AP Psychology - Master AP Exam Study Guide

WORK IN PROGRESS - DOES NOT CURRENTLY HAVE ALL TERMS

Hypothesis

a tentative explanation, must be falsifiable

falsifiable

able to be supported or rejected

Operational Definition

clear, precise quantifiable definition of your variables - allows for replication and collection of reliable data

Qualitative Data

Descriptive data (ex. eye color)

Quantitative Data

Numerical Data - IDEAL and necessary for statistics

population

everyone the research could apply to

sample

the people (or person) specifically chosen for your study

correlation

identify the relationship between two variables

true

true or false: Correlation does not equal causation

directionality problem

A problem asking which direction does the correlation go?

3rd variable problem

a problem in which a different variable is responsible for the relationship

positive correlation

variables increase and decrease together

negative correlation

as one variable increases the other decreases

true

true or false: when it comes to correlation, the stronger the number means the stronger the relationship REGARDLESS of the + / - sign

false

true or false, in correlation, the number can be less than negative one or more than positive one

stronger relationship between data

tighter clusters on a graph mean…

experiments

type of research that purposefully manipulates variables to determine cause and effect

only type of research that can establish cause and effect

Advantage of an experiment

can be unethical or too artificial

disadvantages of an experiment

independent variable

variable that is purposefully altered by the researcher to look for effect

experimental group

group that received the treatment/independent variable

control group

placebo group, used as a baseline, can only have one

dependent variable

variable that is measured

placebo effect

any observed effect on a behavior that is “caused” by a placebo, it is usually fixed with blinded studies

double blind

experiment where neither the participant nor the experimenter are aware of which “group” participants are assigned to

single blind

experiment where only the participant doesn’t know which group they are in

confound

error/flaw in the study that is accidentally introduced

random assignment

assigns participants to either control group or experimental group at random - increases the chance of equal representation amongst the groups - allows experimenter to determine cause/effect

naturalistic observation

observing people in their natural settings, it allows real world validity but you cannot prove cause in effect

case study

studies one person in great detail, it collects lots of information but cannot prove cause and effect

meta-analysis

combines multiple studies to increase sample size and examine effect sizes

descriptive statistics

shows the shape of the data

measures of central tendency

mean, median, and mode

mean

the average, used in normal distribution

median

the middle number, used in skewed distribution

mode

the number that occurs the most often

bimodal

a data set with two modes, usually indicates good/bad scores

skews

created by outliers, found on a graph

negative skew

mean is to the left side of the graph, mode is to the right (tail goes to the left)

positive skew

mean is to the right (tail goes to the right)

measures of variation

range and standard deviation

range

distance between smallest and biggest number

standard deviation

average amount the scores are spread from the mean (bigger number=more spread)

inferential statistics

statistics that measure significance (meaningfulness)

statistical significance

results not due to chance, manipulation caused the difference in means

less than 0.05

number that indicates if something is statistically significant

effect size

data has practical significance, bigger=better

confidentiality, informed consent, informed assent, debriefing, deception, no harm

the main six ethical guidelines

confidentiality

names must be kept secret

informed consent

participants must agree to their part of the study

Informed assent

minors AND their guardians must agree to the study

debriefing

participants must be told the true purpose of the study (done after deception)

deception

purposefully misleading participants, must be warranted and proven to be necessary for the study to work

surveys

usually turned into correlation, subject to self-report bias

self-report bias

errors when collecting survey data due to social desirability bias and wording effect

social desirability bias

people lie to look good

wording effect

how the question is worded can impact the answers of participants

IRB

Institutional Review Boards, if an experiment involves people they have to approve it before it can happen.

random sample(selection)

method of choosing participants, everyone has a chance to take part, increases generalizability

representative smaple

sample mimics the general population (ethnicity, gender, etc.)

convenience sample

selects participants on availability, less representative and less generalizable this way

sampling bias

sample isn’t representative, due to convenience sampling

cultural norms

behaviors of a particular group can influence research results

experimental/participant bias

experimentar/participant expectations influence the outcome

cognitive bias

bias in thinking/judgement

confirmation bias

when participants find out information that reinforces their preexisting beliefs

hindsight bias

bias that occurs after an event is done, “I knew it all along”

overconfidence

when we overestimate our knowledge/abilities

hawthorne effect

the effect where people change their behavior when they are watched

evolutionary psychology

the study of how natural selection influences behavior

heredity (nature)

how genes influence your behavior

environment (nurture)

how outside situations influence your behavior

nature vs. nurture

the debate about whether or not our behavior and personality come from genetics or our environment

twin/adoption studies

Studies examining nature vs. nurture with identical twins

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

nervous system not including brain and spinal cord

somatic nervous system

voluntary movement, has both sensory and motor neurons

autonomic nervous system

involuntary organs, contains both the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system

sympathetic nervous system

fight or flight, generally activates

parasympathetic nervous system

rest and digest, generally inhibits

neuron

basic cell of the nervous system

dendrites

receive incoming neurotransmitters

axon

what the action potential travels down

myelin sheath

fatty covering of the axon, speeds up the action potential and protects the axon

synapse

gap between the neurons

sensory neurons

receives sensory signals from the environment and sends them to the brain

motor neurons

sends signals to move from brain

interneurons

cells in the spinal cord and brain that are responsible for the reflex arc

reflex arc

important stimuli skips the brain and gets routed straight through the spinal cord for immediate reactions

GLIA

support cells, give nutrients and cleans up around neurons

resting potential

neuron maintains a -70mv charge when not doing anything

depolarization

charge of neuron briefly switches from negative to positive, triggers the action potential

threshold of depolarization

the stimulus much reach this point to start the action potential

all or nothing principle

once the stimulus exceeds the threshold, it goes. It does not matter how strong the stimulus is as long as it exceeds the threshold.

refractory period

neuron must rest and reset before it can send another action potential

neurotransmitters

chemicals released in the synaptic gap that are then received by neurons. they can be excitatory or inhibitory.

excitatory

increases action potentials in other neurons

inhibitory

decreases action potentials in other neurons

GABA

major inhibitory neurotransmitter

glutamate

major excitatory neurotransmitter