AP Psych Modules 01. - 1.1 (Methodology and Nature / Nurture)

Psychology

The science of behavior and mental processes

The three key elements of the scientific attitude

Curiosity, Skepticism, Humility

The scientific process

a self-correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation analysis.

Operational Definition

the exact procedures used in a research study

Theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

Survey

self-reported attitudes or behaviors (questionnaires)

social desirability bias

false answer because the feelings aren’t popular in your culture / group

self-report bias

bias when people report their behavior inaccurately

correlation

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

correlation coefficient ( r )

a statistical index of the relationship between two variables (from -1.00 to +1.00)

correlation DOES NOT equal causation

correlation suggests a possible cause - effect relationship but does not prove it.

directionality problem

two variables are related but there is not a known cause and effect.

third variable problem

there may be a third variable unknown to us that can trigger the other two variables.

illusory correlation

perceiving a relationship where none exists

regression towards the mean

regressing towards what most people are experiencing

Experiment

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (IV) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (DV), looking for cause and effect

experiment group

in an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, to one version of the IV

control group

the group not exposed to the treatment, serves as a comparison for evaluating the effects of a treatment

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance while minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups

single-blind procedure

an experimental procedure in which the research participants are ignorant (blind) about whether they have received the treatment or a placebo

double-blind procedure

the research participants and staff are blind about whether the participants have received the treatment or a placebo

placebo effect

results caused by expectations

cofounding variables

other factors

experimenter bias

biased caused when researchers influence results to confirm their own beliefs.

validity

the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to

ethical guidelines of psychological research

1. informed consent (minor = informed assent)

2. protect participants from potential harm and compensate them

3. keep information about participants confidential

4. fully debrief people

descriptive statistics

measures of central tendency & measures of variation

inferential statistics

numerical data that allows for one to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population

meta-analysis

a statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion

statistically significant

the finding is unlikely to have occurred by random chance alone

p < 5%

if the probability is less than this the result was NOT due to chance / correlation

tiny effect size

even if a relationship between two groups does pose statistical significance, because the relationship is so small it has limited practical importance and real world application

natural selection

inherited traits in an organisms ability to survive and reproduce will most likely be passed onto generations.

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind

behavior genetics

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and enviromental influences on behavior.

monozygotic/identical

two individuals from a single fertilized egg (genetically identical)

dizygotic/fraternal

individuals who developed from seperate fertilized eggs. Genetically, they are no closer than ordinary siblings

heritability

the proportion of variation (difference) among individuals in a group we can attribute to genes