ap psych unit 1

Empiricism

The belief that knowledge comes from sensory experience.

Biopsychosocial approach

An integrated approach that considers biological, psychological, and social factors.

Basic research

Research conducted to increase scientific knowledge.

Applied research

Research conducted to solve practical problems.

Hindsight bias

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

Operational definition

A statement of the procedures used to define research variables.

Replication

Repeating a research study to confirm the results.

Case study

An in-depth analysis of an individual or small group.

Naturalistic observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations.

Survey

A research method that gathers information from a large number of people.

Population

All the individuals in a group being studied.

Random sample

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Correlation coefficient

A statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together.

Scatterplot

A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables.

Illusory correlation

The perception of a relationship where none exists.

Experimental group

The group exposed to the treatment in an experiment.

Control group

The group not exposed to the treatment in an experiment.

Random assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance.

Double-blind procedure

A research procedure where both the participants and the researchers are unaware of who is in the experimental or control group.

Placebo effect

The phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior.

Independent variable

The factor that is manipulated in an experiment.

Confounding variable

A factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment.

Dependent variable

The outcome factor that is measured in an experiment.

Validity

The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to.

Informed consent

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

Debriefing

The post-experimental explanation of a study to the participants.

Descriptive statistics

Numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups.

Histogram

A bar graph depicting a frequency distribution.

Skewed distribution

A representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value.

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.

Standard deviation

A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean.

Normal curve

A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data.

Inferential statistics

Numerical data that allows one to generalize from sample data to a population.

Statistical significance

A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance.