Chapter 1 Flashcards
variable
something that can change and be measured
replication
repeating an experiment or research study
experimental group
treatment group; received an intervention
case study
a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles
critical thinking
examine assumptions, evaluates the source, finds hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assess the conclusion; NOT just “believing something because someone said so”
operational definition
carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study
survey
self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a group
population
everyone in the group being studied; bigger than a sample
regression toward the mean
extreme scores tend to fall back to average
double blind procedure
the researcher and the participants do not know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group.
placebo effect
any experimental results caused by expectation because the participant did not receive any active treatment, but believed he/she did
debriefing
giving an explanation of the study after the experiment is over
range
difference between the highest and lowest score
theory
general explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behavior
hypothesis
testable prediction based on a theory
naturalistic observation
a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations, not interacting, participating, or changing anything
experiment
a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable)
control group
comparison group; no treatment received
Random sample
a small group that represents the whole population; everyone has a equal chance to be included
independent variable
the factor that is manipulated in an experiment
dependent variable
the variable that may change because of the manipulation; the outcome measured
confounding variable
a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect
random assignment
having an equal chance of being assigned to either group (experimental or control), which minimizes preexisting differences between groups
mean
average
median
the number in the middle
mode
most frequent score
standard deviation
a measurement of how much scores vary around the mean
scatterplot
a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables
intuition
automatic feeling or thought; not conscious reasoning
hindsight bias
the tendency to believe, after learning the result I knew that all along
correlation
a measure of how much two factors vary together
correlation coefficient
statistical index of the relationship between two things; -1 to +1
informed consent
participants need to get enough information to decide if they want to participate in an experiment
normal curve
bell-shaped curve that describes the data; most scores are near the middle
statistical significance
a statement based on statistics of how likely it is that a result happened by chance
