AP Psych - Unit 0 Vocab

Hindsight Bias

The tendency people have to view events as more predictable than they really are.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s pre-exisiting beliefs or hypotheses.

Falsifiable

The logical possibility that an assertion, hypothesis, or theory can be shown to be false by an observation or experiment.

Operational Definition

A clear and specific explanation of how a concept or variable is measured or observed in a study.

Case Study

A research method used to investigate a particular individual, group, or situation in depth.

Meta-Analysis

An objective examination of published data from many studies of the same research topic.

Survey

A systematic method of collecting data from individuals, typically through standardized questions or interviews.

Social desirability bias

The tendency for people to present themselves in a generally favorable fashion.

Self-report bias

When people report experiences that are considered socially acceptable or preferred.

Experimenter Bias

When a researcher affects the data, participants, or results of an experiment due to their expectations or biases.

Sampling Bias

When a sample does not accurately represent the population being studied.

Random Sample

A group of people selected from a larger population in a way that gives each person an equal chance of being chosen.

Convenience Sampling

When data is collected from an easily accessible and available group of people.

Representative Sample

A group that closely matches the charactersitics of its population as a whole.

Experimental Methodology

Manipulating one variable to determine if this causes changes in another variable.

Non-Experimental Methodology

Research that lacks the manipulation of an independent variable

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical measure that quantifies the strength and direction of the linear relationship between two variables; often expressed as “r” and ranges from -1 to +1.

Illusory Correlation

Perceiving a relationship between variables even when no such relationship exists.

Regression Toward the Mean

Where if one sample of a random variable is extreme, the next sampling of the same random variable is likely to be closer to its mean.

Experimental Group

The group of test subjects who are exposed to the independent variable in an experiment.

Control Group

The group that does not recieve the experimental treatment or intervention.

Independent Variable

The variable in an experiment that is manipulated or observed

Dependent Variable

The variable in an experiment that is tested and measured

Random Assignment

The practice of assigning participants to experimental groups in a study in an unbiased way.

Single-Blind Procedure

When participants are unaware of the experimental conditions under which they are operating.

Double-Blind Procedure

When neither the subjects or the administraters know the critical aspects of an experiment.

Confounding Variable

An external factor that interferes with the relationship between an experiment’s independent and dependent variable.

Quantitative Research

A method of research that relies on measuring variables using a numerical system.

Qualitative Research

The process of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting non-numerical data

Likert Scales

A rating scale that consists of a statement or a question, followed by a series of five or seven answer statements.

Institutional Review

The evaluation of research proposals by a committee to ensure that they comply with ethical standards and regulations.

Informed Consent

Consent given by individuals who have reached the legel age of consent.

Informed Assent

The agreement of someone not able to give legal consent

Confidentiality

The responsibility of professionals to keep client information private

Research Confederates

Individuals who seem to be participants but are actually part of the research team.

Debriefing

The procedure for revealing the true purpose of a psychological study to a participant after deception.

Descriptive Statistics

A set of techniques used to summarize and display data

Histogram

A histogram is a graphical display of a distribution

Measure of Central Tendency

A single value that represents the center point of a dataset. (Mean, median, and mode)

Mode

Most often occurring number in a data set

Mean

Average value of a set of numbers

Median

Midpoint in a data set

Percentile Rank

The percentage of scores in a distribution that are lower than a given score

Measures of Variation

The spread of scores in a distribution (range, interquartile range, standard deviation, etc.)

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest values in a dataset

Standard Deviation

A number that describes how scores in a distribution are spread out from one another