AP Psychology Unit 1 Flashcards

Flashcards covering the key vocabulary and concepts from Unit 1 of AP Psychology, based on the provided lecture notes.

Psychology

The scientific study of the mind and behavior.

Wilhelm Wundt

Known as the father of psychology; created the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychology research.

Edward Titchener

Student of Wundt who created structuralism.

William James

Taught the first psychology course at Harvard University, wrote the first psychology textbook, and created functionalism.

Mary Whiton Calkins

Made significant contributions in memory research and became the first female president of the APA.

G. Stanley Hall

First American to earn a PhD in psychology, opened the first psychology lab in the USA, and became the first president of the APA.

Margaret Floy Washburn

Made significant contributions to animal research; became the first woman to earn a psychology PhD and the second female president of the APA.

Charles Darwin

Proposed the idea of natural selection, which shaped evolutionary psychology.

Dorothea Dix

Helped reshape the medical field by highlighting the unfair and inhumane treatment of mentally ill people and helped reform insane asylums.

Sigmund Freud

Created psychoanalytic theory (later psychodynamic approach), focusing on the unconscious mind.

Ivan Pavlov

Focused on reflex conditioning, later known as classical conditioning, famous for his experiment with dogs and digestion.

Jean Piaget

Conducted a systematic study of cognitive development and created a theory of cognitive development focusing on children.

Carl Rogers

One of the founders of humanistic psychology, made significant contributions to the research and understanding of people's personality.

B.F. Skinner

Expanded on behaviorism and is known for operant conditioning (behaviors and positive/negative consequences).

John B. Watson

One of the founders of behaviorism; believed psychology should be a scientific study focusing on observable things.

Structuralism

Focuses on different structures of consciousness through individual parts; uses introspection.

Functionalism

Looks to understand our mental and behavioral processes; views structures as evolved functions working together.

Gestalt Psychology

Looks at the whole consciousness and includes the study of perception, sensation, learning, and problem-solving, focusing on the organizational process.

Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Psychology

Looks at behaviors and mental processes and how they are influenced by the ego and the conflict with the id and the superego. Focus on unconscious processes.

Behavioralism

Believes that behaviors are learned through experiences and are observable (classical and operant conditioning).

Humanistic Psychology

Believes humans are naturally good and seek to reach their potential through free will; the goal of life is to reach self-actualization.

Sociocultural Approach

Studies the impact of a person's culture, nationality, religion, gender, social norms, and other cultural impacts on a person's behavior and mental processes.

Evolutionary Approach

Studies how behaviors and mental processes of today exist due to natural selection.

Biological Approach

Looks at how different structures of the brain and nervous system operate to understand the link between our biological and psychological processes.

Cognitive Approach

Looks at how attitudes, memories, perceptions, and expectations influence behaviors and mental processes, focusing on how individuals process and remember information.

Basic Research

Research that seeks to build psychology's knowledge base.

Applied Research

Research that focuses on applying research and taking on practical problems.

Psychiatrist

Medical doctors who can prescribe drugs and treat psychological disorders.

Operational Definition

A description for the experiment in terms of procedure, actions, or processes by which it could be observed and measured.

Population

All of the individuals in a group that are being studied.

Sample

A selected group of people from the population.

Random Sampling

Each individual in a population has an equal chance of participating.

Stratified Sample

The population is divided into different subcategories, and a random sample is taken from each subcategory.

Sampling Bias

Occurs when the group in the sample does not represent the population.

Representative Sample

The sample group in the study represents all the different people in the population.

Experiment

Observations are conducted under controlled conditions to study a relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable.

Correlational Studies

Show the strength and direction of a relationship but do not show cause and effect due to the third variable problem.

Surveys

Self-reported data from questions that often asks for an individual's opinions, thoughts, or information on what they have done. Good source of data, but wording effect can influence data.

Naturalistic Observations

Allows researchers to observe behaviors as they happen in a real-world setting. Provides authentic data.

Case Studies

Allows researchers to analyze different perspectives of a topic or a subject; often provides information in chronological order.

Longitudinal Studies

Studies that follow one particular group over a long period of time.

Cross-Sectional Studies

Compares different groups at the same time.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction or assumption that is made before any research has been completed.

Theory

A statement that is supported by data from research that has been completed and explains a question, thought, or phenomenon.

Independent Variable

The cause in a controlled experiment.

Dependent Variable

The effect in a controlled experiment.

Confounding Variables

Other variables besides the IV that could impact the DV.

Random Assignment

Each participant of a study has an equal chance of being put into the control group or experimental group.

Single-Blind Study

Participants in an experiment are unaware of which group in the experiment they're part of.

Double-Blind Study

The participant and the researcher conducting the experiment are unaware of which group the participants are in.

Placebo Effect

Participants may act differently in a study or experiment because they expect a certain outcome from a study experiment or an independent variable.

Control Group

Given a placebo, which is a substance that is as close as possible to the independent variable, but is missing a key component of the independent variable.

Experimental Group

The group who receives the variable.

Quasi-Experiments

Used in situations where controlled experiments would be impossible to use or would be unethical to do; do not include random assignment of participants.

Reliability

Refers to the repeatability of a test or study.

Validity

How well a test measures what it claims to measure.

Hindsight Bias

A tendency to think that one could have anticipated the outcome of an event or experiment after it already occurred.

False Consensus Effect

When individuals overestimate how many others share their opinions and ideas.

Confirmation Bias

When individuals focus on only specific information that aligns with their viewpoint and ignore conflicting information.

Experimenter/Researcher Bias

When researchers unknowingly influence the outcome of the research.

Social Desirability/Participant Bias

When participants in a study skew their answers to create a more favorable impression of themselves.

Hawthorne Effect

When an individual or a participant alters their behavior because they know that they are being observed.

Quantitative Data

Numbers, facts, items that are not up for interpretation.

Qualitative Data

Often in word form and is up for interpretation.

Descriptive Statistics

Used to organize and describe data that was collected.

Inferential Statistics

Used to make predictions about data to better determine if the data from a sample can be applied to the population.

Probability Value (p-value)

Used to see how statistically significant the data is. A p-value at or below 0.05 means there's less than a 5% chance that the results were due to chance.

Mean

The average of the data set.

Median

The score that is in the exact middle of the dataset.

Mode

The value that occurs most often in a data set.

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest value points in a data set.

Standard Deviation

Indicates the average distance from the mean for a data set.

Normal Distribution

Takes the shape of a symmetrical bell-shaped curve. Mean, median, and mode are located at the center of distribution.

Positive Skew

Occurs when scores are low and are clustered to the left of the mean.

Negative Skew

Has high scores that are clustered on the right of the mean.

Z-score

Allow us to compare things that are not the same as long as they are normally distributed. Positive z scores are higher than the mean, and a negative z score indicates that the score is lower than the mean.

Percentile rank

The percentage of scores that are at or below a particular score. The median is the fiftieth percentile.

Correlation Coefficient

The closer this value is to one whether it be positive or negative the stronger the relationship is between the two variables.

APA Ethical Guidelines

Created to make sure that everyone who is involved in a study or an experiment is protected.

Informed Consent

Given when the participants of a study have been given adequate information about the study and can make a rational decision on whether or not they want to participate in the study.

Institutional Review Board

Ensures that studies and experiments in colleges and universities are set up in a way that protect everyone involved in the study.

IACUC

Responsible for overseeing the protection of animals in studies.