AP Psych Final

Social Loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Just-World Phenomenon

the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get "Homeless people are lazy and don't work so they deserve to be poor."

Archetypes (Carl Jung)

according to Jung, emotionally charged images and thought forms that have universal meaning.

Reaction Formation

switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites

Overjustification Effect

promising a reward for doing something you like to do results in you seeking the reward as the motivation for performing the task .This tends to diminish the intrinsic motivation to do something

Robert Rescorla

Contingency theory - for learning to take place, a stimulus must provide the organism with a reliable signal (signal relations) that certain events will take place. EX: bell in Pavlov's experiment \--- just a picture of bell would not work

Split Brain

a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers (mainly those of the corpus callosum) connecting them

CT Scan

series of X-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a composite representation of a slice of the brain's structure (CAT scan)

Limbic System

includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus, emotional center of brain

Charles Darwin

published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence for natural selection

Dorothea Dix

advocate for the mentally ill and created the first generation of American mental asylums.

Sigmund Freud

the founder of psychoanalysis (the "talking cure") and developed techniques such as free association and transference. His theory of the unconscious included the id, ego, and superego model of the mind.

G. Stanley Hall

He began the first journal dedicated only to psychology called the American Journal of Psychology. He was the first president of the American Psychological Association

William James

Father of American Psychology and was one of the strongest proponents of the school of functionalism in psychology

Abraham Maslow

Humanistic psychologist who created the hierarchy of needs

Jean Piaget

created the four cognitive development stages

Ivan Pavlov

father of classical conditioning by studying the digestive systems of dogs. He used a bell as his conditioned stimulus

Carl Rogers

Humanistic psychologist who emphasized acceptance, genuineness, and empathy, and unconditional positive regard

B.F. Skinner

Behaviorist who created operant conditioning

John B. Watson

established the psychological school of behaviorism. He also conducted the "Little Albert" experiment

Edward B. Titchener

Structuralism who worked under Wundt

Wilhelm Wundt

founder of experimental psychology, and set up the first laboratory for experimental psychology in Germany; structuralism

Structuralism

aimed to classify and identify different structures of consciousness. Used self-reported introspection (looking inside) to analyze consciousness into its basic elements

Gestalt

Perspective that looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole; whole greater than the sum of it's parts

Functionalism

aimed to investigate how mental processes function and enable the organism to adapt and survive

Biopsychosocial

the idea is that all three components influence behavior and thinking. The approach encompasses (1) biological, (2) psychological, and (3) socio-cultural influences.

Applied psychologists

Work face-to-face with clients, students, or patients' real life application

Basic psychologists

Focus on completing research, usually working in a lab, to increase knowledge about human thinking

Biological

Investigate how the structures in one's brain or nervous system influence behavior

Clinical

Studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders (most common)

Cognitive

experimenting with how we perceive, think, and solve problems

Counseling

assists people with problem in living and in achieving greater well being

Developmental

studying our changing abilities from womb to tomb

Educational

have expertise in the problems of teaching and learning

Experimental

usually work in labs and form the largest category of basic psychologists

Industrial-Organizational

help organizations and companies select and train employees, boost morale productively design products, and implement systems

Personality

an individual's characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting

Psychometric

compare data from experiments to prove there is a psychological connection (create tests)

Social

exploring how we view and affect one another

Positive

the study of the "good life", or the positive aspects of the human experience that make life worth living

Survey

obtaining self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a group, usually through questioning a random sample - Able to obtain data from many people faster, cheaper, and thus more easily - Response rate—can be low; not enough people to represent the population properly

Self-report

sometimes people lie; inaccurate answers

Correlation

measuring the extent to which two factors vary together and how well one factor can predict the other (-.23) (RELATIONSHIP)

Causation and Correlation

correlation helps us make logical predictions -Correlation is NOT causation! One factor does not CAUSE the other to change

Confounding Variable

an unknown variable could be influencing the relationship

Experiment

measuring the extent to which two factors vary together and how well one factor can predict the other - Can control or manipulate variables to be more accurate

Longitudinal

involves looking at variables over an extended period of time (weeks, months, years) in the same subjects - Helps us understand changes over time - Participants tend to drop out over time

