Name_____________________________________
Hour________
AP Psychology Unit 2: Research Methods
College Board Unit Overview:
Psychology is an empirical discipline. Psychologists develop knowledge by doing research.
Research provides guidance for psychologists who develop theories to explain behavior and who
apply theories to solve problems in behavior.
Approximately 8-10% of the multiple-choice section of the AP Psychology Exam will be from this
unit.
College Board Unit Objectives:
1. Differentiate types of research (e.g., experiments, correlational studies, survey research,
naturalistic observations, and case studies) with regard to purpose, strengths, and weaknesses.
2. Describe how research design drives the reasonable conclusions that can be drawn (e.g.,
experiments are useful for determining cause and effect; the use of experimental controls reduces
alternative explanations).
3. Identify independent, dependent, confounding, and control variables in experimental designs.
4. Distinguish between random assignment of participants to conditions in experiments and random
selection of participants, primarily in correlational studies and surveys.
5. Predict the validity of behavioral explanations based on the quality of research design (e.g.,
confounding variables limit confidence in research conclusions).
6. Distinguish the purposes of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.
7. Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing graphs and
calculating simple descriptive statistics (e.g., measures of central tendency, standard deviation).
8. Discuss the value of reliance on operational definitions and measurement in behavioral research.
9. Identify how ethical issues inform and constrain research practices.
10. Describe how ethical and legal guidelines (e.g., those provided by the American Psychological
Association, federal regulations, local institutional review boards) protect research participants
and promote sound ethical practice.
Reading Assignments from Myers’ Psychology for AP:
Unit 2: Research Methods (pp. 19-46)
2.1 The Need for Psychological Science (pp. 19-24)
Learning Objectives:
1. Define hindsight bias, and explain how overconfidence contaminates our everyday judgments.
(CB 5)
2. Explain how the scientific attitude encourages critical thinking. (CB 5)
Terms: hindsight bias, critical thinking
2.2 How Do Psychologists Ask and Answer Questions (pp. 24-36)
Learning Objectives:
3. Describe how psychological theories guide scientific research. (CB 8)
4. Compare and contrast case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation, and explain the
importance of random sampling. (CB 1, 4)
5. Describe positive and negative correlations, and explain how correlational measures can aid the
process of prediction but not provide evidence of cause-effect relationships. (CB 1)
6. Describe how people form illusory correlations and explain the human tendency to perceive order
in random sequences.
7. Explain how experiments help researchers isolate cause and effect, focusing on the characteristics
of experimentation that make this possible. (CB 2, 3, 4, 5)
Terms: theory, hypothesis, operational definition, replication, case study, survey, population, random
sample, naturalistic observation, correlation, correlation coefficient, scatterplot, illusory correlation,
experiment, random assignment, double-blind procedure, placebo effect, experimental group, control
group, independent variable, confounding variable, dependent variable
2.3 Statistical Reasoning in Everyday Life (pp. 37-41)
Learning Objectives:
8. Discuss the importance of statistical principles, and explain how data may be depicted
graphically. (CB 6, 7)
9. Describe the three measures of central tendency, and tell which is most affected by extreme
scores. (CB 7)
10. Describe two measures of variation. (CB 7)
11. Identify three principles of making generalizations from samples. (CB 6)
12. Explain how psychologists decide whether differences are meaningful. (CB 6)
Terms: mode, mean, median, range, standard deviation, normal curve, statistical significance
2.4 Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology (pp. 42-46)
Learning Objectives:
13. Explain the value of simplified laboratory conditions in discovering general principles of
behavior. (CB 8)
14. Discuss whether psychological research can be generalized across cultures and genders.
15. Explain why psychologists study animals, and discuss the ethics of experimentation with both
animals and humans. (CB 9, 10)
16. Describe how personal values can influence psychologists’ research and its application, and
discuss psychology’s potential to manipulate people. (CB 9, 10)
Term: culture, informed consent, debriefing
PowerPoint Presentations
Unit 2, Presentation 1: Why We Need Psychological Science
College Board Objective: 5
Related Textbook Reading Assignment: 2.1
Additional Terms: intuition, empiricism
Unit 2, Presentation 2: The Scientific Approach
College Board Objectives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8
Related Textbook Reading Assignment: 2.2
Additional Terms: generalizability, line of best fit (regression line), within-subjects design, betweensubjects design, extraneous variable
Unit 2, Presentation 3: Statistics
College Board Objectives: 6, 7
Related Textbook Reading Assignment: 2.3
Additional Terms: nominal data, ordinal data, interval data, ratio data, positive skew, negative skew,
variance, z score, p value
Unit 2, Presentation 4: Ethics
College Board Objectives: 9, 10
Related Textbook Reading Assignment: 2.4
Additional Terms: Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
(IACUC)