ap psych - statistics and perspectives

Psychology

the scientific study of mind and behaviors

Emprircism

Idea that learning comes from experience and observations

Natural Selection

Favors traits that increase someones chance at survival

Gestalt Psychology

Focuses on perceiving whole patterns rather than individual components

Nature-nurture issue

Issue that asks if genes or environment shapes human traits

Humanism

Focuses on human values and individual potential

Psychometrics

Measures mental traits, abilities, and psychological processes

Counseling psychology

helps people improve mental heath and well-being

Clinical psychology

Asses and treats mental and behavioral disorders

psychoanalytical approach

Explores the unconscious mind to resolve psychological issues

Behavioral Approach

Explains that all behavior is learned

Psychiatry

Field that mediaclly treats mental and behavioral disorders

Evolutionary approach

Human psychological traits and behaviors are shaped by natural selection

Neuroscience (biological) approach

Brain structure and function can explain behavior/cognition

Biopsychosocial approach

Biological, psychological, social factors influence health/behavior

Cognitive approach

Mental processes shape behavior and perception

socio-cultural approach

social interactions and culture shape human behavior

Humanism approach

Focuses on individual potential and personal growth

Positive Psychology

Study of human strengths and optimal functioning

Behaviorism

• founded by pavlov, watson, and skinner

• only concerned about observable behaviors

• all behaviors are learned (conditioned)

• we, just like animals simply respond to stimulus (reward/punishment)

Humanism.

• founded by maslow in the 50s and Rogers in the 80s

• everyone is trying to reach their full potential

• not controlled by the environment or the unconscious

(rebelling against behaviorism and freud's theories)

• focus on helping the individual help themselves

• 5 human needs: physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, self-actualization

Cognitive

• developed by Ulric Neisser and includes big names like Piaget (development), Chomsky (language), and many others

• behavior is derived from many internal mental processes

• cognitive psychologists study how people perceive, think, remember, speak and solve problems

• belief in objective measures but allow for the existence if internal mental stages (belief, desire, idea and, knowledge)

Biological (Neuropsychology)

• how the brain, hormones and genetics influence behavior

• typically investigates at the level of nerves, neurotransmitters, brain circuitry, and the basic biological processes that underlie normal and abnormal behavior

Socio-cultural

• this theory grew from the works of psychologist Lev Vygotsky who believed that parents, caregivers, peers, and the culture at large were responsible for the development of higher-order functions

• this theory stresses the interaction between developing people and the culture in which they live. Vygotsky felt that development could not be separated from its social context

• socio-cultural researchers often look cross culturally to test their theories

Evolutionary

• studying how the roots of behavior and mental processes are affected by natural selection

• ex: 2 cavemen find a bitter plant. how could their reactions ot thus plant affect us today?

Positive Psychology.

• focuses on the character strengths and behaviors that allow individuals to build a life of meaning and purpose-- to move beyond surviving to flourishing

• this term was coined by Martin Seligman in 1998 when he felt that psychology overall was simply too focused on illness and recovery

Humility

awareness to our vulnerability to bias

critical thinking

analyzing and evaluating information logically

scientific method

systematic way of gathering data so that bias and error are reduced because huamns make errors

hindsight bias

once something happens it seems inevitable (i knew it all along)

overconfidence bias

peoples' subjective confidence in their judgments is greater than their objective accuracy esp when confidence is high

false consensus effect

the tendency for each of us to think what they feel is important, others will also feel is important. this leads to bias that others share the same beliefs

4 steps of the scientific method

1. observe and describe a phenomena

2. formulate a hypothesis to explain phenomena

3. test the hypothesis by analyzing observations and experiments

4. establish theory based on repeated verification of results

hypothesis

statement about the relationship between variables (must be falsifiable/testable)

theory

explains something using principles that organize observations and predicts behavior

quantitative

numbers and data ( ex: likert scale - 5 point scale)

qualitative

in-depth narrative to understand the why of something (language-based)

operational definition

• a definition that gives a statement of procedure that is measurable and allows for replications

• when a researcher will define something that is usually not definable to something concrete

replication

having someone repeat your reserach

peer review

having someone expertly critique your work

correlational research

• to show whether there is a relationship between two variables

• largely based on statistics

• correlation does not necessarily mean causation

positive correlation

as one variable increases or decreases so does the other

negative correlation

as one variable increases, the other does the opposite

correlation coefficient (r)

• a statistical measure showing us how closely 2 variables are related (how well one will predict the other)

• r=1: two variables are perfectly related

• r=-1: two variables are complete opposite of each other

• r=0: no correlation between two items

scatterplot

a graph of plotted points that show the relationship between two sets of data

line of best fit

a line on the scatter plot that shows the trend of the data

illusory correlation

a percieved but nonexistent relationship between variables. influenced by confirmation bias

confirmation bias

we tend to look for information that confirms our beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts it

regression to mean

extraordinary results are most often followed by typical results ex: coach yells at players for playing bad and they start playing better

descriptive research method

to describe data and characteristics to get better understanding

case study

• observation techniques in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

• advantages: in-depth and detailed, suggest further study, can study unusual cases

• disadvantages: results cannot be generalized, prone to inaccuracies, bias, money issues, no cause and effect

naturalistic observation

• observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate the situation.

• can describe behavior but not explain it

• advantages: provides data that is not altered

• disadvantages: observer bias, observer expectancy effect

observer bias

you tend to see what you want to see

observer expectancy effect

people tend to act differently when they know they are being watched

survey

• a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people

• surveys must have a truly random sample that is rep or the population

• advantages: inexpensive, useful in describing a large population, high reliability

• less depth, self-reporting bias, social-desirability bias, wording effects, courtesy bias

self-reporting bias

inaccurate reporting, over/under estimating onself

social desirability bias

answering to look good in front of others

wording effects

the phrasing of a questions might distort results

courtesy bias

the tendency to give the answers interviewer want to hear rather than what they actually believe

experimental research

a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis by showing what outcome occurs when a factor is changed. shows cause and effect between variables

blind

when people involved are prevented from knowing a certain information that leads to bias

double blind

when both the subject and researcher are blind to the certain information

placebo effect

a measurable observable improvement in health not attributive to treatment

measures of central tendency

• mode: most often numbers

• median: middle number of set

• mean: the average

measures of variation

• look at how diverse a number set