AP Psych - Unit 0 Vocab

Key vocab from Unit 0 lecture notes for AP Psychology

overconfidence

the tendency to overestimate our abilities and knowledge.

hindsight bias

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

“I knew it all along”

scientific method

a method in which scientists form hypotheses from theories; conduct research, and then refine theories in the light of research observations.

Theory

an explanation that organizes data and predicts observations (NOT fact)

Hypothesis

A testable prediction. often implied by a theory; “can I test this statement?”

Replication

repeating a study to see if the basic finding extends to other participants in other circumstances

recreating experiments and expecting similar results

falsifiability

hypotheses must be inherently disprovable before it can become accepted as a hypothesis

null hypothesis

states there is no relationship between the variables studied

peer review

a process that takes place before a study is published to check quality and validity of the research, and to ensure that the research contributes to its field

meta-analysis

a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different studies — estimates effect size, review of multiple studies for commonalities

case study

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth w/ the hope of revealing universal principles

gives insight into cases that couldn’t be studied ethically BUT hard to generalize

survey

research method that involves asking people questions to gather data

representative sample/selection

A sample that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population.

random sample/selection

Each person from the population has an equal chance of being chosen

generalization

Likert scale

A scale used in surveys where people rate their agreement with statements

self-report bias

Tendency for people to people to inaccurately report their own behavior

social desirability bias

convenience sampling

sampling bias

naturalistic observation

correlational

scatterplots

correlation coefficient

effect size

illusory correlation

directionality problem

third variable problem

experimental method

variable

independent variable (IV)

variable being manipulated

dependent variable (DV)

operational definition

experimental group

control group

random assignment

placebo

placebo effect

single blind study

double blind study

experimenter bias

confounding variable

institutional review board (IRB)

institutional animal care & use committee (IACUC)

informed consent

informed assent

confederates

debrief

measures of central tendency

mean

median

mode

frequency distribution

normal curve

regression towards the mean

skewness

measures in variation

range

standard deviation

“statistically significant”