AP Psych Unit 1: History, Perspectives, and Research Methods

Psychology

the scientific study of the mind and behavior

History of psychology

• Wilhelm Wunt made first experiment in GER by dropping ball and ppl testing for reaction time discovering 0.2 sec delay

• Mary Calkins was first women in psyc who earned PHD but wasn't given it and she was president of American Psychological Association

-Edward Tichener was Wunt's student created Structuralism

• Margaret Floy Washburn got PHD in psych at Cornell

Structuralism

looking inwards towards self to explore elements of human mind

Functionalism

early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function- how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

Perspectives

A point of view , the position from which a person looks at an issue

Psychology subfields

-Cognitive psychologist; perception, language, attention thought processes and focus

- Clinical; mental health, therapist

-Psychiatrist; gives medication and diagnoses

-Psychologist; testing and analyzing

Hindsight Bias

"i knew it all along", false tendency once learn about outcome to believe it was likely to happen

Overconfidence

people think they know way more than they actually do, tend to be extremely confident than actually correct

Perceiving order in random events

humans want to make sense of their surroundings and look for patterns

Scientific Attudude

curiousity, being curious to start study, can predictions be confirmed

Critical Thinking

can we carefully question things, is there more to the story, cannot get results from first go

Scientific method

theory, hypothesis, operational definitions, experiment, replication, debrief

Theory

If … than… , organize operations and make predictions of behavior

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory, can be false

operational definition

precise definitions of any variables or concepts

Replication

study must be able to be repeated for same results

Quantitative research/measurements

numbers/data

Qualitative research/measurements

exploratory, gathered experiences, behaviors, observations

Descriptive study

Observed and recorded data, "who, what, where, when, and how" not "why"

Case study

one case or person studied for a reason/unique case, not relevent to entire population

Survey

used to gather self reported attitudes or behaviors, flawed since people want to report favorable info

naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

structured interview

Predetermined questions, essentially a questionnaire that is delivered face to face, No deviations from the questions, all questions and participants are treated the same, easy to replicate, interviewees cannot elaborate

Likert Scale

a numerical scale used to assess attitudes; includes a set of possible answers with labeled anchors on each extreme, agree strongly/disagree strongly

Social desirability bias

A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself not accurate data

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1)

Positive correlation

A correlation where as one variable increases, the other also increases, or as one decreases so does the other. Both variables move in the same direction.

negative correlation

as one variable increases, the other decreases

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists

scatterplot

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables

directionality problem

a problem encountered in correlational studies; the researchers find a relationship between two variables, but they cannot determine which variable may have caused changes in the other variable

lurking variable

could be another variable involved impacting both other variables

Representative sample

a sample that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population as a whole

convenience sample

only members of the population who are easily accessible are selected

experiment

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

Population

A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

random sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion, people are picked at random, always pick at random

random assignment

randomly selecting some study participants to be assigned to the control group or the experimental group

independent variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

dependent variable

a thing changing based on independent variable

experimental group

group that is being tested/manipulated on

control group

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment nor tested, comparison for understanding effect of treatment

single-blind study

study in which the subjects do not know if they are in the experimental or the control group

double blind study

An experiment in which neither the participant nor the researcher knows whether the participant has received the treatment or the placebo

placebo effect

the phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior, ppl believe they have been affected when they have not

bar graph

A graph that uses horizontal or vertical bars to display data

experimental bias

a mistake in the design of an experiment that makes a particular result more likely

measures of central tendency

mean, median, mode, range

mean

average, all values added and divided by the total number of scores

median

middle variable, by eliminating sides

mode

the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

percentile rate

indicates what percentage of a comparison group performed at or below a particular score or measurement on a graph

biomodal distribution

A distribution of values that show two responses being chosen about as frequently as each other, 2 equal bars on a graph

positive skew

scores are low, mean is higher than mode

negative skew

scores are high, mean is lower than mode

measures of variation

range and standard deviation

Range

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

standard deviation

how much individual scores differ from mean, standard is 68% in 1 deviation, 95% in 2 deviations

Solving:
1. Find mean by adding all test scores

2. Find number of scores

3. divide mean by number of scores

4. Find deviation of each score from mean (-8,-7,+1 for above and below mean)

5. Square numbers from deviation from mean so no negatives

6. Total new values and divide by mean

7. ^1/2 the deviations squared by mean to get standard deviation

Normal curve

starts low, middle, high

Regression toward the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward their average upon retesting

Statistical Significance

the obtained result is not likely due to chance and is likely instead due to the manipulation of independent variable, p-variable < .05 (95%) correct

meta-analysis

looking at data from multiple studies, not just from one study

effect size

the differences between groups of experimental and control

cultural norms

prescriptions for how people should interact and what messages should mean in a particular setting, must take into account how it will affect data

peer review

a review by people with similar professional qualification

ethics

the principles of right and wrong that guide an individual in making decisions

Institutional review

process of examining studies for ethical concerns by a committee of peers, done by IRBs to make sure guidelines are followed

Informed Consent

an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

Informed Assent

parents are given enough information to consent to their child being in experiment

Protection from harm

the right of research participants to be protected from physical or psychological harm

Confidentiality

the act of holding information in confidence, not to be released to unauthorized individuals

deception

A trick; an attempt to make someone believe something that is not true, like believing you are being tested on one thing but actually tested on something else

Debriefing

the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants