AP Psych: Unit 0

Road blocks to critical thinking

hindsight bias, overconfidence, perceiving patterns in random events

Hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

Overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct. to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments.

Perceiving order in random events

People perceive random sequences as patterns to make sense of their world

Correlation

A measure of how well one variable can predict another

Illusionary correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists

single-blind study

study in which the subjects do not know if they are in the experimental or the control group

double-blind study

study in which neither the researcher nor the subjects know if the subjects are in the experimental or control group

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone (caused by assuming you've received an active agent)

experimental bias

a mistake in the design or interpretation of a study due to the researchers unconscious beliefs

validity

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

operational definition

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

theory

an explanation of behaviors or events that organizes observations to make a preditction

hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

case study

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

naturalistic observation

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

survey

a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group

social desirability bias

the tendency for people to say what they believe is appropriate or acceptable rather than what they actually feel

self-report bias

bias when people report their behavior inaccurately

sampling bias

A problem that occurs when a sample is not representative of the population from which it is drawn.

correlation vs. causation

correlation does not equal causation

confounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

control group

the group that does not receive the experimental treatment

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing confounding variables

normal curve

the symmetrical bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many physical and psychological attributes. Most scores fall near the average, and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes. (68, 95, 99)

negatively skewed

a distribution of scores in which scores are concentrated in the high end of the distribution and trail off to the left

positively skewed

a distribution of scores in which scores are concentrated in the low end of the distribution and trail off to the right

outlier

Data point significantly different from others

standard deviation

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

4 ethical standards

1. Debriefing
2. Informed Consent
3. Confidentiality
4. No harm

Statistical Significance

a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance