3.01 Psychology as science

Question 1

system of gathering data so that bias and error in measurement are reduced

Answer 1

scientific method

Question 2

tentative explanation of a phenomenon based on observations

Answer 2

hypothesis

Question 3

tendency of observers to see what they expect to see

Answer 3

confirmation bias

Question 4

to re-do an experiment and get the same results

Answer 4

replicate

Question 5

watching animals or humans behave in their normal environment

Answer 5

naturalistic observation

Question 6

major advantages of naturalistic observation

Answer 6

realistic picture of behavior

Question 7

disadvantages of naturalistic observation

Answer 7

observer effect, observer bias, lack of control over natural environment

Question 8

tendency of people or animals to behave differently when they know they are being observed

Answer 8

observer effect/Hawthorne effect

Question 9

a naturalistic observation in which the observer becomes a participant in the group being observed (to reduce observer effect)

Answer 9

participant observation

Question 10

people who do not know what the research question is (to reduce observer bias)

Answer 10

blind observers

Question 11

watching animals or humans behave in a laboratory setting

Answer 11

Laboratory observation

Question 12

advantages of laboratory observation

Answer 12

control over environment,

allows use of specialized equipment

Question 13

major disadvantage of laboratory observation

Answer 13

artificial situation may result in artificial behavior

Question 14

study of one individual in great detail

Answer 14

Case Study

Question 15

major advantage of case study

Answer 15

tremendous amount of detail

Question 16

major disadvantage of case study

Answer 16

findings are not always universally applicable

Question 17

researchers ask a series of questions about the topic under study

Answer 17

survey

Question 18

2 advantages of survey

Answer 18

large amounts of data and numbers of participants, allows study of covert behaviors

Question 19

3 disadvantages of survey

Answer 19

requires a representative sample, dishonest responses, courtesy bias

Question 20

randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects

Answer 20

representative sample

Question 21

the entire group of people or animals in which the researcher is interested

Answer 21

population

Question 22

anything that can change or vary in an experiment

Answer 22

variable

Question 23

measure of the relationship between two variables

Answer 23

correlation

Question 24

mathematical relationship between two variables

Answer 24

correlation coefficient (r)

Question 25

perfect correlation range for r

Answer 25

from -1 or +1

Question 26

variables are related in the same direction:
as one increases, the other increases;
as one decreases, the other decreases

Answer 26

Positive correlation

Question 27

variables are related in opposite direction:

as one increases, the other decreases

Answer 27

Negative correlation

Question 28

correlation does not prove __

Answer 28

causation

Question 29

a deliberate manipulation of a variable to see whether corresponding changes in behavior result, allowing the determination of cause-and-effect relationships

Answer 29

experiment

Question 30

definition of a variable of interest that allows it to be directly measured

Answer 30

Operational Definition

Question 31

the variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter

Answer 31

independent variable

Question 32

the variable in an experiment that represents the measurable response or behavior of the subjects in the experiment

Answer 32

dependent variable

Question 33

subjects in an experiment who are subjected to the independent variable

Answer 33

experimental group

Question 34

subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and who may receive a placebo treatment

Answer 34

control group

Question 35

the process of assigning subjects to the experimental or control groups randomly, so that each subject has an equal chance of being in either group

Answer 35

Random assignment

Question 36

the phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior

Answer 36

Placebo effect

Question 37

subjects do not know whether they are in the experimental or the control group (reduces placebo effect)

Answer 37

Single-blind study

Question 38

tendency of the experimenter’s expectations for a study to unintentionally influence the results of the study

Answer 38

Experimenter effect

Question 39

neither the experimenter nor the subjects know which subjects are in the experimental or control group (reduces placebo effect and experimenter effect)

Answer 39

Double-blind study

Question 40

variable that the researcher failed to control, or eliminate, damaging the validity of an experiment

Answer 40

confounding variable