ap psych vocab terms unit 1 Flashcards
study vocab from modules 1-8
empiricism
the idea that knowledge comes from experience & that experimentation enables scientific knowledge
structuralism
used the process of introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind
introspection
the process of looking inward in an attempt to directly observe one’s own psychological processes
functionalism
explored how mental & behavioral processes function and enable an organism to adapt and survive
one of the three major issues in psych
nature v nurture
longstanding controversy over contributions between genes & experience to psychological development
positive psychology
scientific study of human flourishing with the goals of promoting strengths & virtues to thrive
basic research
pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
applied research
scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
hindsight bias
believing an outcome is obvious only after recieving the results
overconfidence
the tendency to believe we have more knowledge than we actually do
operational definition
precise, measurable definitions of procedures & concepts
survey technique
looks at manay cases not in depth, asks people to report their behavior or opinion
case study
examines one individual or group in depth in the hope of revealing something true of us all
naturalistic observation
records behavior in natural environments, describes, not explains behavior
correlations
when one trait or behavior tends to coincide with another (related relationship)
experiment
research method in which an investiagtor manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect
dependent variable
the variable that gets measured
independent variable
the variable that gets manipulated
confounding variable
any variable that can influence the results
random assignment
assigning participants to experimental & control groups by chance, minimizing preexisting differences
controls
in an experiment the group not exposed to the treatment contrasts and serves as a comparison to evaluate treatment
experimenter bias
any systematic errors in the research process or interpretation of the results because of a researcher’s behavior, beliefs, expectancies, and desires
single-blind procedure
procedure in which participants are unaware of all procedures
double-blind procedure
procedure in which participants and staff are unaware of all procedures
placebo
experimental results caused by expectations alone
hypothesis
testable predicitons that specify what would support/disprove the theory
theory
explains behaviors or events by offering ideas that organize observations
informed consent/assent
giving participants enough information about an experiment to allow them to participate
population
all those in a group being studied from those which samples may be drawn
correlation coefficient
a scientific measure that helps figure out how closely two things vary together/ predict each other
one of the three major issues in psych
change vs stability
depends on the situation vs consitency
traits changing through age
one of the three major issues in psych
irrationality vs rationality
quick decisions vs thinking things through