AP Psych Unit 1 Flashcards
Structuralism
Method of interpretation and analysis of human cognition - behavior, nature, and experience
Introspection
To examine ones own emotional state and mind
Charles Darwin
Discovered natural selection and evolution - he’s an English naturalist and geologist
Natural selection
Genetic traits of a species change over
Evolution
species change over time, give rise to new species and share a common ancestor
Funtionalism
describes the mind as a functional tool that allows us to adapt to our environments
Behaviorists
a person who advocates and observes behaviorism - the science of observable behavior
Humanistic Psychology
the study of the whole person
Cognitive neuroscience
the study of how the brain enables the mind
Psychology
scientific study of the human mind and its function
Bio-psychosocial approach
interconnection between biological, psychological and socio-environmental factors
the seven perspectives of psychology
Study of mental activities associated with functions of the brain
Neuroscience perspective
The cause of behavior is your brain
Evolutionary Perspective
Mental abilities evolve over millions of years
Behavior Genetics Perspective
Variation field with separation of genetic and environmental components
Behavioral Perspective
Learning classically and operationally with observations -
Environmental conditions like rewards/punishments
Cognitive perspective
Based on the mental process (Speaking, Thinking, etc.) - Thinking affects behavior
Social Cultural perspective
Behavior results from social and cultural influences - Cultural, family, and environment.
Overconfidence
tendency to think we know more than we do
hindsight bias
“knew it all along phenomenon”
tendency to perceive order in random events
random sequences, patterns and streaks occur more often
What are the three scientific attitudes?
Curiosity, Skepticism, and Humility
Theory
Organizes a wide range of observations
Hypotheses
testable prediction of theory - “if” and “then”
Operational definitions
things you do in an experiment that can be measured
Case Study
Examining one persons behavior etc
Naturalistic Observation
Observing natural behavior
Survey
gathering info from many people based on self reporting
Random Sample
every member of the target population has an equal chance of being selected
correlation coefficient
a statistic that is used to estimate the degree of linear relationship between two variables
scatterplots
graphical representation of the relationship between two continuously measured variables
positive correlation
two things increase or decrease together
negative correlation
no relation between two things
zero correlation
no relation between two things
Correlation IMPORTANT
correlation does NOT prove causation
Experiment
research method used to isolate cause and effect by manipulating factors
Experimental group
group exposed to treatment
control group
group NOT exposed to treatment OR is given the placebo
Placebo Effect
Oneself believing they are taking the actual treatment - they are not - and having the reaction that they are
Random assignment
people randomly put into the control or experimental group and do not know which one they are
“Blind”
Participants do not know what treatment they are going to receive
“Double Blind”
both the participants nor the researchers do not know which group is getting the real treatment or the placebo (fake)
Independent Variable
variable that is being manipulated and studied
Dependent variable
add independent variable to experiment it might change dependent
confounding variable
anything a scientist CAN’T predict in an experiment that might mess up the results
mode
most frequent score
median
middle score
mean
average score
Range
gap between lowest and highest numbers - rough estimate of variation
standard variation
measure of how spread out numbers are from the mean (how we break down data)
Normal Curve
occurrences take place in the middle of the distribution
Statistical Significance
Results can predict the future behavior of the broader population
Informed Consent
ensures that patients, clients, and research participants are aware of the important facts of research etc
Debriefing
counseling and the giving of information aimed at preventing psychological morbidity and aiding recovery after a traumatic event.
