AP Psychology Exam Review / Complete Study
Guide Actual Exam Q-Bank / Accurate Terms with
Definitive Elaborations / A Grade / 2025
Terms in this set (771)
psychology the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
behavior an observable action
seeing mind and body as
different aspects of the
monism 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
a tentative statement or idea expressing a causal
hypothesis 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-andeffect 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
, technique in which neither the persons involved for those
double-blind procedure 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
, the agreement of participants to take part in an experiment
and their acknowledgement that they understand the nature of
informed consent 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 bellshaped 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
Guide Actual Exam Q-Bank / Accurate Terms with
Definitive Elaborations / A Grade / 2025
Terms in this set (771)
psychology the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
behavior an observable action
seeing mind and body as
different aspects of the
monism 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
a tentative statement or idea expressing a causal
hypothesis 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-andeffect 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
, technique in which neither the persons involved for those
double-blind procedure 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
, the agreement of participants to take part in an experiment
and their acknowledgement that they understand the nature of
informed consent 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 bellshaped 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
