AP Psych - Unit 1: Introduction to Psychology

Mind

(mental process) not directly observable, refer to a wide range of complex mental processes, such as thinking, imagining, studying, and dreaming

Principles for ethical research in human subjects

1. informed consent, 2. freedom to withdraw at any time, 3. confidentiality, 4. debriefing, *. protection from harm

Principles for ethical research in animal subjects

1. proper housing, 2. feeding, 3. cleanliness, 4. health care

William James

American psychologist who opened one of the first psychology labs and helped develop the field of functionalism

Sigmund Freud

Austrian psychologist who founded the field of psychodynamic psychology

Psychometrics

a branch of clinical or applied psychology dealing with the use and application of mental measurement

Operational definition; operationalizing a hypothesis

a definition that describes the actions or operations that will be used to measure or control a variable

Primary source

a direct source of information or research, a document not emended by a third party

Experimenter expectancy effect

a form of reactivity, in which a researcher's cognitive bias causes them to unconsciously influence the participants of an experiment

Internal consistency (split-half reliability)

a measure based on the correlations between different items on the same test (or the same subscale on a larger test)

Effect of sample size

a measure of the strength of a phenomenon or a sample-based estimate of that quantity

Correlational study

a number that indicates the strength of a relationship between two or more events: the closer the number is to -1.00 or +1.00, the greater the strength of the relationship

Test; scale

a set of standardized questions, problems, or tasks designed to elicit responses for use in measuring the traits, capacities, or achievements of an individual

Filler items

a substance added to a product (as to increase bulk, weight, viscosity, opacity, or strength)

Abstract

a summary of the contents of a book, article, experiment, or formal speech.

Normal curve: standard score, percentile

a symmetric, bell-shaped curve that represents the pattern in which many characteristics are dispersed in the population; fraction out of one hundred

Full text

a technique for searching a computer-stored document or database

Confederate

an actor in on the experiment, when it calls for the subjects to be deceived

Correlation

an association or relationship between the occurrence of two or more events (perfect positive correlation: +1.00, zero correlation: 0, perfect negative correlation: -1.00)

Case study

an in-depth analysis of the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, experiences, behaviors, or problems of an individual

Experimental study

an orderly procedure carried out with the goal of verifying, refuting, or establishing the validity of a hypothesis

Variable

any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviors that are controlled or observed in a study

Confounding or extraneous variable

any variables other than the independent that seem likely to influence the dependent variable in a specific study

Placebo effect

change in the patient's illness that is attributable to an imagined treatment rather than to a medical treatment

Research methods (methodology)

differing approaches to the observation, measurement, and manipulation and control of variables in empirical studies

Observational study

draws inferences about the possible effects of a treatment on subjects, where the assignment of subjects into a treated group versus a control group is outside the control of the investigator

Hypothesis

educated guess about some phenomenon stated in precise, concrete language to rule out any confusion

Structuralism

elements of the mind - the study of the most basic elements, primarily sensations and perceptions, that make up our unconscious mental experiences. (objective sensations vs. subjective feelings)

Humanistic

emphasizes that each individual has freedom in directing his/her future, a large capacity for personal growth

Cognitive

examines how we process, store, and use information, and how this info influences, what we attend to, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel

Sociocultural

examines the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities, and differences on psychological and social functioning of a culture's members

Describe

first goal of psychology is to describe the different ways that organisms behave

Biological

focuses on how our genes, hormones, and nervous system interact with our environment to influence learning, personality, memory, motivation, emotions, and coping techniques

Control

fourth goal of psychology is to control an organism's behavior (fix it)

Functionalism

functions of the mind - the study of the function rather than the structure of consciousness, was interested in how our minds adapt to our changing environment (or minds?)

James Watson

helped in the field of behaviorism, sort of founded it.

Evolutionary

how we changed over a period of time, specifically in our brains. Closely related to humanistic

Placebo

intervention, such as taking a pill, receiving an injection, or undergoing an operation, that resembles medical therapy but which in fact, has no medical effect

Introspection

method used in structuralism. Involves asking asking research participants to describe exactly what they experience working on mental tasks

Double-blind study

neither participants nor researchers know which group is receiving which treatment

Peer-reveiwed

other scientists from your field, over look your findings/ experiment and criticize your work for the better

Proprietary database

owned studies (research labs, colleges, universities, government)

Observe

paying close attention especially to details (could be considered the first goal of psychology)

Behavior

refers to observable actions or responses in both humans and animals.

Content validity

refers to the extent to which a measure represents all facets of a given social construct

Construct validity

refers to the validity of inferences that observations or measurement tools actually represent or measure the construct being investigated

Research vs. applied psychology

research psychology: comes up with different experiments, then publishes them applied psychology: apply or complete the experiments thought up by research psychologists

Explain

second goal of psychology is to explain the cause of the behavior

Results

something that is caused by something else that happened or was done before

Independent variable

something that researchers are going to control or manipulate

Inferential statistics

statistics that are used to interpret data and draw conclusions

Psychodynamic

stresses the influence of unconscious fears, desires, and motivations on thoughts, behaviors, and the development of personality traits and psychological problems later in life

Behavioral

studies how organisms learn new behaviors or modify existing ones, depending on whether events in their environments reward or punish these behaviors

Test-retest reliability

test-retest is a statistical method used to determine a test's reliability

Validity

the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure

Interrater reliability

the degree of agreement among raters

Stereotype threat

the experience of anxiety or concern in a situation where a person has the potential to confirm a negative stereotype about their social group

Reliability

the measurement of consistency of a test (or of other kinds of measurement techniques)

Empirical/ empiricism

the premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation

Random sampling; biased sampling

the selection of a random sample; a sample is collected in such a way that some members of the intended population are less likely to be included than others

Control group/ experimental group

the subjects in a study who receive some special treatment in regard to the independent variable

Psychology

the systematic, scientific study of behaviors and mental processes.

Dependent variable

the variable that is thought to be affected by the manipulation of the independent variable

Predict

third goal of psychology is to predict how organisms will behave in certain situations

Subject

those who receive the treatment

Survey

way to obtain information by asking many individuals - answer a fixed set of questions about particular subjects

Wilhelm Wundt (1879)

German psychologist who opened one of the first psychology labs and helped develop the field of structuralism

Test bias

The difference in test scores that is attributable to demographic variables (e.g., gender, ethnicity, and age)