AP Psychology Vocab. 1-20

The adaptive behavior of thinking was used for human survival; therefore, it has evolved over time. Understanding consciousness will help us to consider our past, adjust to our present, and plan our future.

• hindsight bias

• critical thinking

• structuralism

• functionalism

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)

• hindsight bias

• structuralism

• functionalism

• critical period

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

• structuralism

• functionalism

• critical thinking

• hindsight bias

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.

• theory

• operational definition

• case study

• naturalistic observation

A statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables. For example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as “what an intelligence test measures.”

• functionalism

• hindsight bias

• operational definitions

• structuralism

An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

• naturalistic observation

• hindsight bias

• operational definitions

• case study

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

• naturalistic obervation

• hindsight bias

• structuralism

• functionalism

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.

• control group

• placebo effect

• correlation

• case study

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of treatment.

• control group

• correlation

• placebo effect

• hindsight bias

Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent.

• control group

• operational definitions

• correlation

• placebo effect