Upgrade to remove ads
Only $2.99/month

AP Psych Unit 1 (Modules 1-8)

Terms in this set (303)

Explain the meaning of the statement, "Nurture works on what nature endows".
You have a predisposition to behavior, thoughts, etc. from nature (biological factors), but nurture (environmental factors) brings them out
Explain the problem of shyness from a behavioral viewpoint
a person is shy because they learned that when they are quiet, people leave them alone and they are rewarded by being happy
Explain the problem of shyness from a biological viewpoint
a person is shy because their parents were very shy and it was genetically passed down to them
Explain the problem of shyness from a cognitive viewpoint
a person is shy because they misinterpret other people's behavior and assume that other don't like them so they withdrawal from others
Explain the problem of shyness from a evolutionary viewpoint
a person is shy because evolutionarily, it can be more beneficial to be reserved than being outgoing and putting yourself in danger
Explain the problem of shyness from a humanistic viewpoint
a person is shy because it is their way of achieving self fulfillment by being left alone
Explain the problem of shyness from a psychodynamic viewpoint
a person is shy because they have an unconscious insecurity that causes them to be quiet and push other people away
Explain the problem of shyness from a social-cultural viewpoint
a person is shy because their culture teaches women to quiet themselves
psychometrics subfield focus
measurement of our abilities, attitudes, and traits
developmental subfield focus
changing abilities from womb to tomb; lifespan changes in our emotional, mental, and physical abilities
educational subfield focus
influences on teaching and learning; influences on teaching and learning
personality subfield focus
persistent traits; the traits that govern our behavior and thoughts
social-cultural subfield focus
how we view and affect one another; ethnic and regional differences in behavior and mental processes
industrial-organizational subfield focus
improve productivity, boost morale, and implement systems; optimizing human behavior in workplaces
human factors subfield focus
interactions of people, machines, and physical environments
counseling subfield focus
help people cope with challenges and crises (educational, vocations, marital); assists with daily problems of functioning
clinical subfield focus
assess and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders
psychiatric subfield focus
prescribe drugs and otherwise treat physical causes of psychological disorders
positive subfield focus
explores positive emotions, positive character traits, and enabling institutions
community subfield focus
create social and physical environments that are healthy for all
What is the testing effect?
repeated self testing and rehearsal of previously studied material further reinforces the ideas
biological perspective focus
genetic influence on individual differences
cognitive perspective focus
thoughts and memories impact on behavior
behavioral perspective focus
effects of learning and environment on behavior and thoughts
Wave One
introspection: subjects are asked to accurately their cognitive reactions to simple stimuli (Titchener)
structuralism: the mind operates by combining subjective emotions and objective sensations (Wilhelm Wundt)
functionalism: considers behavior in terms of adaptation to environment (William James)
Wave Two
Gestalt: examine a person's total experience because the whole is greater than just the sum of the parts (Max Wertheimer)
Wave Three
Psychoanalysis: focused on the unconscious mind and repression (Sigmund Freud)
Wave Four
Behaviorism: psychologists should look only at observable behavior, stimuli, responses, and reinforcement (Watson and Skinner)
Wave Five
Eclectic: drawing from multiple perspectives
humanist perspective
individual choice and free will (Maslow and Rogers)
biopsychology/neuroscience perspective
focuses on biological processes like hormones, genes, and neurotransmitters
evolutionary perspective
examine human thoughts and actions in terms of natural selection
behavioral perspective
focuses on conditioning, stimuli/response, and reward/punishment
cognitive perspective
focus on how we interpret, process, and remember environmental events
sociocultural perspective
emphasize the influence culture has on behavior
biopsychosocial perspective
looks at a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors
In what way might a behaviorist disagree with a cognitive psychologist about the cause of aggression?
