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AP Psychology > Methods > Flashcards

Methods Flashcards

1
Q

applied research

A

research with clear, practical applications

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2
Q

basic research

A

research that explores questions that are of interest of psychologists that are not intended to have immediate, real-world applications

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3
Q

valid

A

measures what it’s supposed to measure; accurate

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4
Q

reliable

A

can be replicated, consistent

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5
Q

hypothesis

A

a relationship between two variables

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6
Q

variables

A

things that vary among the participants in the research

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7
Q

dependent variable

A

depends on the independent variable

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8
Q

theory

A

an explanation of some phenomenon, allows researchers to generate testable hypotheses

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9
Q

operationalize

A

to explain how you will measure a variable

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10
Q

subjects

A

the participants in research

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11
Q

sampling

A

the process by which subjects are selected

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12
Q

sample

A

group of subjects; should be representative of a larger population

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13
Q

population

A

anyone or anything that could possibly be selected to be in the sample

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14
Q

random selection

A

randomly selecting the sample group, increases the likelihood that the sample represents the population

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15
Q

stratified sampling

A

randomly sampling each strata (category of people, for example race or gender) of the population, so that the final sample reflects the population more accurately

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16
Q

laboratory experiment

A

conducted in a lab, a highly controlled environment

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17
Q

field experiment

A

conducted in the world, more realistic than laboratory experiment

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18
Q

experiment

A

only experiments can show cause and effect relationships through the manipulation of the independent variable and subsequent observation of the dependent variable while controlling for confounding variables

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19
Q

confounding variable

A

any difference between the experimental and control conditions, besides the changes of the independent variable

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20
Q

assignment

A

the process by which subjects are put into a group, experimental or control

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21
Q

random assignment

A

each subject has an equal chance of being placed in either the experimental or the control group

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22
Q

group matching

A

half of each condition (for example, male or female) is assigned to each group (experimental or control)

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23
Q

situation-relevant confounding variables

A

differences between the experimental and control situations that may affect the experiment

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24
Q

experimenter bias

A

the unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of the experimental and control groups differently to increase the chance of confirming their hypotheses

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25
double-blind procedure
neither the subjects nor the researcher are able to affect the outcome of the research
26
single-blind procedure
only the subjects do not know which group they're in
27
demand characteristics
cues about the purpose of the study
28
response/subject bias
when subjects behave in ways they think the observer wants them to behave
29
Hawthorne effect
selecting a group of people on whom to experiment will affect the performance of hat group, regardless of what is done to the individuals
30
placebo effect
the purely psychological effects of thinking you took a drug when you really didn't
31
counterbalancing
using subjects as their own control group by having half of them be experimental first and half of them be control first
32
order effect
the order of the experimental/control group activities may affect the results
33
correlation
a relationship between two variables without ascribing cause
34
ex post facto study
research in which subjects are chosen based on a pre-existing condition; all other variables are controlled
35
survey method
kind of correlational research in which surveys are filled out; difficult to control for confounding variables
36
naturalistic observation
unobtrusive observation on subjects in their natural habitats, control is sacrificed
37
case study
a full, detailed picture of one subject or a small group of subjects; not reflective of population, as a result findings cannot be generalized
38
descriptive statistics
describe a set of data
39
frequency distribution
a distribution of observed frequencies of occurrence of the values of a variable
40
frequency polygon
line graph
41
histogram
bar graph
42
measures of central tendency
attempt to mark the center of a distribution
43
mean
the average of all the scores in a distribution
44
median
the middle score of a distribution when written in ascending or descending order
45
mode
the score that appears most frequently
46
positively skewed
when a distribution has a high outlier, there are more low scores than high scores due to the outlier
47
negatively skewed
when a distribution has a low outlier, there are more high scores than low scores due to the outlier
48
measures of variability
attempt to depict the diversity of the distribution
49
variance
the average of the squared differences of each number from the mean
50
standard deviation
the square root of the variance
51
range
the distance between the highest and lowest score in a distribution
52
z score
the distance of a score from the mean in units of standard deviation
53
normal curve
theoretical bell-shaped curve for which the area under the curve lying between any two z scores has been predetermined
54
percentile
the distance of a score from 0
55
correlation coefficient
range from -1 and +1
56
scatter plot
a series of points plotted on a graph
57
line of best fit
the line drawn through the scatter plot that minimizes the distance of all the points from the line
58
inferential statistics
determine whether or not findings can be applied to the larger population from which the sample was selected; making sure the results are not due to sampling error and chance
59
sampling error
the extent to which a sample differs from the population
60
p value
the percent chance that the findings were due to chance
61
institutional review board
reviews research proposal for ethical violations and/or procedural errors
62
informed consent
participants must know that they are involved in research and give their consent
63
coercion
participation must be voluntary
64
anonymity/confidentiality
both protect privacy
65
risk
participants cannot be placed in significant mental or physical risk
66
debriefing procedures
participants must be told the purpose of the study and provided with ways to contact the researchers about study results

AP Psychology (15 decks)

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