AP Psychology Notes PDF

Psychology- the scientific study of the mind and behavior confirmation bias- the tendency to favor information that confirms existing beliefs Hindsight bias- the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. Overconfidence- the tendency to be more confident than...

Psychology- the scientific study of the mind and behavior confirmation bias- the tendency to favor information that confirms existing beliefs Hindsight bias- the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. Overconfidence- the tendency to be more confident than correct- to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs and judgements Empirical evidence- information acquired by observation or experimentation scientific method- a systematic approach to research where a problem is identified, relevant data is gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from these data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested Hypothesis- a testable prediction, often implied by a theory Falsifiable- capable of being disproved by experimental results Peer review- a process by which something proposed (as for research or publication) is evaluated by a group of experts in the appropriate field Replication- the action of repeating a study, using the same methods to see if the original results can be consistently reproduced Reliability- the consistency of a research study or measuring test Validity- the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to The american psychological association (apa)- a professional organization representing psychologists in the US Quantitative data- information about quantities; that is, information that can be measured and written down with numbers Qualitative data- descriptive information, which often comes from interviews, focus groups, or artistic depictions such as photographs Likert scales- a psychometric scale commonly used in questionnaires, and is most widely used scale in survey research Structured interviews- a quantitative research method where the interviewer a set of sequence of questions Survey technique- a research technique that involves the collection of information from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions Wording effect- the effect that question phrasing and order have on survey data Social desirability bias- a tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself Naturalistic observation- observing subjects in their natural environment without manipulation or control by the researcher Case study- an in depth study of a single person, group, event, or community Correlational research- a type of non experimental research method, which studies the relationship between two variables with the help of statistical analysis Third variable problem- a form of confounding in which a third variable leads to a mistaken causal relationship between two others Scatter Plot- a graphical representation of the values of two variable for a set of data