Psychology Chapter 2

Front 1

anecdotal evidence

Back 1

personal stories about specific incidents and experiences.

Front 2

case study

Back 2

in depth investigation of a single subject

Front 3

confounding of variables

Back 3

occurs when two variables are linked together in a way that makes it difficult to sort out their specific effects

Front 4

control group

Back 4

consists of similar subjects similar to that of the experimental group. however, they do not receive the special treatment given tot he experimental group

Front 5

correlation

Back 5

exists when 2 variables are related to each other. (i.e. class attendance and course grades)

Front 6

correlation coefficient

Back 6

the numerical index of the degree of relationship between two variables. the closer the number is to 1 or -1 the higher the degree of relationship.

Front 7

empiricism

Back 7

the premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation

Front 8

data collection technique

Back 8

procedures for making empirical observations and measurements

Front 9

dependent variable

Back 9

in an experiment, the variable which is thought to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable.

Front 10

descriptive statistics

Back 10

statistics used to organize and summarize data.

Front 11

central tendency

Back 11

way of summarizing numerical data. measured in median, mean, and mode.

Front 12

double blind procedure

Back 12

research strategy in which neither subjects nor experimenters know which subjects are in the experimental or control groups.

Front 13

experiment

Back 13

research method in which the experimenter manipulates a variable under carefully controlled conditions while monitoring the effects on a second variable as a result. allows cause-effect conclusions

Front 14

experimental group

Back 14

subjects in a study who receive some special treatment in regard tot he independent variable

Front 15

experimenter bias

Back 15

a phenomenon that occurs when a researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained.

Front 16

extraneous variables

Back 16

any variables besides the independent variable which seem likely to influence the dependent variable in a specific study.

Front 17

hypothesis

Back 17

tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables.

Front 18

independent variable

Back 18

a condition or event which an experimenter varies to see its impact on another variable

Front 19

inferential statistics

Back 19

statistics used to interpret data and draw conclusions

Front 20

journal

Back 20

periodical which publishes technical and scholarly material, usually in a narrowly defined area of inquiry.

Front 21

mean

Back 21

the arithmetic average of the scores in a distribution

Front 22

median

Back 22

score falling exactly in center of a distribution of scores

Front 23

mode

Back 23

score occurring most frequently in a distribution

Front 24

naturalistic observation

Back 24

a descriptive research method in which the researcher engages in careful, usually prolonged, observation of behavior without directly intervening with the subjects

Front 25

operational definition

Back 25

definition which describes the actions or operations that will be made to measure or control a variable. (what will be done to ensure there are no extraneous variables effecting the dependent variable)

Front 26

participants

Back 26

persons or animals whose behavior is systematically observed during a study

Front 27

placebo effects

Back 27

the fact that subjects' expectations can lead them to experience some change even though they receive an empty, fake, or ineffectual treatment.

Front 28

population

Back 28

larger collection of people/animals from which a sample is drawn and which researchers want to generalize about.

Front 29

random assignment

Back 29

constitution o fgroups in a study such that all subjects have an equal chance of being assigned to any group or condition

Front 30

replication

Back 30

repetition of a study to see whether results are duplicated

Front 31

research methods

Back 31

differing approaches to the manipulation and control of variables in empirical studies

Front 32

response set

Back 32

a tendency to respond to questions in a particular way that is unrelated to the content of the questions

Front 33

sample

Back 33

collection of subjects selected for observation in an empirical study

Front 34

sampling bias

Back 34

problem which occurs when a sample is not representative of the population from which it was drawn.

Front 35

social desirability bias

Back 35

a tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself

Front 36

standard deviation

Back 36

index of the amount of variability in a set of data

Front 37

statistical significance

Back 37

condition that exists when the probability that the observed findings are due to chance is very low.

Front 38

statistics

Back 38

use of mathematics to organize, summarize, and interpret numerical data.

Front 39

subjects

Back 39

persons or animals whose behavior is systematically observed in a study.

Front 40

survey

Back 40

descriptive research method in which the researchers use questionnaires or interviews to gather information about specific aspects of subjects' behavior.

Front 41

theory

Back 41

a system of interrelated ideas that is used to explain a set of observations

Front 42

variability

Back 42

the extent to which the scores in a data set tend to vary from each other and from the mean.

Front 43

variables

Back 43

any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviors that are controlled or observed in a study.

Front 44

neal miller

Back 44

prominent psychologist. favored animal research. reasoning was that animal cruelty is very rare and is a small price to pay to save human lives. also 20 million dogs and cats already experience cruelty from other sources per year. a mere 1/10,000th from psychology.

Front 45

stanley schachter

Back 45

psychologist curious about the need for affiliation in times of anxiety. his research method was the experiment. independent variable was subject's anxiety level. the dependent variable was the participants desire to affiliate with others.

Front 46

Robert Rosenthal

Back 46

psychologist who showed that experimenter bias may lead researchers to unintentionally influence the behavior of their subjects. in his experiment he manipulated students perrception of succesful people in photos by manipulating their expectations.

Front 47

Robert Rosenthal

Back 47

psychologist who showed that experimenter bias may lead researchers to unintentionally influence the behavior of their subjects. in his experiment he manipulated students perrception of succesful people in photos by manipulating their expectations.