AP Pyschology unit 0

critical thinking

thinking that examines assumptions, evaluate evidence, assesses conclusions, discerns bias, and appraises the source

hindsight bias

tendency to believe after learning an outcome; one would have foreseen it

overconfidence

judgment from bias in seeking information rather than confirms them.

Gestalt perspective

perspective that is associated with “ the whole is greater than the sum of the parts”

confirmation bias

the tendency to favor info. that confirms beliefs/ biases, while downplaying contradictory evidence

psychodynamic perspective

the belief that the unconscious drives thoughts and behaviors; unconscious and repressed

behavioral perspective

consequences of a behavior will influence whether of not the behavior is repeated

humanistic perspective

belief that individuals choose their own destinies

cognitive perspective

focuses on how mental processes influence behavior

biological perspective

the understanding of the physiology of the human brain to better understand thoughts and behaviors

sociocultural perspective

examines the influence of cultural standards affecting one’s thoughts and behaviors

evolutionary perspective

examines human behaviors and though processes relating to Darwin’s theories of evolution and adaptation

peer reviewers

scientific experts who evaluate a research article’s theory, originality,, and accuracy

theory

explanation for behaviors; events offered by ideas that oragnize observations

hypothesis

testable predictions

falsifiability

the possibility that an idea, hypothesis, or theory can be disproven by experiments/ observations

operational definitions

statement of the exact (operations) used in a research study.

replication

repeating the essence of a research study

case study

in-depth analysis of individuals or groups

self-report bias

bias when people report their bias inaccurately

sampling bias

a flawed sampling process… produces an unrepresentative sample

random sample

fair sampling process… each member has an equal chance of inclusion

population

all those in a group being studied

non-experimental methods

method that shows us what can happen, and they offer ideas for future studies; case studies, naturalistic observations, and surveys

experimental methods

method which uses controlled experiments to investigate cause-and-effect relationships between variables

correlation

statistical measure that reflects the relationship between two variables

correlation coefficient

statistical index of the relationship b/w two things; to help figure out how closely two things vary together ( ranging from ( -1.00 to 1.00)

variable

anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure

illusory correlation

is a cognitive bias where poeple perceive a relationship b/w two variables when no such relationship exists

regression toward the mean

extremely high or low scores on a measurement will, on average, be followed by less extreme scores upon retesting

experiment

research method which is used to investigate cause-and-effect relationships between variables

experimental group

the group in the experiment where the participants receive special treatment

control group

group in an experiment that does not receive the treatment, serving as the comparison

random assignment

assigning participants randomly to either the experimental or control group, eliminating bias

single-blind procedure

experimental procedure in which the participants are ignorant about whether they have received the treatment v. placebo

double-blind procedure

experimental procedure where the participants AND the research staff are ignorant about whether the participants received placebo or not.

placebo effect

the participant experiences improvement within their symptoms/ conditions after receiving a fake treatment

placebo

imitation of a drug/remedy designed to trick people into thinking that they are receiving the genuine treatment

independent variable

the factor that is being manipulated

dependent variable

the outcome that is measured

cofounding variable

the factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s result

validity

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

quantitative research

method that uses numerical data

qualitative research

methods that rely on in-depth, narrative data

Likert scales

psychometric scale used in surveys to measure attitudes or opinions.

institutional review

where academic research must propose a study the ethics board of the IRB at the institution in which was established to review an approve research subjects

debriefing

occurs after the study and is to educate participants about the true nature of the study

informed consent

participates are given info. on a study to see if they are willing to participate

informed assent

process where minors agree to participate in clinical research

descriptive statistics

methods used to organize, summarize, and present data using numerical data to describe the characteristics of a group

histogram

bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

mode

most frequent score in the data set

median

score that falls in the middle of the distribution

mean

arthmetic average of all scores; calculated by adding up all the scores/ by the total number of scores.

percentile rank

indicates the percentage of scores in a specific comparison group that fall below a particular score

skewed distribution

The shape of a set of data in which the values are not evenly distributed around the mean.

range

the difference between the highest and lowest in distribution

standard deviation

measure used to quantify the amount of variation/dispersion in a set value

normal curve ( bell curve , Gaussian distribution)

represents the data that clusters around the mean or average.

inferential statistics

methods used to draw conclusions about a larger population based on data from a sample

meta-analysis

statistical technique used to combine and analyze the results from multiple independent studies on the same topic.

statistical significance

any differences observed between groups being studied are ‘real’

effect size

quantitative measure of the magnitude of the experimental effect.