UNIT 0 Ap-psychology

Cognitive psychology

• How we think
  -learn
  -remember
  -solve problems

Biological psychology

How the brain, body, and chemicals affect behavior and thoughts.

Sociocultural psychology

How people’s culture and social group affect how they think and act

Behavioral psychology

How behavior is learned through rewards and punishments

Evolutionary psychology

How behavior helps humans survive and grow over time

Humanistic psychology

How people try to grow, be happy, and reach their full potential.

Psychodynamic psychology

How hidden feelings and past experiences affect behavior

Cultural norms

Rules or ways of acting that are normal in a group or society

Confirmation bias

Looking for info that proves what you already believe

Hindsight bias

Thinking you “knew it all along” after something happens

Overconfidence

Being too sure of what you know or can do, even if you’re wrong.

Experimental research

A study that changes one thing to see how it affects another

Non-experimental research

A study where nothing is changed—just watching or asking people

Independent variable (IV)

The thing a researcher changes on purpose in a study

Dependent variable (DV)

What is measured to see if the IV had an effect

Random assignment

Putting people in groups by chance, not by choice

Case study

A deep look at one person or small group to learn more

Correlation

A link between two things—but it doesn’t prove one causes the other

Meta-analysis

Studying many past studies to find patterns

Naturalistic observation

Watching people or animals in their real setting without messing with them

Hypothesis

A guess you can test to see if it’s true

Falsifiable

Can be proven wrong if the evidence shows it

Operational definition

Saying clearly how a variable is measured or seen in a study

Confounding variable

A hidden thing that might mess up the results of a study

Population

All the people a study wants to learn about

Sample

A smaller group picked from the population

Representative sample

A group that has the same traits as the full population

Random sample

Everyone in the population has an equal chance of being picked

Convenience sample

A group that’s easy to study, like people nearby.

Sampling bias

When the sample doesn’t fairly show the whole population

Generalizability

How well results from a study apply to other people or situations

Experimental group

The group that gets the change or treatment

Control group

The group that doesn’t get the treatment—used to compare

Placebo

A fake treatment that looks real but doesn’t do anything

Placebo effect

When people feel better just because they think they got the treatment

Single-blind procedure

When the person being studied doesn’t know if they got the real or fake treatment

Double-blind procedure

When both the researcher and participant don’t know who got what

Experimenter bias

When the researcher’s beliefs accidentally affect the results

Social desirability bias

When people answer in a way they think looks good, not honestly.

Qualitative research

Research with words, ideas, and meanings (not numbers).

Quantitative research

Research with numbers and math

Replication

Doing a study again to see if you get the same results

Third variable problem

When a third hidden thing causes both things being studied

Structured interview

An interview where everyone gets the same questions

Likert scale

A scale where you rate how much you agree or disagree (like 1–5)

Institutional review

A group that checks if a study is safe and fair

Informed consent

People agree to be in a study after learning all the facts

No harm

Researchers must not hurt people in their study

Confidentiality

Keeping people’s information private

Deception

Not telling the full truth in a study, but only if needed and not harmful.

Debriefing

Telling people the full truth after the study is over

Histogram

A graph that shows how often something happens using bars

Scatterplot

A graph that shows dots to see how two things are related

Measures of central tendency

Ways to find the middle of a data set (mean, median, mode).

Mean

The average—add all the numbers and divide

Median

The middle number when numbers are in order

Mode

The number that shows up the most

Normal curve

A bell-shaped curve where most scores are around the average

Skewed curve

A curve that leans more to one side than the other

Bimodal distribution

A graph with two high points instead of one

Range

Biggest number minus smallest number in a data set

Standard deviation

How spread out the numbers are from the average

Percentile rank

Tells what percent of scores are below a certain score

Regression toward the mean

When extreme scores move closer to average over time

Correlation coefficient

A number that shows how strong a connection is between two things

Effect size

How big the difference or effect is in a study

Statistical significance

Shows the result probably didn’t happen by chance

Claim

A strong statement or idea you believe is true and want to prove

Reasoning with evidence

Using facts from science to explain why your claim is right or wrong.