A behaviorist might state that aggression is caused by past rewards for aggressive behavior, while a cognitive psychologist might say it is a result of misinterpreting others behavior as aggressive and responding aggressively to that
Dr. Marco explains to a client that his feelings of hostility toward a coworker are most likely caused by the way the client interprets the coworker's actions and the way he thinks that people should behave at work. Dr. Marco is most likely working from what perspective?
cognitive
Symbolic dream analysis might be an important research technique to a psychologist from which perspective?
psychoanalytic
Behaviorists explain human thought and behavior as a result of
past conditioning
A therapist who says that she uses whatever psychological perspective works best for each patient might be best described as
eclectic
Which perspective is most likely to address how the encoding, storing, and retrieval of information might alter our thoughts?
cognitive
What type of psychologist would be most likely to study the interaction of people, machines, and physical environments?
human factors psychologist
Psychiatrists differ from psychologists in that they
are medical doctors licensed to prescribe medication
A humanistic psychologist working with some poets might ask what question?
How can we get them to their highest potential
Betsy works in a human resources department. She plans training sessions, recruits people to work for the company, and implements techniques to boost morale around the office. Betsy is what type of psychologist?
industrial-organizational psychologist
Socrates viewpoint
mind is inseparable from body and continues after body dies; knowledge is innate; Plato's teacher
Plato viewpoint
mind is inseparable from body and continues after body dies; knowledge is innate; Socrates' student; Aristotle's teacher
Aristotle viewpoint
knowledge is not preexisting, it grows from experience
Rene Descartes viewpoint
innate ideas; mind is separable from body and continues after death; spirit flowed through hollow nerves
Francis Bacon viewpoint
humans try to find patterns in random events
John Locke viewpoint
what we know comes from experience; observation and experimentation enable scientific knowledge
Wilhelm Wundt contribution or milestone
first psychology laboratory
G. Stanley Hall contribution or milestone
first American psychology laboratory
Edward Titchener contribution or milestone
used introspection to search for mind's structural elements
Charles Darwin contribution or milestone
evolutionary theorist
William James contribution or milestone
important psychology test
Mary Whiton Calkins contribution or milestone
pioneering memory researcher
Margaret Floy Washburn contribution or milestone
first woman to receive psychology PhD; animal behavior research
John B. Watson psychological approach
behaviorism: behavior is influenced by learned association
B.F. Skinner psychological approach
you should observe and record people's behavior to understand them
Sigmund Freud psychological approach
psychodynamic approach; introspection
Carl Rogers psychological approach
humanistic: looks at the way current environmental influences can nurture or limit growth potential; the importance of having our need for love and acceptance satisfied
Abraham Maslow psychological approach
humanistic: looks at the way current environmental influences can nurture or limit growth potential; the importance of having our need for love and acceptance satisfied; Maslow's hierarchy of needs
What is the definition of psychology?
The science of behavior and mental processes
British researcher who emphasized observation and experimentation
Francis Bacon
French philosopher who believed the mind and body are separate
Rene Descartes
Greek philosopher who believed that knowledge is innate
Socrates
Greek philosopher who believed knowledge comes from experience
Aristotle
American functionalist
William James
The view that knowledge originates in experience and science should rely on observation and experimentation
Empiricism
The field of psychology that believes only observable behavior is worthy of study
behaviorism
The field of psychology that conducts experiments to study behavior and thinking
experimental psychology
An early school of thought that emphasized introspection as a tool to discover the structures of mind
structuralism
An early school of thought that questioned how behavioral process function and enable an organism to adapt, survive, and flourish
functionalism
A British political philosopher who believed the mind at birth is a 'tabula rasa' (blank slate)
John Locke
Psychological perspective that emphasizes growth potential of healthy humans
humanistic psychology
By seeking to measure "atoms of the mind", who established the first psychology laboratory?
Wilhelm Wundt
Which philosopher proposed that nerve pathways allowed for reflexes?
Rene Descartes
Who coined the term "tabula rasa" (blank slate) to help explain the impact experiences has on shaping an individual?
John Locke
Describe the research typical of Wilhelm Wundt's first psychology laboratory.
Measuring the reaction time between hearing a sound and pressing a button
Describe John B. Watson's view on what psychology should focus on.
