Unit 0: Psychology Review Test 1

What can experimental studies measure that correlation cannot?

causation because correlation does not equal causation!

Independent Variable

Cause

Dependent Variable

Effect

behavioral

how we learn observable responses

biological

how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences; how do genes combine with the environment to influence individual differences

cognitive

how we process, store, and retrieve information (thinking/brain)

evolutionary

how certain traits help animals/genes survive

ex: wings of a butterfly help them survive against predators

humanistic

personal growth, love, acceptance, and self-fulfillment

everyone has their own free will to become whoever they want to become even when people are under influences

psychodynamic

how behavior springs from UNCONSCIOUS drives and conflicts, also if it talks about CHILDHOOD

social-cultural

cultural and situational influences on behavior

biological influences

natural selection, genetic reactions to an environment, brain mechanisms, and hormonal influences

psychological influences

emotional responses, cognitive processing, learned fears, and other learned expectations

social-cultural influences

peers, culture, family, and media

biopsychosocial approach

considers the influences of biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors

positive psychology

study of strengths, flourishing, "good life"

Psychologists vs. Psychiatrists

Psychologists: study behavior and mental processes

Psychiatrists: focus on medical treatment of psychological disorders (can prescribe medications)

Nature vs. Nuture

Are human traits present at birth, or do they develop through experience?

Psychology

scientific study of mental processes and behavior

the "thinking" parts of our brain

what we do and how we act

Confirmation Bias

looking for info that confirms your beliefs

Deception

doing something to the participants without telling them

What are the measures of central tendency?

Mean, Mode, Median, and Range

effect size

small effect size effects the independent variable little

large effect size really effects the independent variable

Standard deviation

A measure of how spread out the numbers are around the mean. the farther away, the more spread out from the average, the closer together

Need to remember: 68%, 95%, 99.7%

What is an operational definition?

specifies exactly how a psychological concept or variable, like anxiety or intelligence, will be measured or observed in a study

Create an operational definition for "aggression" that could be measured

How many aggressive behaviors measured in 24 hours

Number of times a participant raises their voice in a class period

What are the six things you need to include in your FRQ

A. Research Method

B. Operational Definition

C. Statistical Analysis

D. Ethical Guidelines

E. Generalizability

F. Support or Refute hypothesis (with evidence)

What are the 5 possible answers for the Research Methods section?

1. experiment

2. naturalistic observation

3. case study

4. correlations

5. meta-analysis

experimental method

A method where the researcher manipulates one variable to see if it affects another. Has at least two groups where one is manipulated/"messed" with

(used to investigate cause and effect relationships!)

naturalistic observation

Watching behaviors occur naturally without interfering.

case study

A detailed examination of a single subject or group. (long-time study)

correlational research/study

A study that investigates the relationship between two or more variables

correlation does NOT equal causation

meta-analysis

A method of combining data from many different studies

confirmation bias

The tendency to favor information that confirms your existing beliefs.

hindsight bias

The feeling after something happens that you knew it was going to happen ("I knew-it-all-along phenomenon" or "I told you so")

overconfidence

Being more confident than correct; overestimating the accuracy of your beliefs. (when people think they know more than they actually do; overestimating their abilites)

empirical evidence

Information from experiments or observations rather than theories.

the scientific method

step-by-step method for conducting research. (theory, hypothesis, data, study, conclusion)

hypothesis

An educated prediction that you can test through study and experimentation. (based on existing theories, observations, or previous research findings)

falsifiable

Something that can be proven wrong through tests.

peer review

The process of having other experts examine your work to check its validity.

replication

The experiment has to be able to be replicated/recreated

reliability

The consistency of a research study or measuring test. (doesn't necessarily have to be correct)

validity

The accuracy of a test or research to measure what it claims to measure. In other words, is it measuring what it's supposed to measure?

The American Psychological Association (APA)

A major organization for psychologists in the United States.

research design

overall strucutre - what are you going to do?

methodology

specific techniques - how are you going to do it?

quantitative data

numerical - anything with numbers (quantity)

qualitative data

categorical data (quality)

likert scales

A scale used to represent people's attitudes or feelings; respondents specify their level of agreement to a statement.

structured interview

Interviews where everyone is asked the same questions in the same way.

survey technique

A method of gathering information by asking people questions. It is used to report self-report measures (just a normal survey asking people questions)

Wording effect

How the way a question is phrased can influence the answers given.

social desirability bias

The tendency of respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. (if it's anonymous you are more likely to get more honest responses)

confounding variable

An extra variable that wasn't accounted for that could affect the results of an experiment.

random assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, which helps ensure that any differences observed after the treatment are due to the treatment and not a preexisting difference.

experimental bias

When a researcher's expectations influence the outcome of a study.

single-bind study

When the participants do not know whether they are receiving the treatment or not, but the researcher does know

double-blind study

When neither the participants nor the researchers know who is receiving a particular treatment.

Sample

A group of subjects selected from a larger population for study.

representative sample

A randomly chosen sample of subjects from a larger population that accurately reflects the characteristics of the larger population

third variable problem

A situation where an unseen variable affects the results of a study.

scatterplot

A graph in which the values of two variables are plotted along two axes, the pattern of the resulting points revealing any correlation present.

correlation coefficient

A number between -1 and 1 that describes the strength and direction of a relationship between variables.

Positive correlation

A relationship where if one variable increases, the other does too.

Negative correlation

A relationship where if one variable increases, the other decreases.

No correlation

correlation coefficient of 0 indicates no relationship, the dots are scattered all along the scatterplot

statistics

The science of collecting, analyzing, presenting, and interpreting data.

descriptive statistics

Statistics that summarize data, such as the mean or standard deviation. (easy to see on tables and graphs)

inferential statistics

Statistics used to infer the properties of a population, based on a sample of data. (make educated guesses based on the overall sample) [generalizations!]

Mean

average

Median

the middle

Mode

the most common number

Range

how spread out your data is. The larger the number, the more spread out, the smaller the number, the less spread out (largest - smallest)

normal curve or bell curve

majority of data falls in the middle

regression to the mean

The phenomenon that extreme values in data tend to be closer to the average on subsequent measurements.

positive skew

right skew, majority of data falls on the left side

negative skew

left skew, majority of the data falls on the right side

percentile rank

Tells you where you stand compared to others in the group

bimodal distribution

A data distribution where there are two modes

statistical significance

The likelihood that a result from data collected by an experiment is not due to chance

p < 0.05 means that the data is NOT due to chance