Chapter 2

Question 1

Empiricism

Answer 1

belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation; essential element in scientific method

Question 1

scientific method

Answer 1

set of principles about the appropriate relationship between ideas using empirical evidence

Question 2

Dogmatism

Answer 2

description of the tendency to cling to ones beliefs

Question 3

Theory

Answer 3

explanation of a natural phenomenon; cannot be proved

Question 4

hypothesis

Answer 4

falsifiable prediction made by a theory

Question 5

Operational definition

Answer 5

description of property in measurable terms

Question 6

What is a key feature of a good operational definition?

Answer 6

Construct validity

Question 7

Construct validity

Answer 7

extent to which the thing being measured adequately characterizes the property

Question 8

What are the key features of a good detector

Answer 8

reliability and power

Question 9

Reliability

Answer 9

tendency for a measure to produce the same measurement whenever its used to measure the same thing

Question 10

power

Answer 10

ability of a measure to detect conditions specified in the operational definition

Question 11

What to do when measuring a property

Answer 11

must define or generate an operational definition and detect the property

Question 12

Construct Validity

Answer 12

does the measurement relate to the property measured

Question 13

Internal validity

Answer 13

does the independent variable affect the dependent variable

Question 14

External validity

Answer 14

does the study generalize to the real world

Question 15

demand characteristics

Answer 15

aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think someone else wants/expects (makes it hard to measure behaviour)

Question 16

naturalistic observation

Answer 16

technique for gathering scientific info by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments
ex: jane goodall

Question 17

Cons for naturalistic observation

Answer 17

some events dont occur naturally
some events can only be observed through direct interaction
observer bias can occur

Question 18

illusory correlation

Answer 18

spurious or non-existent relationship between two or more variables
- comes from confimation bias

Question 19

confirmation bias

Answer 19

ignoring evidence that does not support your hypothesis and paying attention only to evidence that does support your hypothesis

Question 20

what are some techniques for avoiding demand characterstics

Answer 20

privacy
control
unawareness

Question 21

observer bias

Answer 21

tendency for observers expectations to influence what they believe they observed and what they actually observed

Question 22

why does observer bias occur

Answer 22

expectations can influence observations and reality
can be avoided through double blind studies

Question 23

population

Answer 23

complete collections of people

Question 24

sample

Answer 24

partial collection of people drawn from a population a sample needs to accurately reflect the population

Question 25

how do psychologists analyze data

Answer 25

graphic representations descriptive stats

Question 26

random sampling

Answer 26

everyone has an equal likelihood of participating in a study

Question 27

stratified sampling

Answer 27

researchers divide subjects into subgroups called strata based on characteristics that they share ex: 40% humanities, 40% sciences, 20% other

Question 28

what causes sampling bias

Answer 28

convenience sampling

Question 29

random assignment (experimental or quasi-experimental designs)

Answer 29

assigns people randomly to different groups

Question 30

correlation

Answer 30

relationship between variables in which variations in the value of one variable are synchronized with variations in the value of the other

Question 31

pearsons correlation

Answer 31

measures the strength of the linear relationship between two variables. R^2= pearsons correlation of determination

Question 32

correlation direction

Answer 32

positive (more is more) or negative (less is less)

Question 33

correlation strength

Answer 33

has a limited range and r ranges, closer to 1 the stronger the correlation

Question 34

R ranges

Answer 34

-1 perfect negative correlation +1 perfect positive correlation 0 no correlation

Question 35

correlation coefficient

Answer 35

measure of the direction and strength of a correlation

Question 36

natural correlations

Answer 36

correlations observed in the world around us

Question 37

third variable problem

Answer 37

natural correlation between 2 variables cannot be taken as evidence of a casual relationship between them since a third variable could be causing both

Question 38

natural observation-validity

Answer 38

high external validity low internal validity

Question 39

correlational studies

Answer 39

both descriptive and inferential quantifying both variables low internal validity

Question 40

case studies

Answer 40

trades breadth for depth existence proofs low external validity

Question 41

experimental design

Answer 41

only way to determine causation requires a propria hypothesis testing controlled variable

Question 42

what does experimentation allow for

Answer 42

the establishment of causal relationship between variables through manipulation, measuring and comparing

Question 43

what are the three steps of experimentation

Answer 43

manipulate: manipulate independent variable, create at least 2 conditions measure: measure independent variable compare: compare measurements of conditions with eachother