Psychology AP Test

hypothesis

tentative explanation — must be falsifiable

falsifiable

able to be supported or rejected

operational definition

clear, precise, quantifiable definition of your variables — allows replication and collection of reliable data

qualitative data

descriptive data (ex. eye color)

quantitative data

numerical data — ideal and necessary for statistics

population

everyone the research could apply to

sample

the people (or person) specifically chosen for your study

correlation

identify relationship between two variables

directionality problem

which direction does the correlation go?

third variable problem

different variable is responsible for relationship

positive correlation

variables increase and decrease together

negative correlation

as one variable increases the other increases

experiments

purposefully manipulate variables to determine cause/effect

independent variable

purposefully altered by researcher to look for effect

experimental group

received the treatment

control group

placebo, baseline

dependent variable

measured variable

placebo effect

any observed effect on a behavior that is caused by the placebo

double-blind

experiment where neither the participant or the experimenter are aware of which condition people are assigned to

single-blind

only participant blind — used if experimenter can’t be blind

confound

error/flaw in study that is accidentally introduced

random assignment

assigns participants to either control or experimental group at random — increase chance of equal representation among groups

naturalistic observation

observe people in their natural settings

case study

studies one person in great detail

meta-analysis

combines multiple studies to increase sample size and examine effect sizes

descriptive statistics

show shape of the data

measures of central tendency

mean, median, and mode

mean

average (normal distribution)

median

middle number (skewed distribution)

mode

number that occurs most often

bimodial

has two modes

skews

created by outliers

negative skew

mean is to the left, mode is to the right

positive skew

mean is to the right

measures of variation

range and standard deviation

range

distance between smallest and biggest number

standard deviation

average amount the scores are spread from the mean (bigger number → more spread)

inferential statistics

establishes significance (meaningfulness)

statistical significance

results not due to chance; p<.05

effect size

data has practical significance (bigger = better)

confidentiality

(ethical guideline) names kept secret

informed consent

(ethical guideline) must agree to be part of study

informed assent

(ethical guideline) minors and their parents must agree

debriefing

(ethical guideline) must be told the true purpose of the study

surveys

usually turned into correlation; subject to self-report bias

self-report bias

errors when collecting survey data due to social desirability and wording effects

social desirability

people lie to look good

wording effects

how you frame the question can impact your answers

random sample (selection)

method for choosing participants for your study — everyone has a chance to take part; increases generalizability

representative sample

sample mimics the general population (ethnicity, gender, age, etc.)

convenience sample

select participants on availability — less representative and less generalizability this way

sampling bias

sample isn’t representative due to convenience sampling

cultural norms

behaviors of a particular group can influence research results

experimenter/participant bias

experimenter/participant expectations influence the outcome

cognitive bias

bias in thinking/judgement

confirmation bias

(cognitive bias) find info that supports our preexisting beliefs

hindsight bias

(cognitive bias) “i knew it all along”

overconfidence

(cognitive bias) overestimate our knowledge/abilities

hawthorne effect

(cognitive bias) people change behavior when watched

evolutionary psychologists

study how natural selection influences behavior

heredity (nature)

how genes influence your behavior

environment (nurture)

how outside situations influence your behavior (ex. school)

genetics (twin/adoption studies)

identical twin will have a higher percentage of also developing a disease

environment (twin/adoption studies)

identical twins raised in different environments show differences

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

rest of the nervous system — relays to central nervous system

somatic nervous system

(peripheral nervous system) voluntary movement; has sensory and motor neurons

autonomic nervous system

(peripheral nervous system) involuntary organs (ex. heart, lungs, etc.); contains the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems

sympathetic nervous system

(peripheral nervous system; autonomic nervous system) fight/flight; generally activates — exception digestion

parasympathetic nervous system

(peripheral nervous system; autonomic nervous system) rest/digest; generally inhibits — exception digestion

neuron

basic cell of the nervous system

dendrites

receive incoming neurotransmitters

axon

action potential travels down this

myelin sheath

speeds up action potential down axon; protects axon

synapse

gap between neurons

sensory neurons

receive sensory signals from environment — send signal to brain

motor neurons

signals to move — send signals from brain

interneurons

cells in spinal cord/brain responsible for reflex arc

reflex arc

important stimuli skips the brain and routes through the spinal cord for immediate reactions (ex. hand on a hot flame)

glia

support cells — give nutrients and clean up around neurons

neurons fire with an action potential

ions move across membrane; sends an electrical charge down the axon

resting potential

neuron maintains a -70mv charge when not doing anything

depolarization

charge of neuron briefly switches from negative to positive; triggers the action potential

threshold of depolarization

stimulus strength must reach this point to start the action potential

all or nothing potential

stimulus must trigger the action potential past its threshold, but does not increase the intensity or speed of the response

refractory period

neuron must rest and reset before it can send another action potential

neurotransmitters

chemicals released in synaptic gap and received by neurons; classified as excitatory or inhibitory

excitatory

increase action potentials in other neurons

inhibitory

decrease action potentials

GABA

(neurotransmitters) major inhibitory neurotransmitter

glutamate

(neurotransmitters) major excitatory neurotransmitter

dopamine

(neurotransmitters) reward (short term) and fine movement — in hypothalamus, associated with addiction

serotonin

(neurotransmitters) moods (long term), emotion, and sleep; in amygdala, too little is associated with depression

acetylcholine

(neurotransmitters) memory and movement; in hippocampus, associated with Alzheimer’s

norepinephrine

(neurotransmitters) sympathetic nervous system; too little is associated with depression

endorphins

(neurotransmitters) decrease pain

substance p

(neurotransmitters) pain regulation (abnormality increases pain and inflammation)

hormones

if not in the nervous system, it’s this

oxytocin

(hormones) love, bonding, childbirth, lactation

adrenaline

(hormones) fight/flight