Social Psychology Ch 2

Front 1

Hindsight Bias

Back 1

The tendency for people to exaggerate how much they could have predicted and outcome after knowing that it occurred

Front 2

Observational Method

Back 2

The technique whereby a researcher observes people and systematically records measurements or impressions of their behavior

Front 3

Ethnography

Back 3

The method by which researchers attempt to understand a group or culture by observing it form the inside, without imposing any preconceived notions they might have

Front 4

Participant Observation

Back 4

A form of the observational method in which the observer interacts with the people being observed but tries not to alter the situation in any way

Front 5

Inter-judge Reliability

Back 5

The level of agreement between two or more people who independently observe and code a set of data; by showing that two or more judges independently come up with the same observations, researchers ensure that the observations are not the subjective, distorted impressions of one individual

Front 6

Archival Analysis

Back 6

A form of the observational method in which the researcher examines the accumulated documents, or archives, of a culture (e.g. Diaries, novels, magazines, and newspapers)

Front 7

Correlational Method

Back 7

The technique whereby two or more variables are systematically measured and the relationship between them (i.e., how much one can be predicted from the other) is assessed

Front 8

Correlation Coefficient

Back 8

A statistical technique that assesses how well you can predict one variable from another – ex. How well you can predict people’s weight from their height

Front 9

Surveys

Back 9

Research in which are preventative sample of people are asked (often anonymously) questions about their attitudes or behavior

Front 10

Random Selection

Back 10

A way of ensuring that a sample of people is representative of a population by giving everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected

Front 11

Experimental Method

Back 11

The method in which the researcher randomly assigns participants to different conditions and ensures that these conditions are identical except for the independent variable (the one thought to have a causal effect on people’s responses)

Front 12

Independent Variable

Back 12

The variable a researcher changes or varies to see if it has an effect on some other variable

Front 13

Dependent Variable

Back 13

The variable a researcher measures to see if it is influenced by the independent variable; the researcher hypothesizes that the dependent variable will depend on the level of the independent variable

Front 14

Random Assignment to Condition

Back 14

A process ensuring that all participants have an equal chance of taking part in any condition of an experiment; through random assignment, researchers can be relatively certain that differences in the participants’ personalities or backgrounds are distributed evenly across conditions

Front 15

Probability Level

Back 15

A number calculated with statistical techniques that tells researchers how likely it is that the results of their experiment occurred by chance and not because of the independent variable or variables; the convention in science, including social psychology, is to consider results significant (trustworthy) if the probability level is less than 5 in 100 that the results might be due to chance factors and not the independent variables studied

Front 16

Internal Validity

Back 16

Making sure that nothing besides the independent variable can affect the dependent variable; this is accomplished by controlling all extraneous variables and by randomly assigning people to different experimental conditions

Front 17

External Validity

Back 17

The extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other situations and to other people

Front 18

Mundane Realism

Back 18

The extent to which and experiment is similar to real-life situations

Front 19

Psychological Realism

Back 19

The extent to which the psychological process triggered in an experiment are similar to psychological processes that occur in everyday life; psychological realism can be high in a experiment even if mundane realism is low

Front 20

Cover Story

Back 20

A description of the purpose of a study, given to participants, that is different from its true purpose, used to maintain psychological realism

Front 21

Replication

Back 21

Repeating a study, often with different subject population or in different settings

Front 22

Meta- Analysis

Back 22

A statistical technique that averages the results of two or more studies to see if the effect of an independent variable is reliable

Front 23

Cross- Cultural Research

Back 23

Research conducted with members of different culture, to see whether the psychological processes of interest are present in both cultures or whether they are specific to the culture in which people were raised

Front 24

Field Experiments

Back 24

Experiments conducted in natural settings rather than in the laboratory

Front 25

Basic Research

Back 25

Studies that are designed to find the best answer to the question of why people behave as they do and that are conducted purely for reasons of intellectual curiosity

Front 26

Applied Research

Back 26

Studies designed to solve a particular social problem

Front 27

Informed Consent

Back 27

Agreement to participate in a experiment, granted in full awareness of the nature of the experiment, which ahs been explained in advance

Front 28

Deception

Back 28

Misleading participants about the true purpose of a study or the events that will actually transpire

Front 29

Debriefing

Back 29

Explaining to participants, at the end of an experiment, the true purpose of the study and exactly what transpired