Psychology should focus on observable behavior
The ideas that most directly helped form modern empiricism were proposed by
John Locke and Francis Bacon
William James was a prominent American
functionalist
Research participants were asked to monitor and report their own immediate sensory reactions to differently colored objects. This research involved a technique known as
introspection
In explaining human behavior, psychoanalysts are likely to focus on _______, whereas humanistic psychologists concentrate on ________
childhood experiences and unconscious thought processes; current environmental influences on potential
In Wilhelm Wundt's experiments, participants were asked to press a key as soon as they were consciously aware of perceiving a sound. By asking participants to examine and report their conscious experiments, Wundt was making use of which psychological technique?
introspection
Wilhelm Wundt's laboratory work involved experimental studies of
reactions to sensory stimulation
The first psychological laboratory was established by
Wilhelm Wundt
Humanistic psychologists focused on the importance of
healthy growth potential
Descartes' theory of how our brain controlled our reflexes involved what?
Brain fluid and "animal spirits"
Who used the method of introspection to scientifically identify basic elements of mind?
Edward Titchener
Which of the following innovations differentiated Wilhelm Wundt's research the most from any psychologist before him?
laboratory research
Behaviorists dismissed the value of
introspection
In the 1960s, humanistic psychologists considered the approach advanced by behavioris to be excessively
limited
Introspection was the basic research tool used by _____ in order to study people's inner sensations and mental images
Edward Titchener
Which of the following psychologists most clearly rejected the value of introspection?
John B. Watson
The early school of psychology known as functionalism was developed by
William James
Why is Wilhelm Wundt often considered the first scientific psychological researcher?
He gathered data through experiments in his lab
Who was the American philosopher who authored a textbook in 1890 for the emerging discipline of psychology?
William James
In the early 1960ss, the cognitive revolution in psychology involved a renewal of interest in the scientific study of
mental processes
Wilhelm Wundt's early experiments were attempts to investigate which area of psychology?
the simplest mental processes
Which area of psychology might be best suited to investigate the following research question: what happens in out brain when we forget details about stressful life events. and how does this process affect behavior?
cognitive neuroscience
Research participants who carefully observe and report their immediate reactions and feelings in response to different musical sounds are using the method known as
introspection
The personality theorist, Sigmund Freud, was an Austrian
physician
The unreliability of introspection contributed to the waning popularity of
structuralism
Which psychologist was the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology after Harvard declined to give Mary Calkins a Ph.D.?
Margaret Washburn
In its early years, psychology focused on the study of _______, but from the 1920s into the 1960s, American psychologists emphasized the study of _____
mental life; observable behavior
Who would have been most likely to ignore mental process and to define psychology as "the scientific study of observable behavior"?
John B. Watson
The method of introspection was used by Titchener to identify
elements of sensory experience
Which philosopher was the first to conclude that knowledge results from our memories of our experiences?
Aristotle
The self-reflective observation of one's own sensations and feelings is called
introspection
Which of the following best describes the view of the mind held by Plato and Socrates?
The mind is separate from the body and continues after the body dies
Who would be most likely to emphasize the role of the unconscious in affecting behavior?
Sigmund Freud
Who was a student of William James and first female president of the American Psychological Association?
Mary Calkins
Contemporary psychologists are most likely to reject which of the following as appropriate for the study of psychology
introspection
Which philosopher would have been the most enthusiastic about modern empiricism?
Aristotle
Which philosopher is most well known for theorizing that the mind at birth is tabula rasa or a "blank slate"?
John Locke
Functionalism was a school of psychology that focused attention on the
adaptive value of conscious thoughts and emotions
Max Wertheimer contribution
founder of Gestalt psychology: how people tend to organize visual elements or unified wholes
Buddha viewpoint
sensations and perceptions combine to form ideas
If someone says Wilhelm Wundt's theory of structuralism was the first scientific psychological theory. what argument might they be basing that statement on?
His was the first that was based on scientific observations from a lab
Sigmund Freud's theory of the unconscious mind depends on the idea that
humans can remember events but not be consciously aware of the memory
The research methodology Wilhelm Wundt used is called
introspection to found the idea of structuralism
Who wrote the first psychology textbook?
William James
Which psychologist founded the Gestalt movement?
