Chapter 2

Question 1

People’s tendency after learning about a given outcome to be overconfident about whether they could have predicted that outcome.

Answer 1

hindsight bias

Question 2

A prediction about what will happen under particular circumstances.

Answer 2

hypothesis

Question 3

A set of related propositions intended to describe some phenomenon or aspect of the world.

Answer 3

theory

Question 4

Research that involves measuring two or more variables and assessing whether there is a relationship between them.

Answer 4

correlational research

Question 5

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.

Answer 5

experimental research

Question 6

A variable, often unmeasured in correlational research, that can be the true explanation for the relationship between two other variables.

Answer 6

third variable

Question 7

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.

Answer 7

self-selection

Question 8

A study conducted at different points in time with the same participants.

Answer 8

longitudinal study

Question 9

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.

Answer 9

independent variable

Question 10

In experimental research, the variable that is measured (as opposed to manipulated); it is hypothesized to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable.

Answer 10

dependent variable

Question 11

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.

Answer 11

control condition

Question 12

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.

Answer 12

random assignment

Question 13

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.

Answer 13

natural experiment

Question 14

How well the results of a study generalize to contexts outside the conditions of the laboratory.

Answer 14

external validity

Question 15

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.

Answer 15

field experiment

Question 16

In experimental research, confidence that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results.

Answer 16

internal validity

Question 17

The degree to which the particular way researchers measure a given variable is likely to yield consistent results.

Answer 17

reliability

Question 18

The correlation between a measure and some outcome the measure is supposed to predict.

Answer 18

measurement validity

Question 19

A measure of the probability that a given result could have occurred by chance.

Answer 19

statistical significance

Question 20

Reproduction of research results by the original investigator or by someone else.

Answer 20

replication

Question 21

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.

Answer 21

open science

Question 22

A committee that examines research proposals and makes judgments about the ethical appropriateness of the research.

Answer 22

institutional review board (IRB)

Question 23

A person’s signed agreement to participate in a procedure or research study after learning all of its relevant aspects.

Answer 23

informed consent

Question 24

Research in which the participants are misled about the purpose of the research or the meaning of something that is done to them.

Answer 24

deception research

Question 25

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.

Answer 25

debriefing

Question 26

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.

Answer 26

basic science

Question 27

Science or research concerned with solving important real-world problems.

Answer 27

applied science

Question 28

An effort to change a person’s behavior.

Answer 28

intervention