AP Psych Unit 1

structured interview

A selection interview that consists of a predetermined set of questions for the interviewer to ask

Biological Perspective

Behavior is caused by genetics, neurology and brain chemistry

cognitive perspective

Behavior is caused by our thought process; we must think about an action before doing it; challenging our thoughts

socio-cultural perspective

Behavior is caused by the people, groups & culture that we are part of

psychoanalitic perspective

Behavior is caused by unconcious thought and unresolved issues from the past

Behavioral perspective

Caused by punishment, reward, observation & learning

experimental group

In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.

Humanistic Perspective

behavior is caused by free will and that people strive for self actualization (highest level on maslows hierchy of needs)

Evolutionary perspective

behavior is caused by the natural selection of behavior. The behavior is functional and beneficial so it continues to be used

convenience sampling

choosing individuals who are easiest to reach

operational definition

clearly defining/explaining what it is you are measuring & how you are measuring it. make it measurable; quantify

Reliability

consistency of measurement--> accuracy does not equal reliablility

random selection

everyone has an equal chance of being selected for the experiment

random assignment

everyone selected has an equal chance of being assigned to experimental or control group

empirical

evidence of the findings; proof

ex post facto

examining a condition that already exists in a subject and they arent randomly selected for the experiment

deception

if participants are deceived in any way, the deception must not be so extreme as to invalidate the informed consent

case study

in-depth analysis of a single event, situation, or individual

false consensus effect

individuals' tendency to overvalue the prevalence of their own beliefs, values, and behaviors. It suggests that people often project their personal attitudes onto others, assuming these perspectives are more widespread than they truly are.

executive functioning

the cognitive abilities and processes that allow humans to plan or inhibit their actions

third variable problem

the concept that a correlation between two variables may stem from both being influenced by some third variable

control group

the group that does not receive the experimental treatment; they get the placebo

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists

hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it; "I knew it all along"

Dependant variable

variable influenced by independant variable; the result of that change

independent variable

variable that is changed/manipulated

risk

subjects must be informed of the potantial risk of being involved in the experiment

Debriefing

subjects must be told the results of the study and what was being studied

Experiments in psychology

Review Literature of Past Research Formulate Hypothesis Design Research/Study Method (naturalistic observation, case studies, surveys, experiments, etc) Collect the Data Analyze the Data Report the Findings (journal, critique, replicate) Draw Conclusion or Theory on Explanation of Findings

single blind

Subject does not know which group (control or experimental) they are in

anonymity/confidentiality

Subjects must be guaranteed privacy

informed consent

Subjects must be informed about what they are going to do and agree to do it

counter balancing

applying the independant variable to 2 different groups then applying some of the independant variable to the other group to see if theres a difference the second time

Generalizable

able to make the conclusion about a larger group

confounding/extraneous variable

any other variable that could effect the results

reasoning ability

a person's capacity to invent solutions to diverse problems

meta-analysis

a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies to come to 1 conclusion

Likert Scale

a rating scale used to measure survey participants' opinions, attitudes, motivations, and more; it includes a set of possible answers with labeled anchors on each extreme

statistical significance

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

measures of central tendency

mean, median, mode

correlational studies

non-experimental method; a type of research that is mainly statistical in nature; determines the relationship between two variables

quantitative measures

numerical values of data able to use statistics to explain what is collected and measured (likert scale)

naturalistic observations

observing subjects in their natural environment. examining how a person would truly act in a given situation

sampling bias

occurs when some members of a population are systematically more likely to be selected in a sample than others.; a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

Theories

principles that help to organize, predict, and explain facts

Hypothesis

statement about the relationship between 2 or more variables must be testable and refuteable researchers usually try to disprove a null hypothesis

double blind

subject and reaserchers dont know who is in the control or experimental group

coercion

subjects cant be forced to participate and are able to leave at anytime

longitudinal study

research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period

qualitative measurement

research method that involves non numeric data to understand human thoughts, experiences and perceptions (structured interviews)

cross-sectional study

research that compares people of different groups at the same point in time

stratified sampling

sample is put together by picking a group statistically equal to the population