AP PSYCH - Unit 0 Vocabulary

Psychology

The science of behavioral and mental processes.

Cross-sectional study

a research method that collects data from a group of people at a single point in time.

Social desirability bias

In surveys, they have one drawback. People don’t tell the truth.

Operational definition

a description of something in terms of the operations (procedures, actions, or processes) by which it could be observed and measured

Example of Operational definition

Anxiety could be in terms of a test score, withdrawal from a situation, or activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

Introspection

To look within.

Perception

How we organize and interpret sensory information.

Psychodynamics

Branch of psychology that believes one's behavior/personality is a result of interactions of the individual outside of their conscious awareness. Such as childhood experiences and internal conflicts that shape thoughts and actions.

Behaviorism

A psychological theory that studies how people and animals learn and behave through interactions with their environment.

Operant Conditioning

Conditioning through reinforcements and punishments.

Existential Psychology

Who am I? How we exist. Self-concept.

Cognitive Psychology

Study of mental processes in the broadest sense.

Biological Psychology

Literal study of the parts of the Brain, nervous system, endocrine system.

Cognitive Neuroscience

The interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition.

Self-Actualization

Full potential - Observing all facets of life that can give us info of what we are capable of.

Behavioral Genetics

Field of psych that explores how particular behaviors and environmental factors may be attributed to specific, genetically based psychological characteristics.

Evolutionary Psychology

Focuses on the origins of the human mind and behavior.

Socio-Cultural Psychology

Branch of psychology that emphasizes how society and culture can shape one's behaviors and thought processes.

Biopsychosocial Approach

Model that considers the complex interactions between biological, psychological, and social factors.

Developmental Psychology

Focuses on conducting research on age-related behavioral changes and applying scientific knowledge to educational, child-care, policy, and related settings.

Educational Psychology

Focuses on psychological processes involved in learning. Studies the relationship between learning and the physical and social environments.

Personality Psychology

Focuses on studying how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors differ from one another and how they work together to make a person unique.

Social Psychology

Focuses on interactions with others. Studies how our beliefs, feelings, and behaviors are affected by and influence other people.

Industrial/Org. Psychology

Focuses on the relationship between people and their working environments. Develops ways to increase productivity, improve personnel selection, or promote job satisfaction.

Human Factors Psychology

Focuses on working with designers and engineers to tailor appliances, machines, and work settings to our natural perceptions and inclinations.

Counseling Psychology

Focuses on helping people adjust to life transitions or make lifestyle changes. Although similar to clinical psychologists, they help people with adjustment problems rather than severe psychopathology.

Clinical Psychology

Focuses on promoting psychological health in individuals, groups, and organizations. Some clinical psychologists specialize in specific psychological disorders.

Psychiatry

Focuses on treatment via medical doctors licensed to prescribe drugs and otherwise treat physical causes of psychological disorders.

Positive Psychology

Focuses on the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.

Community Psychology

Focuses on moving beyond focusing on specific individuals or families and deal with broad problems of mental health in community settings.

Basic Research

Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

Applied Research

Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.

Confirmation Bias

A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence.

False Consensus Effect

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.)

P.O.R.E

Perceiving order in random events. A tendency to see patterns in events that are completely random.

Meta-Analysis

Set of statistical techniques for combining data from independent studies to produce a single estimate of effect. Very objective and accurate.

Naturalistic Observation

Involves the systematic study of behavior in natural settings rather than a laboratory. Participants cannot know they are being watched.

Case Studies

Oldest form of descriptive research. Focuses on a single person or group over a long period of time. Participants can know they're being watched.

Inductive Reasoning

Process of reasoning that moves from specific observations to broader generalizations.

Atypical Case Studies

Cannot be generalized to overall human population.

Correlational Research

Type of research technique based on the naturally occurring relationship between two or more variables. Involves the use of scatterplots.

Experimental Research

A research technique in which an investigator deliberately manipulates selected events or circumstances and then measures the effects of those manipulations on subsequent behavior.

Double-Blind Experiment

When the experimenter and subjects both do not know anything about the experiment.

Placebo Effect

• Feeling as if in the experimental group while being in the control group.

• When a person's physical or mental health appears to improve after taking a 'dummy' treatment due to their belief in the treatment's efficacy.

Hawthorne Effect

When subjects of an experimental study change or improve their behavior because it is being evaluated or studied.

Descriptive Statistics

Numerical data used to measure & describe characteristics of groups. (Refers to Central Tendency & Measures of Variation).

Standard Deviation

A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score.

Normal Curve

A normal distribution - A symmetrical bell-shaped curve describing the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean.

Inferential Statistics

Numerical data that helps us determine if results can be generalized to a larger population.

Statistical Significance

How likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance or if it truly represented the overall population.

P-Value

• A statistical measure used to determine the likelihood that an observed outcome is the result of chance.

• A number describing how likely it is that your data would have occurred by random chance

Type I Data Error

Falsely concluding your data as statistically significant.

Type II Data Error

Falsely concluding your data as not statistically significant.

Control group

the group in an experiment that does not receive the variable you are testing.

Experimental group

the group that receives the variable being tested in an experiment.