AP Psychology Module 0 Terms (Myers' Psychology for AP)

critical thinking

A method of smart thinking that examines assumptions, appraises the source, looks for hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

hindsight bias

also known as the “I knew it all along phenomenon”, it is the idea that when presented a conclusion, we believe that the an end result was obvious or very likely from the beginning, even if it was not.

peer reviewers

other scientists or experts who evaluate a new scientific paper, by looking at the study’s theory, originality, and accuracy

theory

An idea that explains behaviors or events by offering ideas that organize observations. It summarizes hypotheses and empirical data.

Hypotheses

Educated predictions that specify which results would support a given theory or disconfirm it.

Falsifiability

The ability of a hypothesis to be disproved, which is a measure of its scientific strength. If a hypothesis is unable to be theoretically proven wrong, it is not usable.

Operational Definitions

Precise measurable definitions of term specific to the study in which it is being used. It allows for peer reviewers to exactly replicate the experiment for the purpose of confirming the studies results.

Replication

The process of recreating a study to confirm its results

Case Study

A study which examines one individual or group in depth in the hope of revealing things true of us all.

Naturalistic Observations

A non-experimental study that involves recording responses in natural environments.

Survey

A study that asks people to report their own behavior or opinions.

Social Desirability Bias

A bias that occurs when survey recipients answer questions in way they think will please the researchers or is more socially accepted.

Self-Report Bias

When people don’t accurately report or remember their behaviors.

Sampling Bias

The bias that occurs when a study generalizes from a small or unrepresentative sample to the population as a whole.

Random Sample

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Population

All those in a group being studied, from which samples can be drawn.

Correlation

When two variables are related in some way, often meaning they can predict each other to some extent or vary together.

Correlation Coefficient

A numerical measure of how correlated two variables are.

Variables

Any characteristic or thing that can vary (and is feasible and ethical to measure)

Scatterplots

A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggest the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation)

Illusory Correlation

Perceiving a relationship when none exists, or perceiving a stronger relationship than exists.

Regression Toward the Mean

The tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back toward the average.

Experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe their effect on some behavior or mental process (dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors.

Experimental Group

The group which receives the treatment.

Control Group

The group which does not receive the treatment

Random Assignment

The process of assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups.

Single blind procedure

Patients are uniformed as to who is receive the placebo, but researchers know

double-blind procedure

both patients and researchers are uniformed as to who is receiving the placebo

placebo effect

the phenomenon of just thinking you’ve received a treatment actually increasing health, reducing pain, or generally having the effect of an actual treatment

Independent variable

The variable that is being manipulated so that researchers can measure its effect on the dependent variable

Confounding variables

Other factors that could potentially influence a study’s results

Experimenter Bias

when researchers accidentally sway results to confirm their own beliefs

Dependent variable

The variable being measured to determine the independent variable’s effect on it.

Validity

A quality of an experiment that means the experimental design really tests what the experiment aims to.

Quantitative research

Research using numerical data to represent degrees of a variable

Qualitative research

Research that rely on in-depth, narrative data.

Informed Consent

Agreement where patients have been given enough information to make a decision about whether they’d like to participate or not.

Debrief

The act of explaining research afterwards to participants, including temporary deception

Descriptive Statistics

Numerical data used to describe a group

Histogram

A bar graph depicting frequency distribution

Mode

The most repeated number in a set of data

Mean

The average, determined by summing all the data points and dividing that by the number of total data points.

Median

The number occurring right in the middle if data points are ordered from highest or lowest. The 50th percentile number.

Percentile Rank

A numerical representation of the percentage of scores below a given score.

Skewed

When distribution is made lopsided by a few outlier data points.

Range

The distance between the highest and lowest scores.

Standard Deviation

A computed measure of how much scores deviate from the mean.

Normal Curve

A bell-shaped distribution that occurs very frequently in nature.

Inferential Statistics

Numerical data that allows us to generalize or extrapolate some characteristic of a population from a sample.

Statistically Significant

When the chance of certain experimental results being due to chance being so low that is very likely explained by the alternate hypothesis and not the null hypothesis.

Meta-Analysis

Procedure of analyzing the statistical results of many studies to make a generalization.

Effect Size

The strength of the relationship between to variables or the the strength of a statistically significant phenomenon’s effect on the population.