AP Psychology (Research Methods)

P. T. Barnum effect

-tendency of people to accept high base rate descriptions as accurate. -personal validation are a flawed method for evaluating a tests validity (astrology, card readers)

Clever Hans

A German horse that was claimed to have been able to perform math and other intellectual tasks. It was determined that the horse wasn't actually performing these mental tasks but was watching the reaction(cues) of the human observers.

categorical imperative

A concept developed by the philosopher Immanuel Kant as an ethical guideline for behavior. In deciding whether an action is right or wrong a person should evaluate the action in terms of what would happen if everybody else in the same situation, or category, acted the same way.

Positive Correlation

A correlation where as one variable increases, the other also increases, or as one decreases so does the other. Both variables move in the same direction. First Graph

clinical case study

A detailed investigation of a single person, especially one suffering from some injury or disease.

Scientific method

A general approach to gathering information and answering questions so that errors and biases are minimized

P. T. Barnum

A nineteenth-century American showman known for his circus, "The Greatest Show on Earth." His sideshows were particularly notable, even though many of the "freaks" he advertised were hoaxes." AFter Barnum's death, his circus was absorbed into the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

degrees of freedom

A parameter of the t distribution. When the t distribution is used in the computation of an interval estimate of a population mean, the appropriate t distribution has n-1 degrees of freedom, where n is the size of the simple random sample.

Cohort

A population group unified by a specific common characteristic, such as age, and subsequently treated as a statistical unit.

meta-analysis

A procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies., A set of statistical procedures used to review a body of evidence by combining the results of individual studies to measure the overall reliability and strength of particular effects

Rosenthal

A psychologist who conducted a study on self-fulfilling prophecy with students expected to improve, social expectations influence how one treats and behaves toward those people, the way they are treated shape them into what is socially expected

curvilinear relationship

A relationship in which increases in the values of the first variable are accompanied by both increases and decreases in the values of the second variable.

case study

A research method used to get a full, detailed picture of one subject or a small group of subjects, is also an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Correlational Research

A research strategy that identifies the relationships between two or more variables in order to describe how these variables change together.

survey method

A research technique that questions a sample of people to collect information about their attitudes or behaviors. Probably the most common

percentile score

A score that indicates the percentage of people who achieved the same as or less than a particular score.

experimental group

A subject or group of subjects in an experiment that is exposed to the factor or condition being tested.

frequency distribution

A summary chart, showing how frequently each of the various scores in a set of data occurs

ex post facto study

A type nonexperimental research design that involves the comparison of subjects, who are placed in contrast groups, on the basis of some pre-existing characteristic of the subjects.

Mentalism

An approach to explaining behavior that assumes that a mental, or "inner," dimension exists that differs from a behavioral dimension and that phenomena in this dimension either directly cause or at least mediate some forms of behavior, if not all.

cultural bias

An aspect of an intelligence test in which the wording used in questions may be more familiar to people of one social group than to another group.

double blind study

An experimental procedure in which both researchers and participants are uninformed about the nature of the independent variable being administered

experimenter effect

An experimenter-related artifact that results when the hypothesis held by the experimenter leads unintentionally to behavior toward the subjects that, in turn, increases the likelihood that the hypothesis will be confirmed

pseudo-psychology

Any false and unscientific system of beliefs and practices that is offered as an explanation of behavior. Ex: Palm readers, psychics etcetera.

field experiments

Applies the scientific method to experimentally examine an occurence in the real world (or in naturally-occurring environments) rather than in the laboratory.

blind study

As a way to avoid the placebo effect in research, this type of study is designed without the subject's knowledge of the anticipated results and sometimes even the nature of the study. The subjects are said to be 'blind' to the expected results.

generalizable

Characteristic of a sample that refers to the degree to which findings based on the sample can be used to make accurate statements about the population of interest.

commonsense psychology

Everyday, nonscientific collection of psychological data used to understand the social world and guide our behavior.

Columbine

In 1999, two students in Littleton, Colorado, brought weapons to school and killed 12 students and wounded many others before killing themselves. The tragedy was one of seven such shootings in the US that year, and led to changes in gun control, school safety measures, and the monitoring of media violence. Shows how one case study can have powerful, unnecessary and dangerous effects.

inferential statistics

Numerical methods used to determine whether research data support a hypothesis or whether results were due to chance.

naturalistic observation

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

Chi Square

One of the most basic tests for statistical significance that is particularly appropriate for testing hypotheses about frequencies arranged in a frequency or contingency table., sum of (observed-expectated)^2/expected, if your value is above the expected value then you reject your null hypothesis, if below or equal you except you null hypothesis

Applied research

One of the two main types of research, conducted specifically to solve practical problems and improve the quality of life.

Basic research

One of the two main types of research, pure research that aims to confirm an existing theory or to learn more about a concept or phenomenon

Operationalize

Process by which we make a theoretical variable one that we can measure

axioms

Propositions built on fundemental truths that lead to the creation of theorems

gender bias

Stereotypical views and differential treatment of males and females, often favoring one over the other

Laboratory experiments

Studies that take place under controlled conditions where the researcher deliberately manipulates the independent variable to see its effect on a dependent variable.

range

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.

