefs influence the study’s results

Single blind study

Participants are unaware of which group they are in

Double blind study

Both researchers and participants are unaware of who is in what group

Placebo condition

One group gets a placebo (typically the control group) while the other gets the actual treatment

Sample

Subset of people/cases from a larger population

Representative sample

Subset of individuals from a larger population that represent the diversity of that population

Stratified sampling

Method where population is divided based on characteristics and the random samples are taken from each stratum

Convenience sampling

Participants are chosen based of off availability and accessibility to researcher

Random sample

Ensures each participant in the study has equal chance to be included

Sample bias

Sample is not representative of larger population

Generalizability

Extent of which research findings from a sample can be applied to a larger population (sample size doesn’t help)

Neuroscience

Science of the brain

Cognitive neuroscience

The link between brain activity and cognition (cognitive psych + neuroscience)

Psychology

Study of behavior/action and mental processes

Nature Nuture issue

Controversy over contributions genes + experiences make to psych traits + behaviors, nurture works on what nature provides

Natural selection

Used by evolutionary psych, only desirable traits pass on to later generations

Behavior genetics

Study of the ability of genetic + environmental influences

Positive psych

Study of human flourishing + promotes strengths to help people thrive

Testing effect

Testing yourself is more effective than rereading because it forces your brain to recall memories

SQ3R

Survey → Question → Read→ Retrieve →Review

Illusion of knowing

Thinking you know something well when you actually don’t, can be prevented with thinking critically + active processing + overlearning

Basic research subfields - Psychometric

Study of measurement of human ability + attitude + traits

Basic research

Serves to increase knowledge

Applied Research

Helps problem solve

Basic research subfields - Developmental psych

Studies changes throughout lifespan

Basic research subfields - Educational psych

Studies how psych processes can affect teaching + learning

Personality psych

Study of characteristics

Basic research subfields - Social psych

Study of how we influence + relate to each other

Applied research subfields - Industrial organizational psych

Applies psych to the workplace

Human factors psych

Studies relation between machine + humans

Helping professions - Counseling psych

Assists people with problems in living (marriage, school, etc

Helping professions - Clinical psych

Studies + assesses + treats psych disorders

Psychiatry

Licensed doctors who can prescribe medication to treat disorders

Helping professions - Community psych

How people interact in social environments + how social institutions affect individuals and groups

Basic research subfields - Cognitive psych

Study of mental processes like perception + thinking + communicating + etc

Applied research subfields - Forensic

Use of psych in legal issues + criminal justice

Applied research subfields - Environmental psych

Interaction with the enviornment

Applied research subfields - Health psych

Promotes good health + prevent disease

Applied research subfields - Neuropsych

Relationship between brain + behavior

Applied research subfields - Rehabilitation psych

Works with people who lost optimal functioning

Applied research subfields - School psych

Intervention of children in education

Applied research subfields - Sports psych

How psych factors influence sports + other physical activities

Perceiving order in random events

People can find patterns in random data (things like coin flips) because they wanna make sense of the world around them

Theory

Explanation using set of principles that organizes observations. + predicts behaviors/events

Hypothesis

Testable prediction that’s usually based on theories and has to be able to be proven wrong

Sampling bias

Flawed sampling process that results in unrepresentative sample

Population

Those in group being studied

Correlation

Measure of extent two factors vary together and of how well one can predict the other

Variable

Anything that can vary + is flexible + ethical to measure

Illusory correlation

Perceiving relationship where no correlation exists or a stronger one than actual oen is perceived

Regression towards the mean

Tendency for extreme/unusual scores/events to fall back towards average

Descriptive statistics

Number data used to measure + describe characteristics of groups (includes measures of central tendency + measures of variation)

Histogram

Bar graph depicting frequency distribution (read scale labels + range)

Measures of central frequency - Mode

Most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

Measures of central frequency - Mean

Average of a distribution (if mean is reported consider if any abnormal scores are distorting it)

Measures of central frequency - Meidan

Middle score in a distribution

Measures of variation - Range

Difference between highest and lowest score

Measures of variation - Standard deviation

Computed measure of how much scores vary around mean