Pyso 252 Key Terms Chapter 1 & 2

Front 1

social psychology

Back 1

the scientific study of how individuals think, feel and behave in a social context

Front 2

interactionalist perspective

Back 2

an emphasis on how both an individual's personality and environmental characteristics influence behavior

Front 3

social cognition

Back 3

the study of how people perceive, remember, and interpret info about themselves and others

Front 4

social neuroscience

Back 4

the study of the relationship between neural and social processes

Front 5

behavioral genetics

Back 5

a subfield of psychology that examines the role of genetic factors in behavior

Front 6

evolutionary psychology

Back 6

a subfield of psychology that uses the principles of evolution to understand human and social behavior

Front 7

embodied cognition

Back 7

an inter-disciplinary subfield that examines the close links between our minds and the positioning, experiences, and actions of our bodies

Front 8

behavioral economics

Back 8

study of how psychology relates to economic decision making

Front 9

basic research

Back 9

research whose goal is to increase the understanding of human behavior, often by testing hypotheses based on a theory

Front 10

applied research

Back 10

research whose goals are to enlarge the understanding of naturally occurring events and to find solutions to practical problems

Front 11

operational definition

Back 11

the specific procedures for manipulating or measuring a conceptual variable

Front 12

construct validity

Back 12

the extent to which the measures used in a study measure the variables they were designed to measure and the manipulations in an experiment manipulate the variables they were designed to manipulate

Front 13

bogus pipeline technique

Back 13

a procedure in which research participants are (falsely) led to believe that their responses will be verified by an infallible lie detector

Front 14

interrater reliability

Back 14

the degree to which different observers agree on their observations

Front 15

random sampling

Back 15

a method of selecting participants for a study so that everyone in a population has an equal chance of being in the study

Front 16

correlational research

Back 16

research designed to measure the association between variables that are not manipulated by the researcher

Front 17

correlation coefficient

Back 17

a statistical measure of the strength and direction of the association between two variables

Front 18

subject variable

Back 18

a variable that characterizes pre-existing differences among the participants in a study

Front 19

independent/dependent variable

Back 19

-independent: factor that experimenters manipulate to see if it affects the dependent variable

-dependent: measured to see if affected by independent variable

Front 20

internal validity

Back 20

the degree to which there can be reasonable certainty that the independent variables in an experiment caused the effects obtained on the dependent variables

Front 21

confound

Back 21

a factor that other than the independent variable that varies between the conditions of an experiment, thereby calling into question what caused any effects on the dependent variable

Front 22

experimenter expectancy effects

Back 22

the effects produced when an experimenter's expectations about the results of an experiment affect his or her behavior toward a participant and thereby influence the participant's responses

Front 23

external validity

Back 23

the degree to which there can be reasonable confidence that the results of a study would be obtained for other people and in other situations

Front 24

mundane realism

Back 24

the degree to which the experimental situation resembles places and events in the real world

Front 25

experimental realism

Back 25

the degree to which experimental procedures are involved to participants and lead them to behave naturally and spontaneously

Front 26

deception

Back 26

in the context of research, a method that provides false information to participants

Front 27

confederate

Back 27

accomplice of an experimenter who, in dealing with the real participants in an experiment, acts as if he or she is also a participant

Front 28

meta-analysis

Back 28

a set of statistical procedures used to review a body of evidence by combining the results of individual studies to measure the overall reliability and strength of particular effects

Front 29

informed consent

Back 29

an individual's deliberate, voluntary decision to participate in research, based on the researcher's description of what will be required during such participation

Front 30

debriefing

Back 30

a disclosure, made to participants after research procedures are completed, in which the researcher explains the purpose of the research, attempts to resolve any negative feelings, and emphasizes the scientific contribution made by the participants' involvement