AP Psych Unit 2

Question 1

What is hindsight bias? Give a real-world example

Answer 1

the tendency to believe that after learning the outcome, one would have foreseen it

Question 2

Define overconfidence and give an example.

Answer 2

confidence in knowledge is greater than objective accuracy

Question 3

What are the characteristics of critical thinking? How would we apply critical thinking to our analysis of psychological research?

Answer 3

Not accepting arguments or conclusions at face value. Develop an understanding of why/how ideas are presented. Lastly, be willing to change beliefs when proper evidence is presented.

Question 4

What is the characteristic of the scientific attitude?

Answer 4

curiosity, skepticism, humility

Question 5

What are the different steps of the scientific method?

Answer 5

Ask a question -> background research -> connect to hypothesis -> test with experiment -> analyze data -> results do/do not align with hypothesis -> communicate results

Question 6

What are wording effects?

Answer 6

the way you present the question may alter the subjects answer

Question 7

What is a population? A random sample? Why is it important that a sample is truly random?

Answer 7

meant to be an unbiased representation of a group.

Question 8

What is a correlation? What does it allow researchers to do? What does it NOT allow researchers to

Answer 8

to see if a relationship between two or more variables exists, but the variables themselves are not under the control of the researchers. It cannot proven that changing one variable will change another

Question 9

What are positive and negative correlations?

Answer 9

positive: values of variables rise and fall together
negative: value of one variable increases while the other decreases

Question 10

What is the correlation coefficient (Pearson’s r)? Understand the various values.

Answer 10

r is a measure of any linear trend between two variables. The value of r ranges between −1 and 1. When r = zero, it means that there is no linear association between the variables.

Question 11

What are illusory correlations?

Answer 11

a perceived nonexistent relationship

Question 12

What is experimentation? What does it allow researchers to determine?

Answer 12

Only research method that can determine cause/effect

Question 13

What are some of the disadvantages of this type of research? (experiment specifically, meaning what can go wrong in it)

Answer 13

Confounding variables: factors other than the IV that influence the DV can be avoided if you aren’t bad at planning.
Experimenter bias - expectations set by the experimenter that may influence the results of the interpretation of data

Question 14

What is a double-blind study? Single-blind?

Answer 14

Double-blind study: the subjects and researchers are unaware of the treatment they receive. Single-blind is when only the issue is unaware

Question 15

Explain the placebo effect.

Answer 15

when experimental groups are affected due to expectations, not an actual treatment

Question 16

How do you create an experimental condition?

Answer 16

1. Participants
2. Variables- factors that can have different values
3. Operational definitions- describes procedure used to determine presence of variable
4. Independent Variable- what the experimenter is manipulating
5. Dependent Variable- what is being affected by the independent variable

Question 17

What is the role of the random assignment of subjects?

Answer 17

enhances the validity of the study

Question 18

What is the role of controlled conditions?

Answer 18

a condition that does not involve exposure to the treatment or intervention under study.and prove factors are not specific to the experimental intervention

Question 19

What are the components of an experiment: Independent group and Dependent variables and Experimental and control groups

Answer 19

Independent variable: what the experimenter is manipulating
Dependent Variable: what is being affected by the independent variable
Experimental group: receives the treatment whose effect researchers Control:a control group does not

Question 20

Statistical Reasoning

Answer 20

the way people reason with statistical ideas and make sense of statistical information.

Question 21

Descriptive Statistics

Answer 21

summarizes data

Question 22

Define mean, median, and mode. Practice calculating from this data set (6,3,8,1,1,5,3,3,6,1,3,8).

Answer 22

mean: the average of the data set
Median: the midmost value of the data set
Mode: The most commonly recurring value of the data set

Question 23

What is the most meaningful measure of central tendency in a normal distribution?

Answer 23

median

Question 24

What is an outlier?

Answer 24

an extreme observation or measurement, that is, a score that significantly differs from all others obtained

Question 25

When is it more appropriate to rely on the median for the most accurate data on central

Answer 25

when your data set is skewed

Question 26

tendency

Answer 26

a likelihood of behaving in a certain way

Question 27

What is a normal distribution? What is a skewed distribution?

Answer 27

Normal distribution: a normal distribution of data
Skewed distribution: a distribution that is skewed due to outliers

Question 28

What is standard deviation and what two things does it tell us about our data?

Answer 28

measures the average distribution of numbers around the mean
Low standard deviation means data are clustered around the mean, and high standard deviation indicates data are more spread out

Question 29

What three principles allow us to determine if differences in data are reliable?

Answer 29

over time (test-retest reliability), across items (internal consistency), and across different researchers (inter-rater reliability).

Question 30

Possibility of making a “false positive” ( a difference does exist when there is none) and indicates that the results are statistically significant.

Answer 30

a p-value of 5% or lower

Question 31

What are the most important considerations for experimentation using human subjects?

Answer 31

informed consent is given, and debriefing

Question 32

What are the most important considerations for experimentation using animal subjects?

Answer 32

Follow all state/federal laws
Supervised by a psychologist who has appropriate training with animals
Minimize pain and discomfort
Use appropriate anesthesia and sterilization techniques
Kill animals quickly and painlessly (if necessary)

Question 33

Define and differentiate between hypothesis and theory.

Answer 33

A hypothesis is an assumption made before any research has been done. It is formed so that it can be tested to see if it might be true. A theory is a principle formed to explain the things already shown in data.

Question 34

What does replication entail? Why is it important?

Answer 34

When studies are replicated and achieve the same or similar results as the original study, it gives greater validity to the findings. If a researcher can replicate a study’s results, it means that it is more likely that those results can be generalized to the larger population.