Biology 100 Unr Chapter 1

Front 1

Anecdotal Observation

Back 1

Observation of One or only a few instances.

Front 2

Biological Literacy

Back 2

The ability to use scientific inquiry to think creatively about problems with a biological component; to communicate these thoughts to others; and to integrate these ideas into one's decision making.

Front 3

Biology

Back 3

The study of living things.

Front 4

Blind Experimental Design

Back 4

An experimental design in which the subjects do not know what treatment (if any) they are receiving.

Front 5

Control Group

Back 5

In an experiment, the group of subjects not exposed to the treatment being studied but otherwise treated identically to the experimental group.

Front 6

Critical Experiment

Back 6

An experiment that makes it possible to determine decisively between alternative hypotheses.

Front 7

Double-Blind Experimental Design

Back 7

An experimental design in which neither the subjects nor the experimenters know what treatment (if any) individual subjects are receiving.

Front 8

Empirical

Back 8

Describes knowledge that is based on experience and observations that are rational, testable, and repeatable.

Front 9

Experimental Group

Back 9

In an experiment, the group of subjects exposed to a particular treatment; also known as the treatment group

Front 10

Hypothesis

Back 10

A proposed explanation for an observed phenomenon.

Front 11

Null Hypothesis

Back 11

A hypothesis that proposes a lack of relationship between two factors.

Front 12

Placebo

Back 12

An inactive substance used in controlled experiments to test the effectiveness of another substance; the treatment group receives the substance being tested, the control group receives the placebo.

Front 13

Placebo Effect

Back 13

A frequently observed and poorly understood phenomenon in which there is a positive response to treatment with an inactive substance.

Front 14

Positive Correlation

Back 14

A relationship between variables, in which they increase (or decrease) together

Front 15

Pseudoscience

Back 15

Hypotheses and theories not supported by trustworthy and methodical scientific studies (but presented as if they were).

Front 16

Randomized

Back 16

Describes a manner of choosing subjects and assigning them to groups on the basis of chance, that is, randomly.

Front 17

Science

Back 17

A body of knowledge based on observation, description, experimentation, and explanation of natural phenomena.

Front 18

Scientific Literacy

Back 18

A general, fact-based understanding of the basics of biology and other sciences, the scientifi c method, and the social, political, and legal implications of scientific information

Front 19

Scientific Method

Back 19

A process of examination and discovery of natural phenomena involving making observations, constructing hypotheses, testing predictions, experimenting, and drawing conclusions and revising them as necessary.

Front 20

Statistics

Back 20

A set of analytical and mathematical tools designed to further understanding of numerical data.

Front 21

Superstition

Back 21

The irrational belief that actions not related by logic to a course of events can infl uence an outcome

Front 22

Theory

Back 22

An explanatory hypothesis for a natural phenomenon that is exceptionally well supported by empirical data.

Front 23

Treatment

Back 23

Any condition applied to the subjects of a research study that is not applied to subjects in a control group

Front 24

Variable

Back 24

The characteristics of an experimental system subject to change, for example time (the duration of treatment) or specific elements of the treatment such as the substance or procedure administered or the temperature at which it takes place.