Cross-Sectional

conducted at a single point in time, comparing many variables in groups of different ages - Explains what's happening in a population NOW

Operational Definition

the definition of a concept in terms of the actual procedures used by the researcher to measure it and so it can be replicated. Too broad too hard to replicate-needs to be specific

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 (need a clear operational definition or can't replicate)

Meta-Analysis

process of analyzing the results of many studies that have measured the same variables

Independent variable (IV)

variable that the experimenter manipulates \--- Cause (what you are studying) (IF)

Dependent variable (DV)

variable that researchers measure \--- Effect (result of experiment) (THEN)

Control Group

in an experiment, the group was not exposed to the treatment. Serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

Population

all individuals who can potentially participate in the study

Random Sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion (POPULATION, SAMPLE, ASSIGNMENT)

Placebo effect

a real response to an action or substance based solely on expectations, not actual properties of the action or substance.

Random assignment

ensures all members of the sample have an equal chance of being placed into either group (YOU CAN'T ASSIGN WITHOUT A SAMPLE)

Representative Sample

sample that has the characteristics that are similar to those in the population

Single Blind

the subjects do not know which group they belong to (either experimental or control group), but the researchers know who is in which group.

Double blind

the subjects and the researchers do not know which group they belong to (either experimental or control group)

Sampling Bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

Experimenter Bias

the unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of the experimental and control groups differently to increase the chance of confirming their hypothesis (due to single-blind study)

Illusory Correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists

Sampling Error

the extent to which the sample differs from the population

Validity

how well a test measures what it has been designed to measure.

Reliability

refers to the ability to consistently find similar results when a test is repeatedly administered in similar conditions.

Correlation coefficient

the score used to MEASURE the strength and direction (-.32)

Positive correlation

coefficient closer to +1, the presence of one thing predicts the presence of another (same direction)

Negative correlation

coefficient closer to -1, the presence of one thing predicts the absence of another (opposite direction)

Scatter Plot

graphs used to plot the scores and show the correlation

Descriptive Statistics

numerical data to measure and describe characteristics of groups. Includes measures of central tendency and measures of variation

Mean

the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and dividing by the number of scores

Median

the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it

Mode

the most frequently occurring score in a distribution

Range

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Standard Deviation

how much scores vary around the mean score

Normal Distributions

usually referred to as a "bell-curve" because of the shape of the distribution when graphed (SYMMETRICAL)

Skewed

data points pile up at one end of the distribution or the other; positive\=bad / negative\=good

Frequency distribution table

show how often (frequent) something occurs

Inferential Statistics

methods for determining the likelihood that the result of an experiment is due to the manipulation of the independent variable or variable or is due to chance (interpret data)

Statistical significance

measure of how likely the result of an experiment is due to the manipulation of the IV or due to chance

P

p-value of .05 or less is acceptable for the results to be considered statistically significant (95% certain)

American Psychological Association (APA)

set ethical guidelines to protect humans/animals from physical and psychological harm

Informed Consent

participants sign contract indicating they understand the components and the potential risks of the study and agree to take part.

No coercion

participants must be participating by their own free will

Confidentiality

participants must remain anonymous

Safety

participants cannot be placed at significant mental or physical risk

Debrief

explain experiment; explaining the deception at the conclusion of the study

Milgram Shock experiment

Stanley Milgram; helped with the creation of ethical issues in psychological research

DNA

a complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes

Genes

segments of DNA that contain instructions to make proteins - building blocks of life

Heritability

a measure of how well differences in people's genes account for differences in their traits

Genome

the entirety of that individual's hereditary information

Reciprocal determinism

by interacting with the world around us, we have a role in changing the environment in which we live

Identical twins

twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms (monozygotic)

Fraternal twins

twins who develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than brothers and sisters, but they share a fetal environment (dizygotic)

Endocrine System

the collection of glands that produce hormones that regulate metabolism, growth and development, tissue function, sexual function, reproduction, sleep, and mood, etc

Hormone

A chemical messenger produced in the body that controls and regulates the activity of certain cells or organs (released in the bloodstream)

Hypothalamus

brain region controlling the pituitary gland and autonomic function; hunger, thirst, sex drive, hunger