AP Psych Unit 0 Vocab

cultural norms

societal rule, value, or standard that delineates an accepted and appropriate behavior within a culture

confirmation bias

tendency to gather evidence that confirms preexisting expectation

hindsight bias

to believe after the outcome that you knew it beforehand

overconfidence

tendency to overestimate your knowledge and/or ability

independent variable

what is being manipulated or controlled by researcher

confounding variable

an outside or third factor in a psychology study that links to both the dependent and independent variable

dependent variable

factor being measured or observed by researcher

random assignment

participants have equal chance of being in the experiment or control group

case study

when 1 individual or group is studies in depth in the hope of revealing universal samples

correlation

the degree of a relationship between 2 variables

positive correlation

a relationship between 2 variables in which both rise and fall together

negative correlation

relationship between 2 variables in which the value of 1 increases while the other decreases its value

meta-analysis

combines the results of many different studies on the same topic

naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation

hypothesis

educated prediction/guess

falsifiable

hypothesis or theory that can be proven wrong by data, tests, or observations

operational definition

exact lists of directions or procedures used in an experiment for replication purposes

replication

the repetition of an original experiment or research study to verify or bolster confidence in results

central tendency

the middle or center point of a set of scores

variation

shows how spread out or diverse the scores are in a data set

percentile rank

the percentage of scores in a reference group that fall below a specific test score

mean

numerical average of a set of scores

median

the midpoint in a distribution

mode

most frequently occurring score in a set of data

range

measure of dispersion

normal curve

symmetrical distribution graph that shows how data spreads out

positive skew

when most scores cluster toward the left of the distribution with long tail extending right

negational skew

when most scores cluster at the higher end and long tails extends towards the lower negative numbers

biomodal distribution

data set with 2 distinct peaks or modes

standard deviation

measure of the variability of scores or values within a group

regression towards the mean

tendency for extreme or unusual scores/events to fall back towards the average

sample

variety of people form the population used as participants for research

population

group that research is meant to apply to

representative sample

participants chosen fairly to represent a population

random sampling

process for selecting a sample of study participants from a larger potential group of eligible individuals

convenience sampling

any process for selecting a sample of individuals or cases that’s neither random nor systematic but rather governed by chance or ready availability

generalizing

tendency to respond with the same learned behavior to new, similar stimuli or situations

experimental group

participants that receive the manipulated variable

placebo

inert substances thats in place of independent variable in control group so participants dont know they’re in control group

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone

single blind study

participants dont know which group they’re in but the researcher does

double blind study

both research staff and participants are ignorant of which group has received placebo to avoid bias

experimenter bias

systematic errors in the research process or interpretation of its results that are attributable to a researcher’s behavior, preconceived beliefs, expectancies, or desires about results

social desirability bias

bias or tendency of individuals to present themselves in a manner that’ll be viewed favorably by others

quantitative research/measures

method that relies on and supplies numerical data

structured interview

method for gathering information used in particularly in surveys and personnel section, in which questions, their wordings, and their order of administration are determined in advance

qualitative research/measures

method that relies on in-depth narrative analysis that cant be translated into numerical data

likert scales

type of direct attitude measure that consists of statements reflecting strong positive or negative evaluations of an object

representation of participants

how well the people in a study match the larger group the researcher wants to study

peer review

providing additional insight or perspective

scatterplot

graphical representation of the relationship between 2 continuously measured variables

correlation coefficient

numerical index reflecting the degree of a linear relationship between 2 variables

effect sizes

any of various measures of the magnitude or meaningfulness of a relation between 2 variables

statistical significance

degree to which a research outcome can’t reasonably be attributed to the operation of chance or random factors

directionality problem (in correlation)

situation in which its known that 2 variables are related although its not known which is the cause and which is the effect

third variable problem (in correlation)

an observed correlation between 2 variables may be due to the common correlation between each of the variables and a 3rd variable rather than an underlying relationship of the 2 variables with each other

institutional review

an administrative committee at a school or hospitals that reviews research proposals

informed consent

persons voluntary agreement to participate in a procedure on the basis of their understanding of everything about it

informed assent

when a parent or legal guarding gives an agreement for a child or non-responsive person to join a study or treatment

protection from harm

ethical rule requiring researchers to ensure that participants are safe from physical, mental, or emotional pain and distress in a study

confidentiality

requires providers of mental health or medical care and researchers to keep a patients or participants personal data, identity, and personal information secure

deception

any distortion of or withholding of fact with the purpose of misleading others

debriefing

the process of giving participants in a completed research project a fuller explanation of the study in which they participated in