Max Wertheimer
What concept is integral to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory?
the unconscious mind
Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory has been criticized for being
unscientific and unverifiable
John Watson relied on the pioneering work of _______ in establishing behaviorism as a paradigm of psychology
Ivan Pavlov and his conditioning experiments
B.F. Skinner introduced the idea of ______ to the paradigm of behaviorism
reinforcement
Give an example of a humanistic psychologist
Abraham Maslow
cognitive psychologist work
designing computer-based models of thought processes; professors, industrial consultant, human factor specialist in school or business
developmental psychologist work
inform public policy on education and childcare reform, maternal and child health, attachment and adoption; work at educational institutional, day care center, youth group, senior center
educational psychologist work
conduct research about learning and new methods of teaching; aptitude and achievement tests; work at school or government agency
experimental psychologist work
very diverse work; work in academic setting, teaching courses supervise student research
psychometric/quantitative psychologist work
update or create neurocognitive personality tests; research methods, statistics, and computer technology; work at college, testing company, research firm
social psychologist work
study attitudes, aggression, prejudice, group behavior, and leadership; work in organizational consultation, market research, or other applied psychology fields
forensic psychologist work
help create public policies related to mental health; help law enforcement agencies in criminal investigations; work at colleges, research organizations, or correctional facility
health psychologist work
improve government policies and health care systems; help those suffer psychologically from illnesses like cancer; work at rehabilitation centers, public health agencies, or hospitals
industrial/organizational psychologist work
study relationship between people and their work environment; conduct workplace training, provide organizational analysis
neuropsychology psychologist work
evaluate for head injuries, learning disabilities, or other disorders like ADHD; work at hospital's neurology, neurosurgery, or psychiatric units
rehabilitation psychologist work
work with people who have lost optimal functioning after an accident/illness
school psychologist work
diagnose and treat cognitive, social, and emotional problems that interfere with learning; work at school, government agency, or youth center
sport psychologist work
coach education, athlete preparation, help with athlete's anxiety or substance abuse; academic/research setting or as part of a team/organization
clinical psychologist work
treat a range of disorder from adjustment difficulties to psychopathy; research, teaching, assessments, workshops/lectures; work at school, hospital, counseling center
community psychologist work
deal with broad problems of mental health; enhance environmental setting, focus on preventative measures, handle crises; work for government agencies
counseling psychologist work
address adjustment difficulties (not psychopathy) ; marriage counselor, school counselor; school, businesses, private firm
What psychologist would you consult with if you are a Major League Baseball player who is in a slump?
sport
What psychologist would you consult with if you are a corporate executive that wants to increase employee morale?
industrial-organizational
What psychologist would you consult with if you work for the Center of Disease Control and want to start a program to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases?
health
What psychologist would you consult with if you want to develop a valid, reliable test to measure student performance in a school district?
psychometric/quantitative
What psychologist would you consult with if you want to reform the child-care institutions in this country?
educational
What psychologist would you consult with if you suffer from schizophrenia?
clinical
What psychologist would you consult with if you have a child you suspect has a learning disability?
neuropsychology (developmental)(school)
What psychologist would you consult with if you just moved to a new town and are feeling out-of-place and sleeping more than usual?
counseling
What psychologist would you consult with if you want to make changes to the way you think about and perceive the world?
cognitive
What psychologist would you consult with if you sustained a concussion in a soccer game and believe you may have a serious head injury
neuropsychology
Which psychologists most strongly emphasize that human behavior is powerfully influenced by the interaction between people and the physical, social, political, and economic environment?
community
Which psychologists would be most likely to investigate biological, psychological, cognitive, and social changes over time?
development
A psychologist investigates the methods teachers use to enhance student learning. WIth which subfield is the psychologist most likely aligned?
educational
A psychologist works with kids whose parents are divorcing. She helps them develop skills to handle the situation. What type of psychologist are they?
counseling
Dwayne is interested in helping people make good decision regarding their physical well-being. Dwayne should consider a career as a
health psychologist
Describe one way in which Titchener's ideas of structuralism and James' emphasis on functionalism differ.
Structuralism focused on using introspection to find the structure of the mind while functionalism focused on how the brain adapts to fit the environment
Discuss the arguments behaviorists Watson and Skinner may have had with James regarding the study of human behavior
Watson and Skinner believed that psychology should focus only on observable behaviors because the thought process could not be scientifically studied. James believed in introspection and believed thoughts were relevant in studying the mind
How might Sigmund Freud have differed from the behaviorists in his ideas of human behavior?
