Unit 0 Ap Psychology

hindsight bias

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

operational definition

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

replication

repeating the essence of research study to see if the basic finding can be reproduced

hypothesis

a testable prediction

case study

a non-experimental technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

naturalistic observation

non experimental technique of observing and recording behavior in a natural occuring situation

self report bias

bias when people record their behavior inaccurately

population

all those in a group being studied, which random samples can be drawn

correlation

a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and then how well each factor predicts the other

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between 2 variables

regression to the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall toward the average

experiment

a research method where one variable is manipulated to see if it affects the other, only method that detemines cause and effect

experimental group

in a experiment, the group exposed to the manipulated variable

single-blind procedure

experimental procedure where the participants are ignorant if they recieved treatment or not

double blind procedure

both the research staff and the participants are ignorant to whether they got the treatment or not

placebo

experiment results caused by expectations alone, any affect on behavior is caused by administration of an inert substance

confounding/third variable problem

a factor outside the dependent and independent variable that affects the results

debriefing

the post-experimental explanation of a study to its participants

informed consent

giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether to participate

normal curve

a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of the data

meta analysis

statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach a conclusion

effect size

the strength of the relationship between two variables

inferential statistics

numerical data that allow one to generalize

social desirability bias

bias from people’s responding in ways they presume a researcher expects or wishes

peer reviewers

scientific experts who evaluate a research articles theory, orginality, and theory

random assignment

assigning participants randomly so each get a fair chance to be in each group

structured interviews

a interview process that asks the same job-relevant questions of all applicants

overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct

directionality problem

once we know A and B are related, it could be than A causes B, or B causes A, or theres a third factor

informed assent

minors cannot consent for themselves

Institutional Review Board

federally mandated, locally-administered groups charged with evaluating the risks and benefits of human participants

likert scales

scales, usually from 1-7, where the participant rates their opinion, such as strongly agree or strongly disagree

bimodal distribution

characterized by 2 different peaks, reflects two different data groups