AP Psychology- Unit 0 (Science Practices)

Case Study

research method involving an in-depth, detailed examination of a single individual, group, event, or phenomenon

Hindsight Bias

tendency to overestimate one’s ability to have predicted an outcome after it has occurred

Confounding Variables

unforeseen factor that influences both the independent and dependent variables in a study

Operational Definition

how a concept or variable will be measured and observed in a research study

Central Tendency

the single value that best represents the center of a data distribution

Cultural Norms

the shared, unwritten rules of behavior that are considered acceptable within a specific culture

Overconfidence

tendency to overestimate one’s own abilities, knowledge, or judgement

Random Assignment

every participant having an equal chance of being in either the experimental or the control group

Meta-Analysis

a statistical technique that combines the results of multiple studies to analyze and draw overall conclusions about a research topic

“study of studies”

Replication

the process of repeating a research study to see if the original findings can be duplicated

Variation

the differences or deviations among individuals or data points within a population or sample

Normal Curve

a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that represents a statistical distribution of scores