AP Psychology Unit 2

Cognitive Bias

fault in the way we make judgements and solve problems

Hindsight Bias

the tendency to believe, after learning the outcome, that you 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

the tendency to perceive patterns in random sequences in order to make sense of our world

Confirmation Bias

tendency to search for evidence that confirms our beliefs and discount evidence that contradicts them

Algorithm

a methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem

Heuristic

a rule-of-thumb problem-solving strategy, not guaranteed to find an answer but easier and quicker than using an algorithm

Insight

a sudden realization of a problem's solution

Fixation

the inability to see a problem from a new perspective, by employing a different mental set

Mental Set

a tendency to approach a problem in a particular way, especially a way that has been successful in the past - but may or may not be helpful in solving a new problem

Intuition

instinctive feeling rather than conscious reasoning

Framing

the way an issue is posed can affect judgements and therefore decisions

Priming

the activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

Judgement

an opinion that can be proven right or wrong

Decision

the selecting of an action with the aim of producing a favorable outcome

Normative

how people "should" make judgements or decisions

Descriptive

how people "actually" make judgements and decisions

Deterministic Judgement

judgements are stated without uncertainties or probabilities

Likelihood Judgement

judgements involve stated uncertainty/probability

Cognitive Illusions

the systematic biases and errors in human decision making

Judgement Heuristics

mental shortcuts people use to make judgments quickly and efficiently

Fallacies

a misleading or false idea; mistaken reasoning

Availability Heuristic

making a decision based on the answer that most easily comes to mind

Representativeness Heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

Conjunction Fallacy

belief that the probability that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event

Base Rate Neglect Fallacy

ignoring or underusing the "base rate" information (statistics)

Anchoring and Insufficient Adjustment Heuristic

tendency of people to be overly influenced by initial information and fail to sufficiently update their first impressions as they receive new information

Dread Risk

overestimating the likelihood of unfamiliar potentially catastrophic risks compared to risks that provide the illusion of control

Belief Perseverance

tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when new evidence contradicts them

Illusory Correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists between events/actions/behaviors

Predictable-World Bias

tendency to believe that events are more predictable than they actually are

Gambler's Fallacy

the belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

we are reluctant to waste something we have already ave paid for

Mental representations

mental images or symbols (such as words) used to think about or remember an object, a person, or an event

Inductive Reasoning

inferring general truths from specific instances

Deductive Reasoning

applying general rules to specific instances

Functional Fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving

Insight Learning

the process of mentally working through a problem until the sudden realization of a solution occurs

Insight Problems

problems that are specially designed to be unsolvable until one looks at them in a way that is different from the usual way

Divergent Thinking

expands the number of possible problem solutions

Convergent Thinking

narrowing the available problem solutions to determine the single best solution

Theory

idea or conceptual model designed to explain existing facts, and help make predictions about new facts that might be discovered

Hypothesis

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Scientific Method

A logical, systematic approach to the solution of a scientific problem

Falsifiable

can be proven false; it is possible to design a study that could disprove a theory

Replication

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

Peer Review

a review by people with similar professional qualification

Conceptual Definition

the concept or idea behind the variable being studied

Operational Definition

a statement of the procedures used to define research variables

Subject

experimental units - the ones being tested on

Population

the entire group or set of individuals, objects, or events that possess specific characteristics and are of interest to the researcher

Sample

a relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a study so as to be representative of the population

Representative Sample

a sample that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population as a whole

Random Sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Convenience Sample

only members of the population who are easily accessible are selected

Sampling Bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

Stratified Sample

a sample drawn in such a way that known subgroups within a population are represented in proportion to their numbers in the general population

Experimental Group

the group in an experiment that receives the variable being tested

Control Group

the group that does not receive the experimental treatment.

Random Assignment

placing research participants into the conditions of an experiment in such a way that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any level of the independent variable

Nonrandom Assignment

placing research participants into the conditions of an experiment in a non-random manner

Group Matching

researchers attempt to categorize the subjects (by age, health status, gender, ect.) and ensure that the control group has members similar to those in the experimental group

Single Blind

Subject does not know which group (control or experimental) they are in

Double Blind

when neither researchers nor participants are aware of who's in the experimental or control group

Placebo

A harmless pill, medicine, or procedure used in a study to test the effect of the real drug

Placebo Effect

the phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior

Subject Bias

when different treatments cause different expectations and those expectations cause a change in the results

Self Report Bias

when people report their own behavior inaccurately

Social Desirability Bias

a tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself

Experimenter Bias

when a researcher's interaction with the subjects is different based on the subjects experimental group, affecting the experiment outcome

Variable

a factor that can change in an experiment

Independent Variable

the variable that is manipulated by the experimentor

Experimental Variable

factor of the experiment being tested

Control Variable

a variable that is kept constant during a controlled experiment

Dependent Variable

the outcome variables measured by the experimentor

Confounding Variable

a factor other than the experimental variable that might influence a study's results

Order Effects

occur when the order in which the participants experience conditions in an experiment affects the results of the study

Noise Error

the difference between a measured value and the real value of the input

Reliability

the extent to which a test yields consistent results

Test-Retest Reliability

a method for determining the reliability of a test by comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate occasions

Split-Half Retest

a method of estimating reliability by dividing a test into two halves and measuring the correlation between the scores of each half

Validity

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

Internal Validity

extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences from a study

External Validity

extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world settings

Construct Validity

the extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure

Concurrent Validity

if the value of a criterion is known now; evidence that can be gathered to defend the use of a test for predicting other outcomes

Predictive Validity

if the value of a criterion will be known in the future

Content Validity

the degree to which a measurement tool accurately represents all aspects of the concept it aims to measure

Experimental Study Design

experimental manipulates IV and controls for potential confounds, assesses casualty and validity

Within-Subject Experiment

every subject is exposed to multiple conditions in the study

Between-Subject Experiment

each set of subjects is exposed to a different IV condition

Non-experimental Study

studies in which the researcher collects data without introducing an intervention; also called observational research

Correlational Study

a non-experimental study that looks for a consistent relationship between two phenomena

Case Studies

lengthy detailed information about a particular persons case

Naturalistic Observation

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

Meta Analysis

combining the results from multiple studies

Field Study

research that takes place outside the laboratory

Qualitative Measures

Data not recorded in numerical form

Quantitative Measures

units of measure expressed in numerical terms

Questionnaire/Survey

common type of research; list of questions you answered by subjects