Freud focuses on how the unconscious mind and repressed memories dictate behavior. Behaviorists believe our behavior occurs from past conditioning involving stimuli/response, reward/punishment, and reinforcement
In what way did the theories of humanists Rogers and Maslow run counter to those of their predecessors Freud and Watson
The humanistic theory focused on free will, not predetermined behavior beyond our control like earlier approaches
In what way do the cognitivists agree with the early theorists' ideas of structuralism?
They both believe introspection is important for understanding people
Which perspective would be most useful when explaining how people from different countries express anger?
social-cultural
The debate about the relative contributions of biology and experience to human development is most often referred to as what?
Nature vs. nurture
Which professional in psychology is required to have a medical degree?
Psychiatrist
Which psychological principle best explains why studying for an hour a day for a week is more effective than a 7 hour study session?
distributed practice
Which of the following kinds of psychologists would most likely explore how we process and remember information?
cognitive
According to the behaviorist perspective, psychological science should be rooted in what?
observation
Which type of psychologists would most likely conduct psychotherapy?
clinical
Which field of psychology is most interested in studying the link between mental activity and brain activity?
cognitive
What was the main difference between the psychological thinking of Wilhelm Wundt and earlier philosophers who were also interested in thinking and behavior?
Wundt and his students gathered data about human thinking and behavior in a laboratory setting
Which school of psychology focused on adaptive nature of thinking and how our consciousness evolves to meet our needs?
functionalist
The study of the importance of satisfying love and acceptance needs best describes which school of psychology?
humanistic
Which of the following statements is the best example of applied research?
a. investigating personality traits
b. using psychological concepts to boost worker productivity
c. experimenting with how people perceive different stimuli
d. studying the changing abilities of children from ages 2 to 5
e. exploring the neural changes that occur during adolescence
b. using psychological concepts to boost worker productivity
Self-reflective introspection about elements of experience best describes a technique used by which school of psychology?
structuralists
Which psychological perspective is most likely to focus on how our interpretation of a situation affects how we react to it?
cognitive
The science of behavior and mental processes is the definition of which field of study?
psychology
basic research
build psychology's knowledge base
applied research
tackling practical problems
SQ3R method
Survey, question, read, retrieve, review
Ivan Pavlov importance
pioneered the study of learning; created the idea of conditioning; Pavlov's dog
Jean Piaget importance
most influential observer of children
Dorothea Dix importance
lead the way to human treatment of those with psychological disorders
Hindsight bias
people have the tendency upon hearing about research findings to think they knew it all along
ex) I knew the Reds would lose that game last night!
theory
a statement with scientific evidence to back it up
ex) the string theory
operational definition
explicitly defining what a variable means
ex) If you were to ask people if they think television has become more violent than it used to be, you would have to have a set definition for what you classify as violent
random sampling
everyone has an equal chance of being selected
ex) picking numbers out of a hat
statified sampling
population is separated into groups and a sample is taken from each group; ensures diversity if the people in the groups are likely to respond differently
ex) In a group of 1000, if 600 were black and 400 were white, you would separate them and from those groups you would select 60 black people and 40 white people
confounding variables
anything that affect the dependent variable that is not separated from the independent variable; an uncontrolled variable
random assignment
each participant has an equal chance of being placed in any group; helps eliminate confounding variables
group-matching
used if someone wants to ensure that the experimental and control groups are equivalent of some criteria (sex, age, race)
ex) 20 males and 30 females in control, 20 males and 30 females in experimental
experimenter bias
unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of the experimental and control groups differently to increase the chance of confirming their hypothesis; can be eliminated through double blind study
response or participant bias
tendency for subjects to behave in certain ways
ex) select the middle option on a given scale
positive correlation
the presence of one thing predicts the presence of another
ex) the more melanin someone has, the darker their skin tone; the more someone studies for a test, the higher their grade
negative correlation
the presence of one thing predicts the absence of another
ex) the older someone is, the less sleep they need
social desirability
the tendency to try and give answers that reflect well upon them
hawthorne effect
merely selecting a group of people has been determined to affect the performance of a group
ex) when a group of workers is being observed to see which machine is more efficient for them, they perform better just because they are being watched, regardless of machine
response rate
amount of responses received, specifically from a survey
naturalistic observation
observing participants in natural habitat without interacting with them at all; goal is to get a realistic picture but it sacrifices control
case study method
used to get a full, detailed picture of one participant or a small group; findings cannot be generalized for a larger population because the sample is so small
descriptive statistics
describes a set of data
frequency distribution
a graph used to present the amount of times a piece of data appears
ex) in a survey about what pet your classmates have, you could make a frequency graph of the amount of dogs, cats, etc
positive versus negative skew
positive skew: data set has one piece of data that is extremely high compared to the whole set
negative skew: data set has one piece of data that is extremely low compared to the whole set
What are the measures of central tendency?
