AP Psychology Exam
Review Flashcards
2025-2026
Final Exam Questions with
Verified Answers | Grade A+ |
New Version
,psychology the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
behavior an observable action
monism seeing mind and body as different aspects of the same thing
dualism seeing mind and body as two different things that interact
eclectic use of techniques and ideas from a variety of approaches
empiricism the view that knowledge should be acquired through observation and often an
experiment
science way of getting knowledge about the world based on observation
theory a collection of interrelated ideas and facts put forward to describe, explain, and
predict behavior and mental processes
scientific method in psychology, the techniques used to discover knowledge about human behavior
and mental processes
hypothesis a tentative statement or idea expressing a causal relationship between two events
or variables that is to be evaluated in a research study
experiment a procedure in which a researcher systematically manipulates and observes
elements of a situation in order to test a hypothesis and make a cause-and-effect
statement
independent variable the variable in a controlled experiment that the experimenter directly and
purposefully manipulates to see how the other variables under study will be affected
dependent variable the variable in a controlled experiment that is expected to change due to the
manipulation of the independent variable
experimental group in an experiment, the group of participants to whom a treatment is given
control group subjects and not exposed to a changing variable in an experiment
,variable a condition or characteristic of a situation or a person that is subject to change (it
varies) within or across situations or individuals
sample a group of participants who are assumed to be representative of the population
about which an inference is being made
random sample selection of a part of the population without reason; participation is by chance
operational definition a definition of a variable in terms of the set of methods or procedures used to
measure or study that variable
participant an individual who takes part in an experiment and whose behavior is observed as
part of the data collection process
double-blind procedure technique in which neither the persons involved for those conducting the
experiment know in what group to participate is involved
debriefing a procedure to inform participants about the true nature of an experiment after its
completion
ethics rules of proper and acceptable conduct that investigators use to guide psychological
research
ethnocentrism tendency to believe that one's own group is the standard, the reference point by
which other people and groups should be judged
case study a highly detailed description of a single individual or a vent
ex post facto study describes differences between groups of participants that differ naturally on a
variable such as race or gender
naturalistic observation observing and recording behavior naturally without trying to manipulate and control
the situation
correlational research establish the relationship between two variables
survey research the measurement of public opinion through the use of sampling and questioning
experimenter bias expectation of the person conducting an experiment which may be affect the
outcome
, observer bias expectations of an observer which may distort an authentic observation
response bias preconceived notions of a person answering [a survey] which may alter the
experiments purpose
informed consent the agreement of participants to take part in an experiment and their
acknowledgement that they understand the nature of their participation in the
research, and have been fully informed about the general nature of the research, its
goals, and methods
normal distribution approximate distribution of scores expected when a sample is taken from a large
population, drawn as a frequency polygon that often takes the form of a bell-shaped
curve, called the normal curve
placebo typically a pill that is used as a control in the experiment; a sugar pill
pseudoscience an unscientific system which pretends to discover psychological information that his
means are unscientific or deliberately fraudulent
representative sample selection of a part of the population which mirrors the current demographics
significant difference in an experiment, a difference that is unlikely to have occurred because of chance
alone and is inferred to be most likely due to the systematic manipulations of
variables by the researcher
self-fulfilling prophecy when a researcher's expectations unknowingly create a situation that affects the
results
statistics branch of mathematics that deals with collecting, classifying, and analyzing data
descriptive statistics general set of procedures used to summarize, condense, and describe sets of data
frequency distribution a chart or array of scores, usually arranged from highest to lowest, showing the
number of instances for each score
frequency polygon graph of a frequency distribution that shows the number of instances of obtained
scores, usually with the data points connect by straight lines
measure of central tendency a descriptive statistic that tells which result or score best represents an entire set of
scores
mean the arithmetic average of a set of scores
Review Flashcards
2025-2026
Final Exam Questions with
Verified Answers | Grade A+ |
New Version
,psychology the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
behavior an observable action
monism seeing mind and body as different aspects of the same thing
dualism seeing mind and body as two different things that interact
eclectic use of techniques and ideas from a variety of approaches
empiricism the view that knowledge should be acquired through observation and often an
experiment
science way of getting knowledge about the world based on observation
theory a collection of interrelated ideas and facts put forward to describe, explain, and
predict behavior and mental processes
scientific method in psychology, the techniques used to discover knowledge about human behavior
and mental processes
hypothesis a tentative statement or idea expressing a causal relationship between two events
or variables that is to be evaluated in a research study
experiment a procedure in which a researcher systematically manipulates and observes
elements of a situation in order to test a hypothesis and make a cause-and-effect
statement
independent variable the variable in a controlled experiment that the experimenter directly and
purposefully manipulates to see how the other variables under study will be affected
dependent variable the variable in a controlled experiment that is expected to change due to the
manipulation of the independent variable
experimental group in an experiment, the group of participants to whom a treatment is given
control group subjects and not exposed to a changing variable in an experiment
,variable a condition or characteristic of a situation or a person that is subject to change (it
varies) within or across situations or individuals
sample a group of participants who are assumed to be representative of the population
about which an inference is being made
random sample selection of a part of the population without reason; participation is by chance
operational definition a definition of a variable in terms of the set of methods or procedures used to
measure or study that variable
participant an individual who takes part in an experiment and whose behavior is observed as
part of the data collection process
double-blind procedure technique in which neither the persons involved for those conducting the
experiment know in what group to participate is involved
debriefing a procedure to inform participants about the true nature of an experiment after its
completion
ethics rules of proper and acceptable conduct that investigators use to guide psychological
research
ethnocentrism tendency to believe that one's own group is the standard, the reference point by
which other people and groups should be judged
case study a highly detailed description of a single individual or a vent
ex post facto study describes differences between groups of participants that differ naturally on a
variable such as race or gender
naturalistic observation observing and recording behavior naturally without trying to manipulate and control
the situation
correlational research establish the relationship between two variables
survey research the measurement of public opinion through the use of sampling and questioning
experimenter bias expectation of the person conducting an experiment which may be affect the
outcome
, observer bias expectations of an observer which may distort an authentic observation
response bias preconceived notions of a person answering [a survey] which may alter the
experiments purpose
informed consent the agreement of participants to take part in an experiment and their
acknowledgement that they understand the nature of their participation in the
research, and have been fully informed about the general nature of the research, its
goals, and methods
normal distribution approximate distribution of scores expected when a sample is taken from a large
population, drawn as a frequency polygon that often takes the form of a bell-shaped
curve, called the normal curve
placebo typically a pill that is used as a control in the experiment; a sugar pill
pseudoscience an unscientific system which pretends to discover psychological information that his
means are unscientific or deliberately fraudulent
representative sample selection of a part of the population which mirrors the current demographics
significant difference in an experiment, a difference that is unlikely to have occurred because of chance
alone and is inferred to be most likely due to the systematic manipulations of
variables by the researcher
self-fulfilling prophecy when a researcher's expectations unknowingly create a situation that affects the
results
statistics branch of mathematics that deals with collecting, classifying, and analyzing data
descriptive statistics general set of procedures used to summarize, condense, and describe sets of data
frequency distribution a chart or array of scores, usually arranged from highest to lowest, showing the
number of instances for each score
frequency polygon graph of a frequency distribution that shows the number of instances of obtained
scores, usually with the data points connect by straight lines
measure of central tendency a descriptive statistic that tells which result or score best represents an entire set of
scores
mean the arithmetic average of a set of scores
