Comprehensive Study Guide for Unit 0: Foundations of Psychology

20 QUESTION_AND_ANSWER flashcards covering key concepts from the lecture notes.

What is hindsight bias?

Tendency to believe, after an event has occurred, that you would have predicted the outcome beforehand.

What is overconfidence?

A cognitive bias where individuals overestimate their own knowledge, accuracy, or prediction abilities.

Why are hindsight bias and overconfidence important in psychology?

They highlight the need for objective data and scientific methods to design better experiments and interpret data.

What is a theory in psychology?

A well-substantiated explanation that integrates various facts and observations to understand and predict phenomena.

What does falsifiability mean in science?

A theory must be testable and capable of being proven false through empirical evidence.

What is an operational definition?

Specifies the precise procedures or measurements used to define and quantify a variable.

How can a concept like 'stress' be operationalized?

Defined as cortisol units in saliva or self-reported stress levels on a standardized questionnaire.

What is a case study?

An in-depth analysis of a single individual or group to generate hypotheses.

What is naturalistic observation?

Recording behavior in natural settings without interference, providing ecological validity.

What are surveys and interviews used for?

Collecting self-reported data from large groups to assess attitudes, opinions, or behaviors.

What is random sampling?

Selecting participants randomly so that each member of the population has an equal chance of inclusion.

What are non-experimental methods best used for?

Exploring phenomena, generating hypotheses, and understanding real-world behaviors when controlled experiments are impractical.

Why is random sampling important?

It reduces sampling bias and enhances representativeness and generalizability of results.

What is a control group?

A baseline condition used to compare effects of the independent variable.

What is a placebo?

An inert substance or condition used to control for psychological effects.

What is random assignment?

Allocating participants randomly to experimental or control groups to evenly distribute confounding variables.

What is a single-blind procedure?

Participants do not know which group they are in, reducing placebo effects.

What is a double-blind procedure?

Both participants and experimenters are unaware of group assignments, minimizing bias.

What are independent and dependent variables?

Independent variable is the factor manipulated; dependent variable is the outcome measured.

What are key ethical considerations in psychological research?

Informed consent, right to withdraw, confidentiality, debriefing; deception must be justified and minimized; animal use must be humane and justified.