Chapter 2 Flashcards
Comparison Group
A group in an experiment whose levels on the independent variable differ from those of the treatment group in some intended and meaningful way. Also called comparison condition.
Confound
A general term for a potential alternative explanation for a research finding; a threat to internal validity.
Confederate
An actor who is directed by the researcher to play a specific role in a research study.
Probabilistic
Describing the empirical method, stating that science is intended to explain a certain proportion (but not necessarily all) of the possible cases.
Availability Heuristic
A bias in intuition, in which people incorrectly estimate the frequency of something, relying predominantly on instances that easily come to mind rather than using all possible evidence in evaluating a conclusion.
Present Bias
A bias in intuition, in which people incorrectly estimate the relationship between an event and its outcome, focusing on times the event and outcome are present, while failing to consider evidence that is absent and harder to notice.
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to consider only the evidence that supports a hypothesis, including asking only the questions that will lead to the expected answer.
Bias Blind Spot
The tendency for people to think that compared to others, they themselves are less likely to engage in biased reasoning.
Empirical Journal Article
A scholarly article that reports for the first time the results of a research study.
Review Journal Article
An article summarizing all the studies that have been published in one research area.
Effect Size
The magnitude, or strength, of a relationship between two or more variables.
Paywalled
Term referring to a peer-reviewed academic journal that the general public must pay to access; only people who are members of subscribing institutions can access the content.
Open Access
Term referring to a peer-reviewed academic journal that anyone, even the general public, can read without paying for access.
Disinformation
A news story, photo, or video deliberately created to be false or misleading.
Meta-Analysis
A way of mathematically averaging the effect sizes of all the studies that have tested the same variables to see what conclusion that whole body of evidence supports.
