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
