Psy 101 -- Chapter 1

Front 1

hindsight bias

Back 1

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

Front 2

critical thinking

Back 2

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions

Front 3

theory

Back 3

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

Front 4

hypothesis

Back 4

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Front 5

operational definitions

Back 5

a statement of the procedures used to define research variables

Front 6

replicate

Back 6

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extend to other participants and circumstances

Front 7

case study

Back 7

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Front 8

survey

Back 8

a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them

Front 9

false consensus effect

Back 9

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Front 10

population

Back 10

all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study

Front 11

random sample

Back 11

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Front 12

naturalistic observation

Back 12

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Front 13

correlation

Back 13

a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

Front 14

scatterplot

Back 14

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables

Front 15

illusory correlation

Back 15

the perception of a relationship where none exists

Front 16

experiment

Back 16

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

Front 17

double-blind procedure

Back 17

an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo

Front 18

placebo effect

Back 18

experiment results caused by expectations alone

Front 19

experimental condition

Back 19

the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable

Front 20

control condition

Back 20

the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

Front 21

random assignment

Back 21

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance

Front 22

independent variable

Back 22

the experimental factor that is manipulated

Front 23

dependent variable

Back 23

the outcome factor

Front 24

mode

Back 24

the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

Front 25

mean

Back 25

the arithmetic average of a distribution

Front 26

range

Back 26

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Front 27

standard deviation

Back 27

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

Front 28

statistical significance

Back 28

a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

Front 29

culture

Back 29

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next