AP Psychology - Unit 0 Test

confirmation bias

- tendency to search for evidence that fits out beliefs, and ignore evidence of the contrary

Data collection method 1

Naturalistic observation (advantage/disadvantage):

- observing participants in their natural environment

- advantage: gives a realistic picture because participants act like normal

- disadvantage: people might act different if they know they're watched

observer bias

- observer sees what they want to/expect to see

- can fix it by not telling observers the purpose of the experiment

Data collection method 2

Case Study (advantage/disadvantage):

- one individual studied in a lot of detail

- advantage: lots of detail

- disadvantage: can't generalize information

Data collection method 3

Survey (advantage/disadvantage):

- advantage: collects a lot of detail quickly

- disadvantage: people lie, say what they think they should say (courtesy bias)

Data collection method 4

Experiment:

- changing one thing, the rest stays the same

- only way to prove cause/effect (causal relationship)

operational definition:

- names the steps the experimenter must use to measure the variables

- precisely what each variable means

target population

- entire group studied

representative sample

- group of people that represent the target population

random selection

- method of choosing a sample in which each person in population has an equal chance of being selected

random sample

random group taken from the population

random assignment

- method that ensures that each person has an equal chance to experimental group

confounding variable

outside variable that interferes with results if not controlled for ahead of time OR pre-existing differences

- generalize experiments by removing confounding variable

experimenter effect

- accidentally gives clues to the participant to alter the results

placebo effect

- participants think they're getting the treatment but they're not

- expectation changes their behavior

confederate

a person chosen by the experimenter to deliberately manipulate the situation

cross-sectional

- comparing different groups at one point in time

longitudinal (disadvantage)

- a study that deals with one group over a long period of time

disadvantage: can't force people to stay

meta-analysis

- looking at other's studies to do research

Correlation

doesn't prove cause and effect

- determines a relationship between two variables

correlation coefficient

- a number that represents a direction or strength of a relationship

- if different directions, it is negative

- if same directions, it is positive

strength

number between -1 and +1

r= +1 (strong) r= -1 (strong) r=0 (weak/closer to 0)

Ex: smoking more cigarettes a day strongly correlates with a shorter life expectancy : r=-1

scatter plots

- the tighter the dots are to a line, the stronger it is

- line going up = direct/positive

- line going down = indirect, negative

third variable problem

- third variable that impacts both sides

- ex: as ice cream sales go up, so do crime rates

- extra thing would be summer

descriptive statistics

- used to summarize data and make judgements about the population

measures of central tendency

- mean: average

- median: middle #

- mode: most occurring

measures of variability

- range: highest # - lowest #

- standard deviation: how much scores deviate from mean

frequency distribution

- how often numbers appear in a set of scores

negatively skewed graph

normal distribution

positively skewed graph

inferential statistics

- determines meaningful vs. chance results

statistically significant

- differences are real

p-value

- probability that the results were due to chance

- between 0-1

p < 0.5 (better)

p > 0.5 (worse)

ethical guidelines (8)

1) researched by IRB (institutional review board)

2) informed consent

3) deception must be justified (goes alone with 6)

4) may withdraw at any time

5) must be informed of risks

6) debrief after the study (eliminates deception)

7) confidential

8) researchers are responsible if something goes wrong