UNIT 0 ap psych

Psychology

the science of behavior and mental processes

Critical Thinking

examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions

hindsight bias

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

Confirmation Bias

peoples tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting information that is consistent with their beliefs

Overconfidence

Exaggerate Correctness or accuracy of our beliefs and predictions

Cultural Norms

Shared expectations and rules that guide behavior within a society

Peer Reviewers

Experts who evaluate a theory, originality, and accuracy

Theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Falsifiable

able to be disproven by experimental results

Operational Definition

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

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

Case Study

A non-experimental technique in which one individual or group is studied indpeth to reveal something

meta-analysis

a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

Naturalistic Observation

non-experimental method; research in which subjects are observed in their natural environment

Survey

A non-experimental technique for obtaining the self reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group

Social Desirability Bias

People answering in a way that they think will please the researcher

Self-Report Bias

bias when people report their behavior inaccurately

Experimenter Bias

a phenomenon that occurs when a researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained

Population

All those in a group being studied

Sample

a subset of the population

Sampling Bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

Random Sample

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

Convenience Sampling

choosing individuals who are easiest to reach

Representative Sample

randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects

Generalizability

the extent to which we can claim our findings inform us about a group larger than the one we studied

Experimental Methodology

Direct way to test a hypothesis about a cause-effect relationship between factors

non-experimental methodology

research that lacks the manipulation of an independent variable, random assignment of participants to conditions or orders of conditions, or both.

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.

Correlation Coefficient

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

Positive Coefficient

Direct Relationship

Negative Coefficient

Indirect Relationship

Variable

Anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure

Scatterplot

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables

Illusory Correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists

directionality problem

we don't know why they are related we just know that they are

Third Variable Problem

A problem that occurs when the researcher cannot directly manipulate variables; as a result, the researcher cannot be confident that another, unmeasured variable is not the actual cause of differences in the variables of interest.

Regression Toward the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back toward their average.

Experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

Expiremental Group

group exposed to treatment

Control group

Not exposed to treatment

Independent Variable

variable that is manipulated

Dependent Variable

Outcome measured

Random Assignment

Assigning Partcipants to expiremental and control groups by chance

Single-Blind Procedure

research design in which participants don't know whether they are in the experimental or control group

Double-blind Procedure

an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies.

Placebo

A harmless pill, medicine, or procedure prescribed more for the psychological benefit to the patient than for any physiological effect.

Placebo effect

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

Confounding variable

a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study's results

Quantitative Research

Methods using numerical data to represent degrees of a variable

Qualitative Research

In-depth narrative data

Likert Scale

Where questionarie responses fall on a continuum

Institutional review

process of examining studies for ethical concerns by a committee of peers

Informed consent

giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

Informed Assent

Participant's agreement to participate in the absence of full understanding

Commonly applies to individuals who have not attained legal majority and/or capacity

Protect from harm

Participants should be free from physical and psychological harm in research

Confidentiality

the act of holding information in confidence, not to be released to unauthorized individuals

Deception

misleading participants about the true purpose of a study or the events that will actually transpire

Research Confederates

poses as a participant but whose behavior is rehearsed prior to the experiment

Debriefing

the postexperimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants

Descriptive Statistics

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups. Includes measures of central tendency and measures of variation.

Measure of Central Tendency

a single score that represents a whole set of scores (mean, median, mode)

percentile rank

the percentage of scores below a specific score in a distribution of scores

skewed disribution

a representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value

Positive Skew

mean > median

Negative Skew

Mean < median

Biomodal Distribution

A distribution (of opinions) that shows two responses being chosen about as frequently as each other. 2 modes

Measures of variation

range and standard deviation

Range

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Standard Deviation

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

inferential statistics

numerical data that allow one to generalize- to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population

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.

statistical significance

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

Effect size

the magnitude of a relationship between two or more variables