AP Psych Notes

def of psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

elements of scientific attitude

curiosity, skepticism, humility

critical thinking

notice hidden biases and assumptions, question evidence and how it was acquired

empiricism

the usage of facts and data

intuition

gut feeling, guess

hindsight bias

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

overconfidence

believing yourself to be greater than you are; leads to quick thinking rather than correct thinking

perceiving order in random events

people are prone to pattern seeking b/c they seek predictability

Ex. Embezzlers make random digits seem TOO random

numbers do re[eat and have sequences randomly

What part of Phineas Gage's brain was separated?

limbic system and frontal cortex

scientific method

process for evaluating ideas w/ observation + analysis to test theories

peer reviewers

scientific experts who evaluate a research article's theory, originality and accuracy

hypothesis

testable prediction, often implied by a theory

falsifiability

the possibility than an idea, hypothesis or theory can be disproved by observation or experience

operational definitions

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

ex. an intelligence test measures human intelligence thru various questions

theory

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

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

a way to test for accuracy

case study

non

problem: individual experience can lead to inaccurate conclusions

naturalistic observation

observing + recording behavior in naturally occurring situations w/o manipulation or control

negative: we can only guess why they do what they do

social desirability bias

respond in ways they presume a researcher expects or wishes

self report bias

people answer inaccurately because they dont want to admit their own behaviors

sampling bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample; researches tend to do this out of convenience

random sample

fairly represents a population b/c each member has an equal chance of inclusion

control

variable being tested against, remains the same

experimental group

what is being tested

random assignment

participant doesn't know what they are being tested for

double

blind procedure

confounding variables

confuses the experiment; skews the data

validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

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

Closer to one is stronger

scatterplots

little scatter = high correlation

Perfect negative:

1

Perfect positive: 1

variable

anything that can vary that is feasible and ethical to measure

directionality problem

does not tell which is cause and which is effect

correlation does NOT equal causation

regression toward the mean

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

experimental group

group being exposed to treatment

placebo

results caused by expectation alone

independent var

being manipulated

dependent var

changing b/c of indep

experimenter bias

unintentionally influence results to confirm their own beliefs

quantitative research

relies on numerical, quantifiable data

qualitative research

in depth "narrative" data, not numbers

Ex. interviews to understand behavior

confederates

pretend to be participants but are in the experiemnt

debriefing

explaining the experiment to the participant after the study

deception

cannot lie, participant must vaguely understand what they are agreeing to

right to withdraw

A participant's right to leave a study at any time and their ability to do so.

informed consent

an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

protection from psychological harm

Baumrind argued that Milgram didn't protect his participants sufficiently.

Because they were denied the right to withdraw despite showing visible signs of distress

privacy

know who will read results, can remain anonymous

descriptive stats

numerical data that measures characteristics of groups and tendency

histogram

bar graph depicting frequency distribution

mode

the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

median

Middle number

mean

average

% rank

% of scores lower than a given score

inferential statistics

numerical data that allows for one to infer probability of something being true of a population

skewed distribution

a representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value

longitudinal study

takes a long time

cross sectional study

data from specific group at a specific time

inferential stats

descriptive stats

describe and summarize data

nature

nurture issue

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

human behavior + mind shapes psychology

... evolved to have best way to stay alive

behavior genetics

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior

ex. are gender differences biologically constructed?

environment

non

heredity

genetic transfer of characteristics from parent to offspring

genes

biochemical units of heredity

some can be turned off and on

identical, monozygotic, twins

single egg that splits, good for nature v nurture studies

fraternal, dizygotic, twins

developed from separate fertilized effs but share prenatal environment

gene

environment interaction

epigenetics

the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change

turned off an on by things like drugs and stress

nervous system

communication network, consists of central and peripheral NS

central NS

brain and spinal cord

peripheral NS

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the CNS to the rest of the body

nerves

bundled axons that form neural "cables" connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs

axons

Carry impulses away from the cell body

sensory neurons (afferent)

carry incoming info from body tissues and receptors to brain and spinal cord

motor neurons (efferent)

carry outgoing info from brain + spinal cord to muscles and glands

interneurons

communicate internally and process info BETWEEN sensory inputs and motor outputs

autonomic NS

involuntary, self

includes sympathetic NS and parasympathetic NS

somatic NS

division of peripheral neurons that control skeletal muscles

(SKELETAL NS)

ex. stretch arms, clench fists, touch hot stove

sympathetic NS

arouses body, causes fight or flight response