Chapter 2 Flashcards
People’s tendency after learning about a given outcome to be overconfident about whether they could have predicted that outcome.
hindsight bias
A prediction about what will happen under particular circumstances.
hypothesis
A set of related propositions intended to describe some phenomenon or aspect of the world.
theory
Research that involves measuring two or more variables and assessing whether there is a relationship between them.
correlational research
In social psychology, research that randomly assigns people to different conditions, or situations, enabling researchers to make strong inferences about why a relationship exists or how different situations affect behavior.
experimental research
A variable, often unmeasured in correlational research, that can be the true explanation for the relationship between two other variables.
third variable
In correlational research, the situation in which the participant, rather than the researcher, determines the participant’s level of each variable (for example, how many hours per day they spend playing video games or whether or not they are married), thereby creating the problem that unknown other properties might be responsible for the observed relationship.
self-selection
A study conducted at different points in time with the same participants.
longitudinal study
In correlational research, this variable is measured. In experimental research, this variable is manipulated; it is hypothesized to be the cause of a particular outcome.
independent variable
In experimental research, the variable that is measured (as opposed to manipulated); it is hypothesized to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable.
dependent variable
A condition comparable to the experimental condition in every way except that it lacks the one ingredient hypothesized to produce the expected effect on the dependent variable.
control condition
Assigning participants in experimental research to different conditions randomly, so they are as likely to be assigned to one condition as to another, with the effect of making the types of people in the different conditions roughly equal.
random assignment
A naturally occurring event or phenomenon with somewhat different conditions (e.g., before versus after) that can be compared with almost as much rigor as conditions manipulated by the investigator in an experiment.
natural experiment
How well the results of a study generalize to contexts outside the conditions of the laboratory.
external validity
An experiment conducted in the real world (not a lab), usually with participants who are not aware that they are in a study of any kind.
field experiment
In experimental research, confidence that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results.
internal validity
The degree to which the particular way researchers measure a given variable is likely to yield consistent results.
reliability
The correlation between a measure and some outcome the measure is supposed to predict.
measurement validity
A measure of the probability that a given result could have occurred by chance.
statistical significance
Reproduction of research results by the original investigator or by someone else.
replication
Practices such as sharing data and research materials with anyone in the broader scientific community in an effort to increase the integrity and replicability of scientific research.
open science
A committee that examines research proposals and makes judgments about the ethical appropriateness of the research.
institutional review board (IRB)
A person’s signed agreement to participate in a procedure or research study after learning all of its relevant aspects.
informed consent
Research in which the participants are misled about the purpose of the research or the meaning of something that is done to them.
deception research
In preliminary versions of an experiment, asking participants directly if they understood the instructions, found the setup to be reasonable, and so on. After an experiment, debriefing is used to educate participants about the questions being studied.
debriefing
Science or research concerned with trying to understand some phenomenon in its own right, with a view toward using that understanding to build valid theories about the nature of some aspect of the world.
basic science
Science or research concerned with solving important real-world problems.
applied science
An effort to change a person’s behavior.
intervention
