AP Psych Unit 0

case study

a deep and detailed look at one person or small group to learn about behavior

confounding variable

an extra factor that sneaks in and messes up results because it affects the outcome

control group

the group in the experiment that does not get the special treatment, nothing changes to it and stays the same. used to compare

correlation

a measure of how two things go together

positive correlation

both go up or both go down

negative correlation

one goes up, the other goes down

correlation coefficient ®

a number from -1 to +1 that shows how strong the correlation is

strong positive

close to +1

strong negative

close to -1

close to 0

little to no correlation

dependent variable

the thing you measure in an experiment (the outcome)

descriptive statistics

numbers that summarize data (mean, median, mode)

distribution

the way scores are spread out

normal distribution

bell shaped curve, average in the middle

skewed distribution

lopsided, pulled to one side by extreme scores

double blind design

neither the participants nor the researchers know whos getting the real treatment vs placebo, avoids bias

ethical guidelines

rules to protect people in studies

confidentiality

keeping participants information private

debrief

after study, explain what really happened

discontinued participation

people can quit at any time

informed consent

participants must know what theyre agreeing to

voluntary participation

nobody can be forced to join

experiment

a test where researchers change one variable to see if it causes a change in another

experimental group

the group that does get the special treatment

falsifiable hypothesis

a guess that can be proven wrong through testing (important for real science)

generalizability

how well the results of a study apply to people outside the study

independent variable

the thing the researcher changes (the cause)

institutional review boards (IRBs)

committees that check if experiments are safe and ethical before they start

mean

the average (add up numbers, divide by how many there are)

median

the middle score when numbers are lined up to smallest to biggest

mode

the most common number in a set

naturalistic observation

watching behavior in a natural setting without interfering

operational definition

explaining exactly how you will measure something. (ex: happiness measures as number of smiles per hour)

placebo condition

fake treatment given to see if people improve just by believing

placebo effect

when people improve because they think they got the real treatment

qualitative data

descriptions, words, observations (ex: student looked nervous)

quantitative data

numbers and measurements (ex: reaction time = 200 ms)

random assignment

randomly putting participants into groups (experiments vs control)

random sample

randomly choosing people from a population to join the study

reliability

getting the same results if you repeat the test (consistency)

replicability

when other researchers can redo the study and get similar results

representative sample

a group that accurately reflects the larger population (age, gender, ect)

single blind design

participants dont know which group they’re in, but researchers do

statistical significance

when results are not likely due to chance (usually p<0.5)

survey

asking people questions to gather data about attitudes or behaviors

validty

how accurate a test or experiment is—does it actually measure what its supposed to measure?