Psy 120 Chapter 2

Front 1

case study

Back 1

a descriptive research technique in which the effort is focused on a single case, usually an individual

Front 2

confidentiality

Back 2

the principle that personal information obtained from a participant in research or therapy should not be revealed without the individual's permission

Front 3

confounding variable

Back 3

an uncontrolled variable that changes along with the independent variable

Front 4

correlation

Back 4

a statistic that indicates whether two variables vary together in a systematic way; correlation coefficients vary from +1.00 to -1.00

Front 5

debriefing

Back 5

at the conclusion of an experimental session, informing the participants about the general purpose of the experiment, including any deception that was involved

Front 6

dependent variable

Back 6

the behavior that is measured or observed in an experiment

Front 7

descriptive research

Back 7

methods designed to observe and describe behavior

Front 8

descriptive statistics

Back 8

mathematical techniques that help researchers describe their data

Front 9

double-blind study

Back 9

neither participants nor research observers are aware of who has been assigned to the experimental and control groups; it's used to control for both subject and experimenter expectancies

Front 10

experimental research

Back 10

a technique in which the investigator actively manipulates the environment to observe its effect on behavior

Front 11

external validity

Back 11

the extent to which results generalize to other situations or are representative of real life

Front 12

independent variable

Back 12

the aspect of the environment that is manipulated in an experiment. it must consist of at least two conditions

Front 13

inferential statistics

Back 13

mathematical techniques that help researchers decide whether data are representative of a population or whether differences among observations can be attributed to chance

Front 14

informed consent

Back 14

the principle that before consenting to participate in research, people should be fully informed about any significant factors that could affect their willingness to participate

Front 15

internal validity

Back 15

the extent to which an experiment has effectively controlled for confounding variables; internally valid experiments allow for the determination of causality

Front 16

mean

Back 16

the arithmetic average of a set of scores

Front 17

median

Back 17

the middle point in an ordered set of scores; half of the scores fall at or below the median score, and half fall at or above the median score

Front 18

mode

Back 18

the most frequently occurring score in a set of scores

Front 19

naturalistic observation

Back 19

a descriptive research technique that records naturally occurring behavior as opposed to behavior produced in the laboratory

Front 20

operational definition

Back 20

definitions that specify how concepts can be observed and measured

Front 21

placebo

Back 21

an inactive, or inert, substance that resembles an experimental substance

Front 22

random assignment

Back 22

a technique ensuring that each participant in an experiment has an equal chance of being assigned to any of the conditions in the experiment

Front 23

random sampling

Back 23

a procedure guaranteeing that everyone in the population has an equal likelihood of being selected for the sample

Front 24

range

Back 24

the difference between the largest and smallest scores in a distribution

Front 25

reactivity

Back 25

when behavior changes as a result of the observation process

Front 26

scientific method

Back 26

a multistep technique that generates empirical knowledge; that is, knowledge derived from systematic observations of the world

Front 27

single-blind study

Back 27

experimental participants do not know to which condition they have been assigned (e.g. experimental versus control); it's used to control for subject expectancies

Front 28

standard deviation

Back 28

an indication of how much individual scores differ or vary from the mean

Front 29

survey

Back 29

a descriptive research technique designed to gather limited amounts of information from many people, usually by administering some kind of questionnaire

Front 30

variability

Back 30

a measure of how much the scores in a distribution of scores differ from one another