Ap Psych Unit 0

Psychology

 study of the brain and how it functions

Cognitive Bias

the brain making presumptions by following patterns rather than details

Confirmation Bias

seeking evidence that confirms or supports your point of view

Cultural Norm

things society has normalized

Confounding Variable

factors that can alter experiment results that you didn't count for

Hypothesis

a guess or theory about the relationship between two variables

Control group

part of the experiment that is a baseline/hasn’t changed (for comparison)

Experimental Bias

Not experimenting in an unbiased way, leading samples one way

Random sampling

getting a variety of people that are representative of society

Independent variable

the variable you can change / being intentionally manipulated

Dependent variable

the effect measured by the impact of the independent variable

Correlation

the relationship between two variables (typically IV and DV)

Random assignment

equal chance of being put into control or experimental group

Single blind

you don’t tell the participant their role in the experiment

Double blind

the experimenter and participant don’t know the participants role

Falsifiable hypothesis

 hypothesis that can be proven wrong

Replication

helps make sure the experiment is replicable and provable

Experimental group

the group that is being experimented on

Convenience sampling

non-random / easy way to select people due to accessibility

Representative sample

specifically looking for a particular trait in representatives

Hindsight Bias

False assumption you would’ve known the answer in the moment

Qualitative data

focuses on in depth understanding and rich descriptions of phenomena: names, smells, tastes, colors, things we perceive through our five senses

Structured interviews

predetermined questions asked in the same order to each person

Unstructured interviews

Open ended questions allowing for in depth exploration of topic

Focus Group

group discussions on a specific topic guided by a moderator

Natural Observations

Systematic recording of behavior in natural or controlled settings

Case studies

in-depth examination of a single individual or small group

Quantitative data

emphasizes numerical data and statistical analysis: Scores, weight, shoe size, numerical value, scales

Likert Scales

Participants rate agreement with statements on numerical scales

Psychological tests

standardized assessments measuring specific traits/abilities

Physiological measures

recording of bodily responses

Surveys

collection of data from a large group of people using questionnaires

Generalization

to expand or apply findings to the general population

Scatterplot graphs

a graph that displays the relationship between two variables (used when talking about correlation)

Meta-analysis studies

combination of many different types of research to reach an overall conclusion

Measures of Central tendency

tools used to determine a general trend

Mean

The sum of all scores divided by the number of scores

Median

The middle score when the data is arranged in order (less affected by outliers)

Mode

The most frequently occurring score (can have multiple or none)

Measures of variation

looking for outliers and unexpected results (verified by s.d.)

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest scores (largest - smallest)

Standard deviation

average distance of each score from the mean (1,2,3) tells how much the scores deviate from the average, larger = more spread out

Normal/bell curve

average is where most of the data comes from

Bimodal distribution

multiple peaks in data chart

Percentile rank

the percentage of scores in a distribution equal / lower than given score

Positive skew

measure of asymmetry of an distribution (data leaning left)

Negative skew

measure of asymmetry of an distribution (data leaning right)

Causal relationships

statistical way to measure how strongly two variables are related

Correlational research

finding the relationship between two things

Correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1) (how strong a correlation is)

Positive correlation

when both X and Y numbers go up or down together

Negative correlation

when one (X or Y) goes up and another goes down

Third Variable Issue

both variables are influenced by a third, unobserved or uncontrolled factor

Population

who was available to be selected to be tested on

Sample

who out of the population was actually tested on

Placebo

giving someone what they think is a drug (actually nothing) often in a control group

Placebo effect

The response to what you think is a medication

Institutional review board

protects participants from harm and reviews experiments

Protect from harm

experimenters' responsibility to ensure no one is harmed in an experiment

Peer Review

psychologists review an experiment to identify issues for ethical concerns

Informed Consent

letting participants know what is going on in the experiment

Informed Assent

Parental consent given for a participant

Confidentiality

keeping information private to assure ethic value

Debriefing

explaining results to the participants (no trauma)

Operational definition

clarifies abstract concepts by specifying how they are observed and measured

Deception

deliberate distortion or withholding of facts intended to mislead another individual (take place in trials)

Confederate

someone who is in on the deception / a plant

Non Experimental Research

lacks manipulation, control, cause and affect

Regression towards the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward their average

P value

represents the probability of obtaining results as extreme as those observed in the study assuming the null. You really want less than 5% as it shows randomness and consistency. If higher than .5, you will likely reject the hypothesis and conclude that there is a statistically significant effect