Vocab - Psychology - Chapter 2

Front 1

archival measures

Back 1

Records or past documents that contain information about some type of behavior

Front 2

case study

Back 2

An in-depth analysis of an individual, group or event

Front 3

confounding of variables

Back 3

a situation in which the independent variable is intertwiend with another uncontrolled variable; thus we cannot tell which variable is responsible for changes in the behavior of interest

Front 4

control group

Back 4

In an experiment, the group that is either not exposed to the treatment or receives a zero level of the independent variable

Front 5

correlational research

Back 5

Research that measures two or more naturally occurring variables and examines whether they are statistically related.

Front 6

counterbalancing

Back 6

In experiments, a procedure in which each participant engages in all of the conditions. The order of the conditions is altered for different participants so that, over all, no condition has an order advantage relative to the other conditions

Front 7

dependent variable

Back 7

In an experiment, the factor measured by the research that presumably is influenced by the independent variable.

Front 8

descriptive research

Back 8

Research in which the main goal is to carefully describe how organisms behave, particularly in natural settings.

Front 9

descriptive statistics

Back 9

Statistics that summarize and describe the characteristics of a set of scores

Front 10

double-blind procedure

Back 10

A procedure in which both the participant and the experimenter are kept unaware of the research condition to which the participant has been assigned.

Front 11

experiment

Back 11

A research method in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable under controlled conditions and measures whether this produces changes in a dependent variable

Front 12

experimental group

Back 12

In an experiment, the group that receives a treatment or is exposed to an active level of the independent variable.

Front 13

experimenter expectancy effects

Back 13

Sublte and untinential ways in which an experimenter influences participants to behave in a way that will confirm the experimenter's hypothesis.

Front 14

external validity

Back 14

The degree to which the results of a study can be generalized to the other people, settings and conditions.

Front 15

hypothesis

Back 15

A tentative explanation or predictions about some phenomenon

Front 16

independent variable

Back 16

In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated by the researcher

Front 17

inferential statistics

Back 17

Statistics that tell us how confident we can be in drawing conclusions or inferences about a population based on findings obtained from a sample.

Front 18

informed consent

Back 18

The principle that prior to agreeing to participate in research a person should be fully informed about the procedures, the benefits and the risks involved, the right to with draw at any time without penalty and matters of confidentially and privacy.

Front 19

internal validity

Back 19

The degree to which an experiment produces clear causal conclusions; internal validity is high when there is no confounding of variables.

Front 20

mean

Back 20

A statistic that represents the arithmetic average of a set of scores.

Front 21

median

Back 21

In a set of data, the point that divides the distribution in half when the individual scores are arranged in order from lowest to highest.

Front 22

meta-analysis

Back 22

A statistical procedure for combining the results of different studies that examine the same topic.

Front 23

mode

Back 23

A statistic that represents the most frequently occurring score in a data distribution.

Front 24

naturalistic observation

Back 24

A method in which the researcher observes behavior in a natural setting and tries to avoid influencing the participants being observed.

Front 25

negative correlation

Back 25

A relation between two variables in which higher scores on one variable are associated with lower scores on the other variable.

Front 26

operational definition

Back 26

Defining a concept or variable in terms of the specific procedures used to produce or measure it.

Front 27

placebo

Back 27

An inactive or inert substance.

Front 28

placebo effect

Back 28

A change in behavior that occurs because of the expectation or belief that one is receiving treatment.

Front 29

population

Back 29

In a survey, the entire set of individuals about whom we wish to draw conclusions.

Front 30

positive correlation

Back 30

A relation between two variables in which higher scores on one variable are associated with higher scores on the other variable.

Front 31

random assignment

Back 31

A procedure in which each participant ahas an equal likelihood of being assigned to any one group within an experiment

Front 32

random sampling

Back 32

In a survey, a method of choosing a sample in which each member of the population has a equal probability of being included in the sample.

Front 33

range

Back 33

A statistic that represents the difference between the highest and the lowest scores in a distribution.

Front 34

replication

Back 34

The process of repeating a study to determine whether the original results can be duplicated

Front 35

representative sample

Back 35

A sample that accurately reflects the important characteristics of a population.

Front 36

scatterplot

Back 36

A graph commonly used to examine correlational data; each pair of scores on variable X and variable Y is plotted as a single point.

Front 37

social desirability bias

Back 37

A tendency to self-report or behave in a way that presents oneself in a favorable light,rather than respond as one truly feels.

Front 38

standard deviation

Back 38

A measure of variabliity that takes into account how much each socre in a distribution deviates from the average score. Statistically, the square root of the variance of a set of scores,

Front 39

statistical significance

Back 39

In, research, a term that means it is unlikely that a pariticular finding occured by chance alone. Psycholgisits typically consider a result to be statistically significant only if it could have occurred by chance less than 5 times out of 100.

Front 40

survey research

Back 40

A method of using questionnaires or interviews to obtain information about many people.

Front 41

theory

Back 41

A set of formal statements that explains how and why certain events or phenomena are related to one another.

Front 42

unobtrusive measures

Back 42

Techniques for measuring behavior in which participants are kept unaware that their behavior is being observed

Front 43

variable

Back 43

Any characteristic of an organism or situation that can vary.