AP Psychology Test Help for Unit 1

sampling bias (selection bias)

a bias in sampling in which the sampling procedures employed in a study favor certain individuals or groups over others

biological psychology

a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior

why are standard deviation and range used?

determine of scores vary around the mean score

Gestalt Psychology

early perspective in psychology focusing on perception and sensation, particularly the perception of patterns and whole figures

Wilhelm Wundt

established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany

representative sample

randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects

evolutionary psychology

the attempt to explain social behavior in terms of genetic factors that have evolved over time according to the principles of natural selection

statistical significance

(usually a difference) is a result that's not attributed to chance.

Although Paul seems bright and capable to his parents and friends, he has been failing in school. Paul agrees to speak with a psychologist, who suggests that his problems stem from internal processes such as unrealistic expectations and negative thinking. The psychologist's view is typical of which of the following models of behavior?

Cognitive

Introspection as practiced by early structuralists is best illustrated by which of the following behaviors?

Describing one's immediate sensations while looking at a rose

Which of the following scenarios is regulated by federal law?

Dr. Mast, a psychologist, has a client, Tim, who threatens to seriously harm his brother, Carl. Tim has a history of serious violence and the means to carry out the threat; therefore, Dr. Mast must inform Carl.

Which of the following statements best describes the placebo effect?

It can be brought about by the individual's expectations.

how do the APA ethical guidelines protect humans?

It protects us by including; consent, confidentiality, protect from harm, withdraw, debriefing

Introspection

Person who believes that knowledge comes from experience with the environment.

dependent variable

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

An instructor conducted an experiment to determine the effects of two different methods of study on the amount students learned in introductory physics. The results showed that the average amount learned by the group using one method was greater than the average amount learned by the group using the other. However, the difference was not statistically significant. Which of the following is the most appropriate conclusion to be drawn?

There is a possibility that the difference between the two groups occurred by chance.

structuralism

an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind

why would you not want to use the mean if there were extreme outliers?

many outliers can skew the results form the original results

random sample

method of selecting from a population in which each person has an equal probability of being selected

A psychologist gives the same test to a class of students at the beginning of the day and again at the end of the school day. The extent to which test scores are similar across the two administrations demonstrates which of the following test properties?

reliability

Standard deviation is a measure of how much

scores in a group differ from the mean of that group

Reliability of Psychological tests

the measurement consistancy of a test. (test-retest method to check).

which measure of central tendency would be best if there are many outliers?

the median will be a better descriptor of date when the mean is impacting the outlier

correlational research

the study of the naturally occurring relationships among variables

meta-analysis and statistical inferences

they both are forming judgements on multiple studies

cross-sectional

type of study that measures a variable across several age groups at the same time

independent variable

variable that is manipulated

when is it okay from psychologists to share results from one's patient's study with another person?

when there is a written consent from the patient themselves

Introspection

A method of self-observation in which participants report their thoughts and feelings

sample

A relatively small proportion of people who are chosen in a survey so as to be representative of the whole.

functionalism

A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish.

What is the APA?

American Psychological Association

Synesthesia is a phenomenon that has been estimated to occur in only a few people in a million. Because of its rarity, researchers are likely to choose which research method to study it?

Case study

Synesthesia

describing one kind of sensation in terms of another

Ivan Pavlov

Learning from association; Classical conditioning studies with dogs and salivation

Gestalt psychology is concerned primarily with understanding which of the following?

Perception

Dorothea Dix

Rights activist on behalf of mentally ill patients - created first wave of US mental asylums

Why is is important for researchers to use operational definition?

They are able to get confirmation of their first experiment precisely

Marjorie's little brother tends to bother her when he is bored. Marjorie wants to figure out which toy will keep her brother occupied the longest so he will not bother her. She conducts a study where each day at 6P.M. for a week she gives her brother a different toy and on one of the days she gives him no toys to play with. She measures the amount of time he spends playing with each toy before he comes to bother her. Which of the following is the independent variable in this example?

Type of toy

A person displays a set of rare behaviors that psychologists had not known about previously, because nobody had ever shown them before. The best strategy to investigate the nature of those behaviors is....

a case study

meta-analysis

a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

Randomization

a process of randomly assigning subjects to different treatment groups

developmental psychologist

a psychologist who studies the emotional, cognitive, biological, personal, and social changes that occur as an individual matures

positive correlation

a relationship between two variables in which both variables either increase or decrease together

participant observation

a research method in which investigators systematically observe people while joining them in their routine activities

single-blind study

a study in which the participants are unaware of whether they are in the control group or the experimental group

case study

a technique in which one person is studied in depth to reveal underlying behavioral principles

debriefing

a verbal description of the true nature and purpose of a study

double blind

an observation whose true purpose is hidden from both the observer and the person being observed

negative correlation

as one variable increases, the other decreases

psychoanalytic theory

attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior

According to Wilhelm Wundt, the focus of scientific psychology should be the study of

conscious experience

Reliability

consistency of measurement

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent.; someone saying their back hurts, the doctor pretends to give them surgery, weeks later the patient says their back feels better

cognitive psychologist

experimenting with how we perceive, think, and solve problems

A researcher uses debriefing when he

explains the true purpose of a study immediately after the study is complete

Population

group of individuals of the same species that live in the same area

deception

misleading participants about the true purpose of a study or the events that will actually transpire

naturalistic observation

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

A disadvantage of longitudinal studies is that

participants who drop out during the course of the study may be different in important ways from ones who do not drop out

longitudinal study

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

Research shows that women who are referred by a physician to participate in a study of eating disorders have more severe problems than women who volunteer on their own to participate in the study. If research on eating disorders regularly involves only women referred by physicians, the results of the studies might be limited because of the presence of

sampling bias

Charles Darwin

stated that natural selection shapes behaviors and bodies

According to psychoanalytic theory, the bases for the development of mental disorders are

unconscious conflicts that produce anxiety