CHAPTER 1b Vocab Flashcards
The need to associate with others and maintain social bonds
Affiliation motive
Personal stories about specific incidents and experiences
Anecdotal evidence
An in-depth investigation of an individual subject
Case study
The percentage of variation in one variable that can be predicted based on the other variable
Coefficient of determination
A condition that exists whenever two variables are linked together in a way that makes it difficult to sort out their independent effects
Confounding of variables
Piaget’s term for the awareness that physical quantities remain constant in spite of changes in their shape or appearances
Conservation
Subjects in a study who do not receive the special treatment given to the experimental group
Control group
The extent to which two variables are related to each other
Correlation
A numerical index of the degree of relationship between two variables
Correlation coefficient
Procedures for making empirical observations and measurements
Data collection techniques
In an experiment, the variable that is thought to be affected by the manipulation of the independent variable
Dependent variable
Statistics that are used to organize and summarize data
Descriptive statistics
A research strategy in which neither subjects nor experimenters know which subjects are in the experimental or control groups
Double blind procedures
The premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation
Empiricism
A research method in which the investigator manipulates a variable under carefully controlled conditions and observes whether any changes occur in a second variable as a result
Experiment
The subjects in a study who receive some special treatment in regard to the independent variable
Experimental group
A phenomenon that occurs when a researcher’s expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained
Experimenter bias
Any variable other than the independent variable that seem likely to influence the dependent variable in a specific study
Extraneous variables
A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables
Hypothesis
In an experiment, a condition or event that that an experimenter varies in order to see its impact on another variable
Independent Variable
Statistics that are used to interpret data and draw conclusions
Inferential statistics
A periodical that publishes technical and scholarly material, usually in a narrowly defined area of inquiry
Journal
The arithmetic average of the scores in a distribution
Mean
The score that falls exactly in the center of a distribution of scores
Median
A family of mental exercises in which a conscious attempt is made to focus attention in a nonanalytical way
Meditation
The score that occurs most frequently in a distribution
Mode
A descriptive research method in which the researcher engages in careful, usually prolonged, observation of behavior without intervening directly with the subjects
Naturalistic observation
A definition that describes the actions or operations that will be made to measure or control variable
Operational definition
The persons or animals whose behavior is systematically observed in a study
Participants
The fact that subjects’ expectations can lead them to experience some change even though they receive an empty, fake, or ineffectual treatment
Placebo effects
The larger collection of animals or people from which a sample is drawn and that researchers want to generalize about
Population
The science that studies behavior and the physiological and cognitive processes that underlie it, and the profession that applies the accumulated knowledge of this science to practical problems
Psychology
The constitution of groups in a study such that all subjects have an equal chance of being assigned to any group or condition
Random assignment
The repetition of a study such that all subjects have an equal chance of being assigned to any group or condition
Replication
Differing approaches to the manipulation and control of variables in empirical studies
Research methods
A tendency to respond to questions in a particular way that is unrelated to the content of the questions
Response set
The collection of subjects selected for observation in an empirical study
Sample
A problem that occurs that occurs when a sample is not representative of the population from which it is drawn
Sampling bias
A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself
Social desirability bias
An index of the amount of variability in a set of data
Standard deviation
The condition that exists when the probability that the observed findings are due to chance is very low
Statistical significance
The use of mathematics to organize, summarize, and interpret numerical data
Statistics
The persons or animals whose behavior is systematically observed in a study
Subjects
A descriptive research method in which researchers use questionnaires or interviews to gather information about specific aspects of subjects’ behavior
Survey
A system of interrelated ideas that is used to explain a set of observations
Theory
The extent to which the scores in a data set tend to very from each other ad from the mean
Variability
Any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviors that are controlled or observed in a study
Variables