mean: average
median: middle number (useful if data includes an outlier)
mode: most frequent number
What are the measures of variability?
range: distance between highest and lowest score
variance: relates the average distance of any score from the mean
standard deviance: square root of the variance
z score
measure the distance of a score from the mean in units of standard deviation
normal curve
idealistic bell curve for which the area under the curve lying between any two z scores has been predetermined
correlation coefficient
way of computing the strength of a correlation; ranges from -1 to +1; -1 and +1 are an equally strong correlation; 0 denotes no correlation
inferential statistics
used to determine whether or not findings can be applied to the larger population from which the sample was selected
sampling error
the extent to which the sample differs from the population
p value
gives the probability that the difference between two groups in a study is due to chance; cutoff of .05 to be considered statistically significant
statistical significance
occurs when the p value is less than the .05 cutoff; means that the data can be applied to a larger population
institutional review board
reviews research proposals for ethical violations and/or procedural errors
coercion
the practice of persuading someone to do something by force or threat
informed consent
participants must know they are involved in research and give their consent
debriefing
after the study, participants must be told the purpose of the study and be provided with ways to contact the researchers about results
situation-relevant confounding variables
situations groups are put into that are unequal in a way other than the independent variable
ex) nonviolent videos in an omnimax theater vs violent videos on a small tv set
demand charateristics
cues about the purpose of the study which participants use to respond the way they think they are supposed to
survey method
sample takes a survey; no independent or dependent variable because no variable is manipulated; plagued by confounding variables; obtaining a random sample is hard
percentile
distance of a score from 0
ex) someone who scored in the 90th percentile did better than 90 percent of the population
Psychologists generally prefer the experimental method over other research methods because
experiments can show cause-effect relationships
Theoretically, random assignment should eliminate
many confounding variables
Charlotte and Tamar are lab partners assigned to research who is friendlier, girls or boys. After conversing with their first 10 participants, they find that their friendliness ratings often differ. With which of the following should they be most concerned?
reliability
Which of the following hypothesis would be most difficult to test experimentally?
a) people exposed to the color red will be more aggressive than those exposed to the color blue
b) exercise improves mood
c) exposure to violent television increases aggression
d) studying leads to better grades
e) divorce makes children more independent
e) divorce make children more independent because there are many confounding variables and its hard to obtain an operational definition for independent
Professor Ma wants to design a project studying emotional response to date rape. He advertises for participants in the school newspaper, informs them about the nature of the study, gets their consent, conducts an interview, and debriefs them about the results when the experiment is over. If you were on the IRB, which ethical consideration would you most likely have the most concern about in Professor Ma's study?
confidentiality
Some psychologists consider Stanley Milgram's obedience to authority studies to be unethical because of which ethical consideration?
risk of long lasting harm
One of the principal differences between the ethical guidelines for human and animal research is
animals can placed at much greater physical risk than human participants can
Lily scored 145 on an IQ test with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. What is her z score?
3. Z score is the measure of distance from the mean in units of standard deviation. 3 (z score) times 15(standard deviation) is 45. 100 (mean) plus 45 is 145 (Lily's score).
