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45 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
empiricism
the belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation
scientific method
a set of principles about the appropriate relationship between ideas and evidence
theory
a hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon
hypothesis
a falsifiable prediction made by a theory
empirical method
a set of rules and techniques for observation
operational definition
a description of a property in concrete, measurable terms
measure
a device that can detect the condition to which an operational definition refers
electromyograph (EMG)
a device that measures muscle contractions under the surface of a person's skin
validity
the extent to which a measurement and a property are conceptually related
reliability
the tendency for a measure to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the same thing
power
the ability of a measure to detect the concrete conditions specified in the operational definition
demand characteristics
those aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think they should
naturalistic observation
a technique for gathering scientific information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments
double-blind
an observation whose true purpose is hidden both from the observer and the person being observed
frequency distribution
a graphical representation of measurements arranged by the number of times each measurement was made
normal distribution
a mathematically defined frequency distribution in which most measurements are concentrated around the middle
mode
the value of the most frequently observed measurment
mean
the average value of all the measurements
median
the value that is "in the middle"
range
the value of the largest measurement in a frequency distribution minus the value of the smallest measurement
standard deviation
a statistic that describes the average difference between the measurements in a frequency distribution and the mean of that distribution
variable
a property whose value can vary across individuals or over time
correlation
two variables are said to "be correlated" when variations in the value of one variable are synchronized with variations in the value of the other
correlation coefficient
a measure of the direction and strength of a correlation, which is signified by the letter r
natural correlation
a correlation observed in the world around us
third-variable correlation
the fact that two variables are correlated only because each is causally related to a third variable
matched samples
a technique whereby the participants in two groups are identical in terms of a third variable
matched pairs
a technique whereby each participant is identical to one other participant in terms of a third variable
third-variable problem
the fact that a causal relationship between two variables cannot be inferred from the naturally occurring correlation between them because of the ever-present possibility of third-variable correlation
experiment
a technique for establishing the causal relationship between variables
manipulation
the creation of an artificial pattern of variation in a variable in order to determine its causal powers
independent variable
the variable that is manipulated in an experiment
experimental group
the group of people who are treated in a particular way, as compared to the control group, in an experiment
control group
the group of people who are not treated in the particular way that the experimental group is treated in an experiment
dependent variable
the variable that is measured in a study
self-selection
a problem that occurs when anything about a person determines whether he or she will be included in the experimental or control croup
random assignment
a procedure that uses a random event to assign people to the experimental or control group
internal validity
the characteristic of an experiment that establishes the causal relationship between variables
external validity
a property of an experiment in which the variables have been operationally defined in a normal, typical, realistic way
population
the complete collection of participants who might possibly be measured
sample
the partial collection of people drawn from a population
case method
a method of gathering scientific knowledge by studying a single individual
random sampling
a technique for choosing participants that ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample
informed consent
a written agreement to participate in a study made by an adult who has been informed of all the risks that participation may entail
debriefing
a verbal description of the true nature and purpose of a study