Ch. 2

Question 1

Hindsight bias

Dissonance theory

Answer 1

Tendency to be overconfident about whether you could have predicted the given outcome
People like their thoughts to be consistent with one another and work to achieve this cognitive consistency

Question 2

Types of research methods (6)

Answer 2

Observational research
Archival research
Surveys (representative v.s. convenience sampling)
Correlational research (can’t prove causal relationship)
Experimental research (IV, DV and CVs)
Natural experiment

Question 3

External validity
Internal validity
Reliability

Answer 3

How well the study results generalize to contexts outside the lab conditions (field experiment has strong external validity)
Confidence that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results (decreased by third variable problem)
Degree to which the particular way researchers measure the given variable is likely to yield consistent results (correlation between 0 and 1)

Question 4

Measurement validity
Regression to the mean
Statistical significance
Replication

Answer 4

Correlation between a measure and some outcome the measure is supposed to predict
The tendency for extreme scores on one variable to be followed by less extreme scores on another
Measure of the probability that a given result could have occurred by chance
Reproduction of research methods by the original investigator or someone else

Question 5

Threats to internal validity (5)

Answer 5

Selection bias = assignment to conditions is systematic, not random
Differential attrition = if many more people drop out from one condition than another, the people who stay in the more strenuous condition are likely to be difference from those in the other condition
Regression to the mean = if people are in a study because they’re extreme in the variable of interest, they are likely to become less extreme even if nothing is done
Experimenter bias = if rater knows hypothesis/condition, they make biased judgements
Expectancy = participants can be biased by their expectations about the purpose of the experiment and act in a way that confirms them

Question 6

Institutional review board
Informed consent
Deception research

Answer 6

Research at universities that has potential for harm must be approved by an IBR
Person’s agreement to participate in a study after learning all its relevant aspects
Participants are mislead about some aspects of the study (get debriefed afterwards)

Question 7

Basic v.s. applied research

Answer 7

Basic = concerned with trying to understand some phenomenon in its own right, research for the sake of research
Applied = concerned with solving a real world problem
Basic research leads to theories that lead to interventions (efforts to change certain behaviours)
Applied research can also produce results that feed back into basic research