What is the median of the following distribution: 6, 2, 9, 4, 7, 3
5
Emma scores a perfect 100 on a test that everyone else fails. If we were to graph this distribution is would be
positively skewed
Joel hypothesizes that a new drug he has just invented will enhance mice's memories. He feeds the drug to the experimental group and gives the control group a placebo. He then times the mice as they learn to run through a maze, In order to know whether his hypothesis has been supported, Jose would need to use
inferential statistics
Which of the following is an example of random sampling?
a) picking out of a hat to assign each of three classes to an experimental condition
b) having a computer generate a random list of 100 high school students
c) approaching any 50 students during 6th period lunch
a and b
Vincenzo conducts an experiment to see whether fear makes mice run through mazes faster. He first selected a sample of 60 mice and then divided them into a control group and an experimental group. Which cannot be a confounding variable?
a) how fast the mice are at the start
b) when the mice run the maze
c) the population from which he got his subjects
d) how frightened the mice are before the experiment
e) where the mice run the maze
c) the population from which he got his subjects because they are all from the same population
Olivia, a nursery school teacher, hypothesizes that boys have fights with the finger paints more than girls do. She tests her hypothesis by casually watching the finger painting table for three days of nursery school. What method is she using
naturalistic observation
Talia collects survey data that indicate that students who spend more time preparing for the AP test tend to score better than other students. Jen can now conclude that
a relationship exists between studying and exam grades
overconfidence
overestimation in one's abilities
What are three things that often lead people to overestimate their intuition?
hindsight bias, overconfidence, tendency to perceive patterns in random events
How are random events taken into consideration during both hindsight bias and overconfidence?
Hindsight bias: a person wouldn't perceive an event as random because they'd want to take credit for knowing it all along
overconfidence: people want to believe they have great qualities naturally, not just by chance
What are the three main components of the scientific attitude?
curious: to have the drive to test a hypothesis
skeptical: to determine fact from fiction and retest
humble: to be able to accept hypothesis was wrong and adapt it
critical thinking
thinking that doesn't just blindly accept everything as fact, it looks deeper and investigates
While taking a standardized test with randomly scrambled answers, you notice that your last four answers have been "c". What is the probability of your next answer being "c".
It is unaffected by previous answers. It is just as likely to be "c" as any other answer
What is this an example of: Toni notices that the last four times she has been to the grocery store she has scored a parking place right up front! She knows she is on a lucky streak!
perceiving patterns in random events
What is this an example of: Bruce is often called a Monday Morning Quarterback by his friend for saying he knew the Redskins should have put the rookie wide receiver in last Sunday's game
hindsight bias
What is this example of: Janelle, a senior in high school with a 3.0 GPA, is filling out college applications. She thinks she will get into Princeton, Yale, Harvard, and Stanford, except maybe Harvard which is her reach school.
overconfidence
Why is it essential to operationally define the variables in a study?
having exact definitions allows replications
ex) defining sleep deprivation as less than 5 hours a night so another researcher can study the effects of that set amount
Why is replication so important in the research process?
to see whether the basic findings extend to other participants and circumstances; to ensure statistical significance
benefits of case study
in depth; suggest direction for further studies
drawbacks of case study
cannot be applied to a bigger group; unrepresentative; does not explain behavior
benefits of naturalistic observation
get genuine, unaltered data; eliminates Hawthorne effect
drawbacks of naturalistic observation
does not explain behavior; no control
benefits of surveys
useful for an estimate from a representative sample
drawbacks of surveys
less in depth; wording can alter results; sampling bias
Why are descriptive research methods limited in their ability to explain behavior?
They do not investigate the explanation behind behavior, only the fact that the behavior occurs
How can the phrasing of a survey question affect the responses given by those surveyed?
The connotation of words affects the response
ex) people favor "aiding the needy" over "welfare"
How would you draw a random sample if you were surveying your high school classmates?
assign each of them a number and a have a computer program select from those numbers
How would you draw a random sample if you were surveying restaurant owners?
select every 5th listing of restaurants in the phone book
How would you draw a random sample if you were surveying music listeners
ask every 6th spotify user
Theory or hypothesis: caffeine reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease
theory
Theory or hypothesis: when smoking cigarettes, teens are more likely to recall geometry proofs
hypothesis
Theory or hypothesis: increase in television viewing results in decreased attention span
hypothesis
Theory or hypothesis: flu vaccinations increase the risk of developing the flu
theory
Theory or hypothesis: dogs see in color
theory
Which of the following questions is best investigated by means of a survey?
