AP Psych Research Methods

behavioral (middle

how we respond to stimuli in our environment - observable behavior, rewards/punishments, stimulus/response

psychodynamic (thumb)

how unconscious thoughts and feelings drive our behavior - defense mech, ido/ego/superego, childhood trauma, unconscious

humanism (ring)

meeting human needs to reach full potential (hierarchy of needs) - free will, potential for growth, unconditional positive regard

biological (pinky)

genetic, biological processes and how they influence experiences and behaviors - brain structure, hormones, neurotransmission

evolutionary (fist)

natural selection causing traits to emerge - adaptation, survival of the fittest

cognitive/psychological (index)

how we think, remember, analyze, and interpret the world - perception, problem-solving, thinking

sociocultural (palm)

situations, environments, cultures shaping thinking and behavior - family influence, group interactions, society and media, religion

Barnum Effect

when people give high accuracy ratings to things that are “tailored” to them but apply to all humans - unreliable personality tests

Overconfidence

too much faith in one’s own judgement/ability, thinking they know more than they do

Confirmation Bias

people look for, interpret, or remember info in a way that confirms what they already believe

hindsight bias

people believe they knew something was going to happen after it has occured, even if they didn’t actually predict it beforehand - “i knew that was going to happen”

finding patterns in random events

trying to make sense of the world by seeing predictable patterns where there are nonee

empirical evidence

info that’s obtained through observation, experiments, or measurement

scientific method

systematic approach to study human behavior and mental processes

falsifiable hypothesis

a hypothesis that can be proven false

replication

repeating/reproducing a research study so findings can be consistently observed

observational definitions

how a researcher measures and manipulates variables in a study

correlation

two factors vary together, research used to examine relationship between two or more variables

causation

one factor causes another thing to change

descriptive research

describe and report behavior - natural observation, case study, survey

experimental research

manipulating variables to uncover effects, the only way causation can be found

theory vs. hypothesis

explaining ideas that have been observed vs. testable predictions

case study

examining 1 individual/group to reveal things about everyone

naturalistic observation

recording and describing behaviors in natural environments

survey

estimate attitudes and behaviors of a population using a sample