AP psychology unit 0

What are the psychological perspectives?

Evolutionary- Mental processes exist because they aid in SURVIVAL and REPRODUCTION (aids in evolutions)

Psychodynamic- Determined by past experiences and and memories left in the unconcious mind and determined by your childhood

Cognitive- Internal processes of the MIND influencing behaviour

Biological- Genetics and brain CHEMISTRY determining psychology

Sociocultural- Focuses on SOCIETY and CULTURAL perspectives

Behavioural- Focuses on observable behaviours, people and animals are controlled by their ENVIRONMENT through positive and negative consequences

Humanistic- Human capacity for CHOICE and GROWTH, people have the motivation to fulfill their own potential

Biophysical- Holistic approach, linked between genetics and the environment

Pyschology

Science of behaviour and mental processes, uses empirical evidence and the scientific method

Empirical Evidence

Information acquired by SEEING and not BELIEVING (experimentation and observation)

scientific method

systematic approach to data including gathering data and testing hypotheses

confirmation bias

favoring information that SUPPORTS your beliefs

hindsight bias

believing things were predictable after they had happened (i knew it all along)

overconfidence

overestimating the accuracy of your behaviour, knowledge, and judgements

hypothesis

a testable prediction often derived from a theory

falsifiable

capable of being proven wrong (can be challenged)

peer review

evaluation of your work by OTHERS in the same field

replication

the ability of an experiment to be done again

reliability

consistency of a certain measurement

validity

accuracy of a test in measuring it is supposed to measure

the APA

leading leading scientific and professional organization that represents psychology in the United States

Quantitative Data

data that can be represented by numbers and statistics, is susceptible to manipulation

Likert Scales

Used to represent people’s attitudes on a topic

structured interviews

interviews following a set sequence of questions (scripted Q and A)

survey technique

asking questions to gather data (ask to know)Wo

wording effect

changes in responses caused by specific word choices in questions that can change answers

Social desirability bias

A tendency to give answers that are deemed as socially acceptable, or that people would want to hear

naturalistic observation

observing subjects in their natural environment

case study

study of a single subject or group IN DETAIL, usually different and more rarely occuring

correlational research

research to determine the relationship between variables, scale from -1, 0, 1

third variable problem

confounding variables, influences both variables of interest

correlation coefficient

numerical measure of the type and the degree of the relationship between two variables, how much are they related

positive vs negative correlation

they both increase vs one increases and one decreases

experimental method

method involving the manipulation and controlled testing of multiple variables

operational definitions

clear and precise descriptions to variables in the experiment, what is it that we are measuring and using to measure

placebo effect

improvement resulting from the mere EXPECTATION of improvement

sample bias

errors that occur in the selection of people in a sample leading to nonrandom, nonrepresentative samples

descriptive vs inferential statistics

statistics summarizing data from a sample vs statistics inferring the properties of a population

measure of central tendency

a measure that describes the center of a data set

regression of the mean

the tendency for extreme scores to fall back towards the average

positive vs negative skew

right tail vs left tail

statistical significance

the likelihood that a result of something is due to something other than pure chance

effect sizes

how strong or meaningful a relationship or difference is

meta-analysis

a procedure for combining the research results of many different studies

institutional review board

groups that review research to ensure that it is ethical

informed consent

agreement to participate in psychology research after learning about the risks and benefits

informed assent

agreement by a minor or adult NOT wanting to consent being apart of research

confidentiality

keeping private information confidential

deception

misleading participants about the true purpose of a study

debriefing

telling participants about what actually happened in the study in detail after it happens