Chapter 1: Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

Question 1

I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon, the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome that one would have for seen it

Answer 1

hindsight bias

Question 2

the tendency to be more confident than correct - to overestimate the accuracy of one’s belief and judgements

Answer 2

overconfidence

Question 3

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions, rather it examines assumptions, discerns, hidden values, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions

Answer 3

critical thinking

Question 4

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

Answer 4

theory

Question 5

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Answer 5

hypothesis

Question 6

a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables (it allows us to MEASURE variables)

Answer 6

operation definitions

Question 7

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

Answer 7

replicate

Question 8

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles (can suggest hypotheses for further study)

Answer 8

case study

Question 9

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

Answer 9

survey

Question 10

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

Answer 10

false consensus affect

Question 11

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

Answer 11

population

Question 12

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

Answer 12

random sample

Question 13

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

Answer 13

naturalistic observations

Question 14

a measure of the extend two which two factors vary together and thus of how well wither factor predicts the other

Answer 14

correlation

Question 15

a graphed cluster of dots each of represent the values of two variables the point of the slope suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables the amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation

Answer 15

scatterplots

Question 16

the perception of a relationship where non exists

Answer 16

illusory correlation

Question 17

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

Answer 17

experiment

Question 18

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

Answer 18

double blind procedure

Question 19

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is assumed to be an active agent

Answer 19

placebo effect

Question 20

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

Answer 20

experimental conditions

Question 21

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

Answer 21

control conditions

Question 22

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to different groups

Answer 22

random assignment

Question 23

the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effects is being studied

Answer 23

independent variable

Question 24

the outcome factor, the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variables

Answer 24

dependent varibables

Question 25

the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

Answer 25

mode

Question 26

the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the numbers of scores

Answer 26

mean

Question 27

the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above and half are below

Answer 27

median

Question 28

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Answer 28

range

Question 29

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

Answer 29

standard deviation

Question 30

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

Answer 30

statistical significance

Question 31

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

Answer 31

culture