AP Psychology - Methods

The tendency for someone to think they knew a conclusion from research before it was released, even though they did not.

Research to solve practical problems that have real-world applications.

Research into areas that are of interest to psychologists but that do not have real world applications.

An assertion that there is a relationship between two variables that someone makes as a prelude to performing research.

No, you cannot prove a hypothesis. Research can only support a hypothesis, but it is impossible to fully assert that a hypothesis is true. If you are doing spaced repetition or learning, note that this is a question.

The variable that is changed or modified.

The variable that changes as a result of changes to the independent variable,

A claim that is backed by evidence from research (although admittedly some examples of this in psychology lack research).

A definition of something in terms of how it will be used in the procedure and how it will be measured.

How well the research measures what the researcher set up to measure.

How consistent the results are, even when done by different researchers (with the same procedure)

Subjects in research.

The process wherein participants are selected.

The group of participants

Anyone who could be selected to be in the sample for the study.

A sample that is representative of the population the participants were selected from.

The process of selecting participants wherein everyone in a population has an equal chance of being selected.

The process of selecting participants in which participants are randomly selected, but the number of people of different demographics are standardized to prevent inequality. For example, if a population is 1/3 White, 1/3 Black, and 1/3 Asian, then a study of that population with participants picked this way should have 1/3 of the participants be of each demographic, and the participants selected randomly for each demographic.

Experiments conducted in a lab.

Experiments conducted in the actual world, in uncontrolled environments.

One type of research that determines cause-and-effect relationships.

Any factors that may affect the dependent variable that are not the independent variable.

Variables that affect the assignment of participants. For example, if someone picks their group, they may pick their group based on their personality, and if the researcher picks their group, they may either have biases or they may unconsciously assign people to certain groups based on things like when they arrived or where they were waiting for the research to start.

Variables that impact the situations different groups are put in. Participants should be put in equivalent situations except for their independent variable to minimize this.

The process of putting participants into groups.

A type of assignment in which each participant has an equal chance of being placed in any group.

Ways that researchers minimize the impact of confounding variables.

A process of assignment in which you divide people into groups and then randomly assign them roles. For example, you could create two different groups based on gender before assigning people to groups.

The unconscious tendency for a researcher to treat members of the control and experimental groups differently to prove their hypothesis.

When neither the researcher nor participants can affect the study, most frequently done by not telling the participants of their group and having someone else who doesn’t know their groups interact with the participants.

When only the participants are unaware of their group.

When a person asks biased questions because of expectations.

A participant in a study unconsciously behaving the way the researcher expects them to.

A response bias wherein people give answers that reflect well upon them.

The group receiving the independent variable.

The group that does not receive the independent variable and is compared with the group that does.

An effect wherein people behave differently when they know they are being studied.

A method of studying where both groups are lead to believe they’re the experimental group to account for any psychosomatic responses.

A method of research in which all groups are both the experimental and control groups, removing confounding variables.

The presence of when thing predicts the presence of another.

The presence of one thing predicts the absence of another.

A study where most aspects are controlled, but some are left as confounding variables.

A method of research using surveys where there is neither an independent nor a dependent variable and instead asks people questions to determine a relationship between two variables.

The rate at which people respond to requests to fill in surveys. This is usually quite low.

A method of research in which someone watches behavior without interacting or changing variables.

A method of studying where a specific person or group of people (with a condition) are studied over a long period of time to get a full picture of their development over time.

Statistics that describe a type of data.

A distribution of a statistic showing its varying levels of frequency in a population. This is frequently used to make graphs, one example being bell curves.

A measure of central tendency that is usually referred to as the average of a data set, found by adding all of the values together and dividing the sum by the number of values.

The central value in a distribution, found by counting to the middle value of a data set in chronological or descending order.

The value that appears most frequently in a distribution.

A value or set of values that is significantly different from other values in the distribution. This can affect the mean and skew distributions.

Distribution created when there are very high outliers.

Distribution created when there are very low outliers.

The distance between the highest and lowest values in the distribution.

Average deviation of the mean.

Average squared deviation of the mean.

A measure of distance from the mean in standard deviation. For example, if someone got 115 on an IQ test, the would have a measure of 1, because 115 is 1 standard deviation away from the mean.

A bell curve that is symmetrical and has ~68% of people in the first standard deviation, ~95% of people in the second, and ~99% of people in the third. One example is an IQ bell curve.

The measure of a strength of a correlation, that can range from -1 to +1. -1 indicates a perfect negative correlation, +1 indicates a perfect positive correlation, and 0 indicates no correlation.

A chart that graphs pairs of values and depicts a correlation (or lack thereof).

A (linear) line that depicts the general trend shown in a scatter plot to the best extent possible.

Statistics that determine how applicable findings are to the general population.

The extent to which a sample differs from the population.

The probability that the difference between the control and experimental groups is due to chance (and no/minimal other factors).

A label giving to data that has a high probability of being caused by chance and not differences between the groups studied. This label is applicable when the p value of a study is higher than 0.05.

An institution of the American Psychological Association that determines if a study has ethical violations before research is started.

When someone is forced in some way to participate in a study. This is an ethical violation according to the APA.

Researchers must make sure the participant is aware of the study they are participating in. They can be decieved slightly if necessary for the study, but they cannot be deceived to an extent high enough to cause trauma, and the information given must be similar to the contents of the actual study. A lack of this is an ethical violation according to the APA.

A researcher should maintain privacy for the participants to prevent their data in the study from being connected to their name (to the best extent possible). A lack of this is an ethical violation according to the APA.

If a researcher is unable to provide anonymity, they should do this, which leaves the source of data in a study indeterminate. A lack of this and a lack of anonymity is an ethical violation.

Participants should not be placed at significant mental or physical risk. Too much of this is an ethical violation according to the APA.

After the study, participants should be both informed of the study and given a way to access the researcher for findings. A lack of this is an ethical violation according to the APA.