Unit 0 Flashcards
Biological
Focuses on how the biological processes of our body could impact our mind. (Mind-body connection) - combination of genes and environment
Evolutionary
How the natural selection of genes and traits affects the expression of behavior and mental processes to increase survival and reproduction
Cognitive
Studies thoughts and information processing - how do we encode, process, store, and retrieve information (learning)
Humanistic
How do we meet the human need for love, acceptance, self-fulfillment - reaching our full potential
Psychodynamic
Modern approach that uses many of Freud’s psychoanalytic theories to explain how the mind works, what unconscious drives, thoughts, conflicts affect our behavior
Behavioral
Studies behaviors/tendencies that can be observed, measured, counted. Emphasizes the power of learning.
Sociocultural
Focuses on how society and culture impact our thoughts, behaviors, decisions, etc. - how do behaviors change across culture
Hindsight Bias
our tendeny to view events as more predictable than they really are
Confirmation Bias
seeking evidence to support the answer you want
Overconfidence
an overestimation of one’s actual ability to perform a task sucessfully
Describe how theories advance psychological science
theories provide the foundation for the psychological research
peer reviewers
scientific experts who evaluate a research article’s theory, origin, and accuracy
Hypothesis
test theories and make predictions
falsifiability
the possibility that a hypothesis can be proven false or wrong by experiment or observation
operational definitions
a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study
replication
ability to repeat a study with different participants or situations, to see if findings can be reproduced
case study
Studies one individual in depth
meta analysis
technique to increase effect size by synthesizing results of many studies into a single result
naturalistic observation
Records behavior in the natural environment
survey
Attempt to gather information on what people think & have done
social desiriability bias
bias from people responding in ways they presume a researcher expects or wishes
self-report bias
bias when people report their behavior innacurately
experimenter bias
bias where experimenter influences the experiment unintentionally
population
representative sample
sample
a group of people being studied/ gathering data from a small group of a larger set
sampling bias
generalize from a few cases
random sampling
every member of population has equal chance of being selected
convenience sampling
collecting from a group readily available
representative sampling
sample (small group) that accurately matches the characteristics of population has equal chance of being selected as part of the sample
positive correlation
rise and fall together
negative correlation
1 rises other falls and vice versa
what does it mean when two things are correlated?
two things have a relationship with each other
illusory correlation
when we believe there is a relationship between two things, we are likely to notice and recall instances that confirm our belief
correlation
Measures the extent to which two factors (variables) vary together/predict one another
correlation coefficient
Statistical measurement
directionality problem
can’t tell which is causing the other, only that there’s a relationship
third variable problem
there’s something else driving the relationship
experimental group
the group exposed to the treatment
control group
the group NOT exposed to the treatment
independent variable
the factor that is being manipulated
dependent variable
the outcome that is measured
random assingment
assigning people to experimental and control groups by chance
single-blind procedure
a procedure in which the research participants are blind about whether they have received treatment or placebo
double-blind procedure
a procedure in which the research participants and staff are both blinded
placebo
a pill with no drug in it
regression towards the mean
the illusion that uncontrollable events correlate with our actions is also fed by statistical phenomenon
placebo effect
results caused by expectations alone
confounding variable
other factors that can potentially influence a study’s results
Quantitative Research
a research method that relies on quantifiable, numerical data
Qualitative Research
e research method that relies on in-depth, narrative data that are not translated into numbers
Likert Scales
strongly disagree to strongly agree
Institutional Review
ethics committees, universities
Informed Assent
participants told enough to choose whether to participate (for minors)
informed consent
participants told enough to choose whether to participate
Protect From Harm
both physical and psychological
Confidentiality
keep participant information private, not requiring identifying information to participate
Research Confederates
individuals who seem to be participants but in reality are part of the research team
Debriefing
post-experimental explanation of study
Measure of Central Tendency
a single score that represents a whole set of scores
Mode
the most frequent occurring scores in a distribution
Mean
the average of a distribution
Median
the middle score in a distribution
Percentile Rank
the percentage of scores in a distribution that are less than or equal to a given score
Skewed
when a few outlining scores distort the mean
Bimodal Distribution
has two peaks
Measures of Variation
ways to describe the distribution of dispersion of data
Range
the gap between the lowest and the highest
Standard Deviation
a more useful standard fr measuring how much scores differ from one another
Normal Curve
bell-shaped distribution
Meta Analysis
analyzes results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion
statistical significance
how likely a results occured by chance assuming there is no difference
Effect Size
the larger the effect-size the stronger the cause/effect relationship
