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AP Psych Unit 2 Flashcards

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10519711498Scientific MethodThe process used to carry out experiments in science. It avoids hindsight bias, overconfidence, and the perception of patterns in random events.0
10519721648Hindsight biasThe tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.)1
10519727101OverconfidenceThe tendency to believe a particular result "too much", to the point of potentially manipulating data in order to get that result. It is related to hindsight bias2
10519743374RandomHumans have a tendency to find patterns in ______ data3
10519748842Researchers___________ must be: - curious - skeptical - humble4
105197672743 Goals of the Scientific Method- Measurement and description - Understanding and prediction - Application and control5
10519781336Steps of the Scientific Method1. Formulate a testable hypothesis (if/then statement) 2. Select research method and design experiment 3. Collect and test data (using one of the 3 methods) 4. Analyze the data 5. Replicate 6. Report findings6
10519784128HypothesisA testable claim which is usually written as an if/then statement to make it easier to understand and experiment with7
10519790833Operational DefinitionWhat actions or operations are being used to measure or control behavior8
105198019013 Methods of Data Collection (and Testing)- Experimental - Descriptive - Correlational9
10519831272JournalScientists always report their findings to a _______10
10519834927Independent variableThe variable that is being manipulated11
10519834928Dependent variableThe variable or behavior that is being measured12
10519838122Confounding variableA variable that causes an unexplained result (even if it was the expected result) due to not being accounted for in the experiment13
10519856516Extraneous variableA variable that impacts the experiment which can be controlled or accounted for to some degree (such as a fire alarm or bell ringing during a sleep study)14
10519869104Control groupThe group which receives the "default" treatment in a scientific experiment, and is used as a baseline to compare other groups to15
10519869105Experimental groupThe group which receives the manipulated treatment in a scientific experiment, and is compared to the control group16
10519882844Random assignmentThe process of fairly distributing and choosing participants for a study, without using biased methods17
10519884014Single blindA study in which the researcher knows which group each participant is in, but the participants do not18
10519894366Double blindA study in which neither the researcher nor the participants know which group anyone is in; only the overseer of the experiment knows the groups, and they are not revealed to anyone until afterwards19
10519898166Placebo effectThe strange phenomenon in which participants given an ineffective treatment (usually a sugar pill) show signs of improvement or change20
10519921130Experimental methodsThese methods of study focus on manipulating variables in order to test for changes in behavior or outcome21
10519914983Descriptive methodsThese methods of study focus more on observation and recording findings without manipulation, in contrast with experimental methods22
10519903326Case studyA descriptive method of study in which a single participant is observed in depth, rather than comparing results between participants23
10519908051Naturalistic observationA descriptive method of study in which people are observed naturally without any formal experimentation or study24
10519942635SurveyA form of study in which no variables are manipulated, and data is simply collected from a random sample of participants25
10520003871Representative sampleA sample whose demographics accurately capture the demographics of the population26
10520006986PopulationThe entire body of people being measured27
10520011204SampleA subgroup of a population which is randomly selected for experimentation or study28
10520014388Sampling biasUsing unfair or non-random methods of sampling in order to achieve a result contrary to the actual population result29
10534717884CorrelationA connection, relationship, or pattern between two variables, which can be observed by graphing them30
10534720607CausationCorrelation does NOT imply _________31
10534735432Illusory CorrelationA tendency of the human mind to perceive a relationship between two variables when no such relationship exists32
10534741608Positive CorrelationA correlation in which both sets of data increase and decrease together, moving in the same direction (↑↑) or (↓↓)33
10534749554Negative CorrelationA correlation in which the two sets of data move in opposite directions (i.e. one decreases when the other increases) (↑↓) or (↓↑)34
10534758498Perfect PositiveThis scatterplot shows a ______ ________ correlation35
10534765641Strong PositiveThis scatterplot shows a ______ ________ correlation36
10534768872Perfect NegativeThis scatterplot shows a ______ ________ correlation37
10534772860Strong NegativeThis scatterplot shows a ______ ________ correlation38
10534780999Correlation coefficientA number that indicates the strength of a correlation (+1 or -1 is strongest, and 0 is weakest)39
10534781000No CorrelationThis scatterplot shows _____ ___________40
105347899181Strong positive correlations have an R value (correlation coefficient) close to this number41
10534794858-1Strong negative correlations have an R value (correlation coefficient) close to this number42
105347948590Graphs with no correlation have an R value (correlation coefficient) close to this number43
10534800739Central TendencyA way of finding a "middle" value to represent a set of data. Its three main types are mean, median, and mode44
10534803313MeanA central tendency found by taking the average of a set of numbers (the sum of the data divided by the number of data points)45
10534806294MedianA central tendency found by taking the middle number of a data set (or the average of the middle two numbers if there are an even number of data)46
10534810871Bell curveAlso called a normal distribution, this type of curve represents the most common kind of distribution found in statistics47
10534821695Standard deviationA measure of the spread of data in a normal distribution; it is used to calculate the z-score48
10534822965Normal distributionAnother name for a bell curve49
10534836113Z-scoreThe number of standard deviations away from the mean a data point is (positive = above, negative = below)50
10534836114100The mean for intelligence curves is always this number51
1053483825315The standard deviation of intelligence curves is always this number52
10534854515Descriptive statisticsA way of organizing statistics to make sense of the data53
10534855677Ethical guidelinesThe APA's _______ __________ for psychological experiments are: 1. Do no harm 2. Participation is voluntary 3. Explain risks before experiment (informed consent) 4. Participants must be debriefed afterwards 5. Maintain confidentiality 6. Animal use must be justified54
10534870640Informed consentThe requirement for psychological experiments that participants must have the risks of the study explained to them55

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