Independent Variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

null hypothesis

The hypothesis that states there is no difference between two or more sets of data. Stating opposite of what you expect to find

median

The middle number in a set of numbers that are listed in order

mode

The most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution.

tabulation

The orderly arrangement of data in a table or other summary format showing the number of responses to each response category; tallying.

measure of central tendency

The three measures are: mode, median, and mean. They usually fall in the middle of the distribution and tell us certain facts about it.

halo effect

To generalize and perceive that a persona has a whole set of characteristics when your have actually observed only one characteristic, trait or behavior

reliability

Yielding consistent results; Does not insure validity

Negative Correlation

a correlation where one two variables tend to move in the opposite direction (example: the number of pages printed and the amount of ink left in your printer are negatively correlated. The more pages printed, the less ink you have left.) Middle Graph

speculation

a hypothesis that has been formed by speculating or conjecturing (usually with little hard evidence)

debriefing

a procedure to inform participants about the true nature of an experiment after its completion

astrology

a pseudoscience claiming divination by the positions of the planets and sun and moon

causation

a relationship between variables such that change in the value of one is directly responsible for change in the value of the other

experimental method

a research technique in which an investigator deliberately manipulates selected events or circumstances and then measures the effects of those manipulations on subsequent behavior to try an determine if there is a cause an effect relationship.

representative sampling

a sample from a larger population that is statistically typical of that population.

Random selection

a sampling method in which each element has an equal chance of selection independent of any other event in the selection process

Correlational Coefficient

a statistical measure expressing the relationship between two or more variables with a single number between 1 & 1, inclusive

Correlation

a statistical relation between two or more variables such that systematic changes in the value of one variable are accompanied by systematic changes in the other, remember _____________ not causation.

statistically significant

a term used to describe research results when the outcome of a statistical test indicates that the probability of those results occurring by chance is small

Error

a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention, you probably have this if your correlation coeifcent is above 1 or below -1.

ageism

aged-based discrimination that is usually toward the elderly, but can be against anyone

mean

an average of n numbers computed by adding some function of the numbers and dividing by some function of n

Theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations

hidden variable

an extraneous variable that does not have a direct connection to the correlation, and is thus hard to recognize

placebo

an inert substance given to the control group in an experiment

applied psychology

any of several branches of psychology that seek to apply psychological principles to practical problems of education or industry or marketing etc.

response bias

anything in the survey design that influences the responses from the sample

normal distribution

bell-shaped curve that results when the values of a trait in a population are plotted against their frequency

Observer bias

expectations or biases of the observer that might distort or influence his or her interpretation of what was actually observed

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is assumed to be an active agent

confounding variables

factors that cause differences between the experimental group and the control group other than the independent variable, you DO NOT want these at all.

frequency polygon

graph of a frequency distribution that shows the number of instances of obtained scores, usually with the data points connect by straight lines

control group

in an experiment, a group that serves as a standard of comparison with another group to which the control group is identical except for one factor

practice effect

is an improvement in performance as a result of repeated practice with a task, repeated testing causes people to remember some of the test items; side effect of longitudinal studies

Descriptive research

is any type of research that describes the "who, what, when, where" of a situation, not what caused it

sample

items selected at random from a population and used to test hypotheses about the population

hypothesis

possible explanation for a set of observations or possible answer to a scientific question

self-fulfilling prophecy

process in which a person's expectation about another elicits behavior from the second person that confirms the expectation; evidenced in a study by Rosenthal and Jacobsen at an elementary school where students performed to the teacher's expectation, AKA Pygmalion Effect

Inductive Reasoning

reasoning from detailed facts to general principles. Ex. "All of the ice we have examined so far is cold.Therefore, all ice is cold."Personification assigning human qualities to inanimate objects or concepts. Wordsworth's "the sea that bares her bosom to the moon."

Deductive Reasoning

reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.)

replicated

research is reliable when it can be ___________

longitudinal studies

research method in which data is collected about a group of participants over a number of years to assess how certain characteristics change or remain the same during development, , follow the same children over different ages, Benefits: can track long-term effects, controls for differences over different people, Problems: time, money, drop-outs

zero correlation

the absence of a relationship between two or more variables as determined by a correlational statistic. Often abbreviated as 'r=0.'

informed consent

the agreement of participants to take part in an experiment and their acknowledgement that they understand the nature of their participation in the research, and have been fully informed about the general nature of the research, its goals, and methods

population

the entire aggregation of items from which samples can be drawn

validity

the extent to which the data collected address the research hypothesis in the way intended

Dependent Variable

the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

courtesy bias

the tendency of those being surveyed to provide responses that will please and/or not offend the interviewer, moderator, or other participants

Critical thinking

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Objective

without bias or prejudice; detached

Immanuel Kant

wrote "Critique of Pure Reason"; 12 Innate categories of thought (faculties) superimposed on sensory experience.His central thesis—that the possibility of human knowledge presupposes the active participation of the human mind. The categorical imperative