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AP Psychology – Guided Reading
Unit 2 – Research Methods: Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

Preview Questions:

  • Why do you think psychology is also considered a science?
  • What method(s) would you use to test a psychological hypothesis you might have?
  • What would you consider “unethical” in a psychological study?

Section 1 – The Need of Psychological Science

  1. Define hindsight bias and give an example.

.

  1. How is hindsight bias related to intuition?
  1. How does overconfidence affect our everyday thinking?
  1. How does hindsight bias and overconfidence relate to intuition?
  1. ______underlies all science.
  2. What is critical thinking?

Section 2 – How Do Psychologists Ask and Answer Questions?

  1. What is the scientific method?
  1. What is a theory?
  1. What is a hypothesis?
  1. The above predictions give direction to ______.
  1. Application – pick a human behavior/emotion and list an example of how you would use a(n):
  2. Theory –
  3. Hypothesis –
  4. Research and Observation –
  5. What are operational definitions? How do they keep biases in check?
  6. What is replication? How is related to psychological research?
  1. A theory is useful if:
    a.

  1. Psychologists can test hypotheses using:

a. descriptive methods –

b. correlational methods –

c. experimental methods –

  1. What is a case study?

a. What do they often suggest?

b. How can they sometimes be misleading?

  1. What is a survey?

a. Explain the wording effect of a survey.

b. Describe random sampling in terms of the representative sample.

  1. Define population –
  1. Define random sample–
  1. What are naturalistic observations?
  1. Case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observations do not explain behavior, but rather
    ______behavior.
  1. What is correlation?
  1. What is a correlation coefficient?
  1. What are scatterplots?
  1. What is a positive correlation? A negative correlation? Give examples for each.
  1. What is “the point to remember” in regards to a correlation coefficient?
  1. What is “the point to remember” in regards to causation and scientific studies?
  1. What is an illusory correlation? Provide an example.
  1. How do psychologists isolate cause and effect?
  1. Explain random assignment.
  1. How is an experiment different from correlational studies?
  1. What is a double-blind procedure?
  1. What is the placebo effect?
  1. What is an experimental group?
  1. What is a control group?
  1. Why do researchers randomly assign people to these conditions?
  1. In terms of experiments, define:
  1. Independent variable
  1. Confounding variable
  2. Dependent variable
  1. Application – Come up with a brief (hypothetical) research study, listing what is the independent variable and what is the dependent variable.

Section 3 – Statistical Reasoning in Everyday Life

  1. What is “the point to remember” about statistics?
  1. What is “the point to remember” in regards to figures such as bar graphs?
  1. What is meant by measure of central tendency?

a. mode

b. median

c. mean

  1. What is meant by variation? What scores are more reliable – those with low variability or high variability?
  1. Define range –
  1. Define standard deviation–
  1. What is the normal curve?
  1. What is statistical significance?

Section 4 – Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology

  1. What is the purpose of an experiment?
  1. In regards to culture, what is “the point to remember”?
  1. In regards to gender, what is “the point to remember”?
  1. Why do psychologists experiment/study animals?
  1. What two issues emerge debating experimentation on animals?

a.

b.

  1. What are the four ethical principles established when experimenting with people?

a.

b.

c.

d.

Review:

  • What parts of the chapter do you find most interesting? Why?
  • List 3 questions you have or things you want to know more about.