AP Psychology .1 - .6

Research methods

Technique and procedures used to conduct psychological studies and gather data

How is psychology a science?

Psychology is a science because it relies on evidence and proof.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze and evaluate information and arguments logically, allowing for sound decision-making.

The three elements of the scientific attitude?

Curiosity, skepticism, and humility.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.

Hindsight Bias “I knew it all along”

The inclination to see events as having been predictable after they have already occurred, often leading to a distorted perception of foresight.

Overconfidence

A cognitive bias where a person's subjective confidence in their judgments is greater than the objective accuracy of those judgments, often leading to overestimating one's own skills or knowledge.

Illusory correlation

The perception of a relationship between two variables when no such relationship exists, often influenced by cognitive biases.

Peer reviews

A process in which experts evaluate each other's work, typically used in academic publishing to ensure quality and credibility before publication.

How do theories advance psychological science?

They organize observations and predict behaviors/events

Theory

A systematic framework that describes, predicts, and explains phenomena, guiding research and experimentation in psychology.

Hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction derived from a theory, often phrased as an if-then statement.

Null Hypothesis

The hypothesis that there is no significant effect or relationship between variables in a study, serving as a default position compared to the alternative hypothesis.

Falsifiable

A characteristic of a hypothesis that allows it to be tested and potentially proven false, which is essential for the scientific method.

Operation definitions

A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study.

Replication

Study repeating the essence of a prior research copy and paste

Case Study

A research method that involves an in-depth, detailed examination of a single subject, group, or event to gain insights into phenomena.

Naturalistic Observation

A research method where researchers observe subjects in their natural environment without interference or manipulation.

Correlation

A statistical method used to measure and describe the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables, indicating how they may change together.

Meta Analysis

A statistical technique that combines the results of multiple studies to provide a more comprehensive understanding of research findings and enhance overall conclusions.

What role do surveys fulfill in research?

Surveys serve as a method for collecting data and information from a large group of respondents, allowing researchers to analyze trends and patterns.

What is correlation

in research? It measures the degree to which two variables move in relation to one another, helping to identify patterns and predict outcomes.

Correlational coefficients

Scale of -1 to +1 that indicates the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables.

Variables

Any Factors that can vary and are feasible and ethical to measure

Scatterplot

Graphs cluster of dots each representing the values of 2 variables

Experimental group

Grpup which is exposed to the treatments

Control group

Group which is not exposed to treatments which serves as a comparison group

Random assignment

Assigns participants to expeiremantal or control at random

Single blind study

An expiremental procedure which the research participant are ignorant whether they are receving the treatments or not

Double blind study

Where both participants and staff are ignorant to whether participants are recieving treatmentt or not

Placebo

A substance with no therapeutic effect, used as a control in testing new drugs.

Placebo effect

Experimental results caused by expectations alone. Cause by an insert substance which the recipient assumes is and active agent.

Correlation coefficient

The one closest to zero is the weakest.

Correlation does not indicate causation

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

Non - expirimental

-To observe and record behavipr

-Case studies, naturalistic observations, or surveys

-No manipulation/disturbance

Correlational

-Detects natural occurring relationships to asses how well on variable predicts the other

-Collescts data on 2+ variables

-No manipulation

-Does not say wath the cause (Can’t find it out )``

Expiremental

-To explore cause and effect

-Manipulate one or more factors

-uses random assignment

-Uses and Independent variable;e

-has to be replicated to be proven right

Qualitative research

-Description and personal experiences

-Things that can not be transcribed or put into numbers

Quantitative research

Numerical data and statistics thigs that are transcribe

What are the ethical guidelines of psychological research?

-Voluntary participation

-Prtotection from harm

-Informed Consent (Or informed assent for minors)

-Confidentality

-Debriefing ( Telling the participant what they did after the expiremental like if they were manipulated)

-Use of Deception

-Role of confederates ( Confederates are like scientist pretending the be people to help guide the experiments)

Descriptive Statistics

Numerical date used to measure and describe characteristics of a group

What percent fall into one standard of the deviation?

68%W

What percentage falls into two standards of the deviation?

95%

What are the measures of central tendency?

Mean

Mode

Median

Mean

Adding all the scored than dividing by the amount of scores

Median

The middle mand half of scores are above half of scores are underneathMo

Mode

Is the most used number

A normal distrubition

A normal distribution is bell shaped

Skewed distributions

A rpresentation of scored that lack symmetry around the average valueMet

Meta analysis

Using multiple data from different studies

Statistically significant

Likelihood that the result occurred by chance

Effect size

The strength of the relationship between two varibales

How important is it actually