0.1 Foundations: Psychological Science & Research Design (AP Psych)

Psychology

• the study of the mind and behavior

  • the functions in our brain and how we act

Confirmation bias

• the tendency to gather evidence that supports or confirms our own belief

  • for example, politics (ignoring the good things that the other political party has to say) - only focusing on my beliefs

Hindsight bias

• the tendency to think you knew it all along after something happens

  • “I knew it all along”

Overconfidence

• an overestimation of one’s actual ability to perform a task successfully

  • thinking that you are better than everyone

Hypothesis

• scientific method - testable statement about the relationship between two variables

  • If… then… relationship

  • for example: If I water my plants everyday, then the plant will grow.

Operational definition

• a step-by-step process of how you conduct research/study (defining something by the steps to measure it)

Replication

• the repetition of an original experiment or research

Population

• the entire group of people one is interested in studying

  • the people

Sample

• the subset of participants selected from the population

  • the amount of people

Representative sample

• reflects the characteristics of the population

  • the characteristics of the people

Random sample

• each person could be picked equally at random

  • makes sure the study represents the whole population fairly

Convenience sample

• the researcher picks people who are easy to reach

  • easy access

Sampling bias

• the sample doesn’t represent the whole population fairly

  • making the results inaccurate