AP Psych Unit 1: ALL TOPICS #1-7

Ethos

Using authority or credibility to persuade or deliver a message

Pathos

Using emotion to persuade or deliver a message

Logos

Using logic or facts to persuade or deliver a message

Less Elaboration

Uses the peripheral route persuasion when motivation and ability to focus, question, process information are low.

More Elaboration

Uses the central route persuasion when motivation and ability to focus, question, process information are high. (more likely to doubt)

Availability Heuristic

When recent information that you were exposed to affects our assessments/ decision making.

Anchoring & Adjustment Heuristic

When a “starting point” that you were exposed to affects our assessments/ decision making. (Ex. You are likely to die vs You are likely to succeed)

Representative

When stereotypes that you were exposed to affects our assessments/ decision making.

Cognitive Dissonance

When our beliefs/attitudes are challenged by new contradictory info.

Cognitive Dissonance (Disregarding New Info)

Completely ignoring new info that contradicts our current beliefs/attitudes.

Cognitive Dissonance (Assimilation)

Beginning to adjust your beliefs/attitudes around new info/making acceptations.

Cognitive Dissonance (Accommodation)

Completely changing your beliefs around new info/accepting it

Halo Effect (Ethos)

beauty premium/accent advantage (rating people higher based off physical/attractive features)

Illusory Correlation

Believing there is a relationship to something (coincidence)

Gambler’s Fallacy

Seeing patterns; believing certain events create a guaranteed outcome

Hindsight Bias

Tendency to believe the outcome was known/predictable; “I knew it.”

Confirmation Bias

Favoring evidence that supports your belief/s.

Overconfidence Bias

A result of confirmation bias & hindsight bias; only looking for info YOU belief in.

Priming Bias/Mental Set

Being persuaded/pushed to see patterns.

Belief Perseverance

Continuing to believe things even when the evidence does not support the belief

Sunk Cost Fallacy

Our brains compulsion to stick with a losing choice because we’ve already invested a lot of time, money, or effort in.

A Step (low hanging fruit/easier)

Identifying the research method used

B Step (low hanging fruit/easier)

The operational definition of learning outcomes (if IV then DV)

C Step (higher hanging fruit/more complex)

The difference in the means and what it determines

D Step (low hanging fruit/easier)

The research was ethical because..+ supporting evidence

E Step (low hanging fruit/easier)

The research (is or is not) generalizable because… (what specified or made it broad), therefore… (who is it not applicable to)

F Step (higher hanging fruit/more complex)

The hypothesis in the study was…. The findings from the research support/refute the hypothesis because… therefore the results suggests….

Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic Approach

Where the unconscious mind controls thoughts and actions/ how the past affects the future (repression of memories; the thumb)

Cognitive Approach Approach

Where how we interpret situations dictates our actions/ thoughts; making decisions based on how we view the situation (obsessive/impulsive thoughts; index)

Socio-Cultural Approach

When our thoughts/actions are influenced by our cultural factors/environment like media, stereotypes, etc (middle)

Biological Approach

When our thoughts/actions are influenced by biological processes like hormones, genetics, etc (ring)

Evolutionary Approach

When our thoughts/actions are influenced by the advantages of survival (fear of x,y,z is because our brain views it as real danger)

Humanistic Approach

When our thoughts/actions are influenced by choosing our own paths in order for personal growth. (Seeking out obstacles in order to overcome then and grow. individual decisions; heart)

Behavioral Approach

When our actions/thoughts are influenced by our likelihood of positive outcomes rather than negative outcomes (fist)

Psychological Approaches/Perspectives

The different ways we can answer why we act or think the way we do.

Sample

Small group from population

Population

Everyone being studied

Mean

Average

Median

Middle term

Mode

Most reoccurring term

P (PDRIP: Ethical Guidelines for Studies)

Protection from harm; minimizing risks

D (PDRIP: Ethical Guidelines for Studies)

Debriefing: was there deception involved?

R (PDRIP: Ethical Guidelines for Studies)

Right of Withdrawal: Subjects have the right to leave at any moment

I (PDRIP: Ethical Guidelines for Studies)

Informed Consent/Assent: Subjects are aware of risks/info and consent to participation (guardians agree when subject is a minor)

P2 (PDRIP: Ethical Guidelines for Studies)

Privacy/Confidentiality: Subjects info is not public and is confidential

Milgram’s Study

Study by Stanley Milgram to see how far humans would go obeying an authority figure

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

A committee that reviews psychological research involving human participants to ensure it's ethical and protects their rights and welfare

Case Study

In depth investigation into one person or small group of people (Strengths: Lots of info & detail; not reproducible in a lab setting/ethical) (Weakness: Researcher Bias based on interpretation)

Naturalistic Observation

Study using observations of behavior and real life settings (Strengths: High EV (allows researchers to study situations not replicable) (Weakness: Little to no control over variables/ethical violation)

Correlation

A study assessing how one variable is related to another variable (measured against one another; not changed) (Strength: predictive; allows for the study of phenomenon) (Weakness: Correlation is NOT causation; 3rd variable problem)

Survey

A research method used to gather info about a specific group by asking them questions (Strengths: Q.E.C.L: quick, easy, cheap, lots of data). (Weakness: Sampling bias, social desirability, wording effects).

Experimentation

Involves the manipulation of one or more independent variables to oberserve the effects on the dependent variable (Strengths: Control over variable, cause & affect, replication) (Weakness: Confounding variable; "you can’t control me”, Low & High EV

Positive Correlation

Variables are moving unanimously/in the same direction

Negative Correlation

Variables are moving opposite of one another

No Correlation

No statistical relationship between variables

Descriptive Statistics

Statistics of findings/facts from research

Inferential Statistics

Predictions made based off findings/facts from research

Random Sample

A randomly selected sample that is meant to represent the entire population in a study (everyone has equal chance of being in the study)

Hypothesis

Testable prediction in the form of a if=then statement

Independent Variable (IV)

The experimental factor that is manipulated and how the experimenter is measuring the possible difference. (variable of interest)

Dependent Variable (DV)

Variable may change in response to IV

Operational Defins

The precise definitions of IVs & DVs

Experimental Condition

Participants being exposed to IV

Control Condition

Participants not exposed to IV

Random Assignment

All participants have equal chance of being in exp or control condition. (different than random sample)

Double-Blind Design

Participants and researcher collecting data are unaware of who is in the experimental or control condition

Single-Blind Design

Only researcher is aware of the hypothesis

Placebo

A fake Independent Variable (IV)

Confound

A factor which was not controlled by the researcher, but may be influenced outcome of the IV (3rd variable problem)

When is using the mean a problem?

When the data is skewed

Negative Skew

Data starts low then goes up

Positive Skew

Data starts high then goes low

What is better to use than the mean when you have skewed data?

The median or mode since they are not affected by outliers

Calculating the greatest SD

You find the range

Cover Percentile

Rankings against one another; “Scored higher than 89.9%”

Normal Distribution

When data is evenly distributed along the mean

Standard Deviation

How close/far the data scores around the mean

Variance

How spread out the data is (always in square root form)

How to find SD & Variance

SD is the squared version of the variance

Descriptive Stats

Summarize Data