a. Is IQ related to grades?
b. Are violent criminals genetically different from nonviolent criminals?
c. Does extra sleep improve memory?
d. What is the best study technique for AP® tests?
e. Are students more likely to be politically liberal or conservative?
e. Are students more likely to be politically liberal or conservative
What is most important when conducting survey research?
choosing a representative sample
free association
saying what comes to mind
barnum effect
tendency of people to accept vague characteristics about themselves
ex) palm readers
confirmation bias
people look for evidence that supports their beliefs and ignores what goes against it
belief perserverance
tendency to cling to one's beliefs even after receiving contrary evidence
What point do you need to keep in mind regarding correlation and causation?
Correlation does not equal causation. A causal relationship can only be verified through a designed experiment
How is a scatterplot used to represent correlations between two variables?
each dot in a scatterplot represents the values of 2 variables; looking at a scatterplot easily shows trends in the data
illusory correlation
the perception of a relationship where none exists
ex) thinking about someone and then them texting you
Why are we likely to see correlation where none exists?
we are more likely to focus on the one time we think of someone and they text us than all of the times we thought of them and they didn't
Why should researchers (and people in general) be careful of illusory correlations?
When we notice random coincidences, we may forget that they are random and see them instead as correlated. We can easily deceive ourselves seeing what is not there
What are the three principles to keep in mind when deciding to generalize from a sample?
1. representative samples are better than biased samples
2. less variable observations are more reliable than those that are more variable
3. more cases are better than fewer
In the field of psychology, what is the standard for deciding if a result is statistically significant?
When the sample averages are reliable and the difference is relatively large
What does it mean if a result is statistically significant?
the observed difference is probably not due to chance
What statistical measurement of central tendency is affected by extreme outliers?
mean
In a normal distribution, what percentage of scores fall within the first standard deviation?
68%
What is the purpose of an experiment?
test theoretical principles
What does this statement mean: psychological science focuses less on specific findings than on seeking general principles that help explain many behaviors
psychology doesn't predict individual behavior but can predict general behavior
What are WEIRD cultures?
Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic
What is the problem with most psychological experiments being conducted in WEIRD cultures?
It is unclear what data from such a specific kind of culture can tell us about people in general
How does a collectivist culture differ from an individualist culture?
collectivist: emphasize group goals
individualist: put priority on individual goals
Why do psychologists study animals?
want to understand how different animals learn, think and behave; study animals to learn about people
What are two issues that arise from the debate of animal experimentation?
whether it is right to place the wellbeing of humans over animals
what safeguards should protect the wellbeing of animals in research
How have animals benefitted from animal research?
reduce stress in animals; improved care and management in animals' natural habitat; increased empathy and protection for animals
List and define the four ethical principles
-informed consent: tell participants general idea of experiment so they can decide whether to do it
-protect from physical or emotional harm and discomfort
-keep participant information confidential
-debriefing: explain research afterwards
Is psychology free of value judgments? Give some examples.
No, values affect what we study, how we study it, and how we interpret results
ex) sex discrimination vs. gender differences
worker productivity vs. worker morale
Which descriptive statistic would a researcher use to describe how close a student's SAT score is to a school's average SAT score?
standard deviation
Which method should a psychology researcher use if she is interested in testing whether a specific reward in a classroom situation causes students to behave better?
naturalistic observation
When a distribution of scores is skewed, which of the following is the most representative measure of central tendency?
median
Researchers studying gender have found that
there are more similarities than differences between the genders
Why is random assignment of participants to groups an important aspect of a properly designed experiment?
If the participants are randomly assigned, the researcher can assume that the people in each of the groups are pretty similar
Why is there a need for psychological science?
Our intuitions about human thinking and behavior are not always accurate
There is a negative correlation between TV watching and grades. What can we conclude from this research finding?
We can conclude that a student who watches a lot of TV is likely to have lower grades
A scientist's willingness to admit that she is wrong is an example of
humility
within subject design
compare participants to themselves
ex) pretest and post test
between subject design
compare one group to another group; only one group is subject to independent variable
THIS SET IS OFTEN IN FOLDERS WITH...