Unit 0: Research Methods and Data Interpretation - AP Psych

Central Tendency

The “typical score”

Mode

the most frequent score

Mean

the average

Median

the middle value

Standard deviation (SD)

shows how much scores vary around the mean

Small SD

scores closer to the mean (more consistency)

Large SD

scores more spread out (less consistency)

Normal curve

normal distribution. like a bell

Critical thinking

process of actively analyzing, evaluating and synthesizing info to form a reason (eg planning route to school)

Hindsight bias

the tendency to percieve an event as more predictable after it occurs (“ I knew it all along”)

Overconfidence

cognitive bias charactarized by excessive beliefs in one’s own knowledge

Biopsychosocial behavior

framework that emphasizes the interconnectedness of bio, social and psycho

Biopsychosocial example

managing depression by addressing biological factors (eating, sleep), psycho (negative thoughts), and social (family problems)

Behavioral

behavior is learned through interacting with environment, rewards and punishments. Main person is Skinner, Pavlov

Behavioral example

a child learning not to touch a hot stove after being burned

Biological

physical basis of human behavior, cognition and mental process. thoughts influenced by brain, medicine. Moniz (lobotomy)

biological example

Studying how neurotransmitters contribute to mood, and disorders. Brain scans

Cognitive

process of thinking, information processing, memory, decision making, perception and it changes over time. Main person is Jean Piaget

Cognitive example

studying how people memorize info for a test

Evolutionary

sees behavior as an adapted trait that came out of natural selection, to increase survival and reproduction. Darwin

evolutionary example

how humans adapted a craving for sugar, flight or fight situations

Humanistic

emphasizes potential personal growth, free will, self- actualization and goodness. Maslow (hierarchy of needs)

humanistic example

Having low self-esteem, but focusing on my strengths and having positive thinking

Psychodynamic/psychoanalytical

looks at the unconscious process, like hidden fears, childhood experiences and early behavior. Frued

psychoanalytic example

struggling with social anxiety, and finding out that it stems from my childhood

Socio-cultural

how cultural values influence decision making, how family traditions shape learning

socio-cultural example

In western culture beauty beliefs on “being thin” equals pretty

Peer review

when authors submitted a mauscript and is assed by qualififed experts in the field for ethics, accuracy, etc

Operational definition

a precise, step-by-step description of how a concept or variable will be measured or manipulated in a study

Case study

a research method that involves an in-depth examination of a single individual, group or event

Example of a case study

a business highlighting a client’s success by detailing their original challenge, the business solution and positive result

Naturalistic observation

Subjects are observed in their natural environment with no interference or manipulation from the researcher

example of a naturalistic observation

Jane Goodall’s study of chimps in their natural habitat to obeserve social strucutre

Survey

uses questionaires or interviews to collect self-reported data from a large sample of individuals

example of a survey

customer satisfaction survey at the nail salon

Regression towards the mean

the tendency for extreme scores

Social desirabiliity bias

tendnecy for people to respond to questions in a favorable or socialy acceptable light (saying something they do, but they don’t actually do)

Self report bias

the tendency for people to report inacurate or distorted information when asked to report

Sampling bias

when a research sample is not representative of a population

correlation

a statistical measure of the relationship between two variables and how they change together. negative correlation starts high and goes low. slope

correlation example

the link between the hours sepnt studying and math exam scores

Correlation coefficient

statistical value represented by r to measure strength and direction of a linear relationship.

Control group

the baseline group in an experiment that doesn’t recieve treatment, neutral comparrsion.

Ex of control group

in drug testing, one group recieves the medication and the other doesn’t or gets a placebo

Single blind assignment

only one group is unaware of the treatment allocation (patients not knowing what they are getting)

Double blind study

neither the participants nor the researchers know who recieves what

Placebo effect

where a person experiences improvment in their condition after getting an inactive treatment

Independent variable

the variable that is controlled or changed by the researcher, doesn’t depend on anything

ex of independent variable

the amount of fertilizer given to a plant, the time spent studying, a dosage of medication

dependent variable

the thing that is being measured in an experiment and responds to a change in the independent variable

ex of an dependent variable

plant growth (depends on the amount of sunlight and water)

Confounding variable

unseen factor that influences both the IV and DV, leading to false conclusion

ex of confounding variable

the relationship between ice cream sales and shark attacks

Validity

the accuracy of a test or measurement tool in assesing what it claims to measure

Likert scale

used to represent peoples attitudes towards a topic

Informed assent

when a minor agrees to participate in clinical studies

Debriefing

MUST be done at every experiment.

Deception

act of intentionally misleading others, using words/actions

Protection from harm

researchers have to try to minimmize or eliminate physical, social, emotional harm to participants

Descriptive statistics

method for summarizing, and organizing charactaristics

example of descriptive statistics

weather reports, summarizing complex climate data

Histogram (bar graph)

a graphical representation that displays the frequency distribution

Skewed distribution

graph. not symmetrical. data streched in one direction

Inferential statistics

methods for drawing conclusions about a whole population, based on a small sample

ex of inferential statistics

predicting an election outcome from a political poll

Statistical signifigance

result unlikely due to random chance, indicating “real” or “true” difference. p is less than or equal to 0.5

Example of statistical signifigance

a researcher comparing two advertising slogans to see which one is overall more memorable