Chapter 2: Psychological Research

Question 1

hindsight bias

Answer 1

tendency to believe we should have forseen an outcome after we learn what happened
- gives a sense a control

Question 2

overconfidence

Answer 2

tend to think we know more more than we do

Question 3

apophenia

Answer 3

perception that unrelated events are related
- gamblers believe they have a system to beat the house

Question 4

pareidolia

Answer 4

perception of significant patterns/images
- ex: seeing faces in inanimate objects

Question 5

empirical

Answer 5

based on systematic observations

Question 6

what are the goals of psych?

Answer 6

to describe, explain, predict, influence mental processes/behaviors

Question 7

deductive reasoning

Answer 7

begins w/ hypothesis and is then used to reach logical conclusions abour real world
(start w/ hypo, end with conclusion)

Question 8

inductive reasoning

Answer 8

empirical observations lead to new ideas (conclusion may not be right)
(start w/ conclusion, end w/ hypo)

Question 9

theory

Answer 9

set of statements used to describe a phenomenon, suggests future research
- used to provide a model for understanding human thoughts/emotions /behs

Question 10

hypothesis

Answer 10

testable prediction; implied by theory

Question 11

falsifiable

Answer 11

capable of being shown to be incorrect
(denial)

Question 12

case/clinical study

Answer 12

in depth study of one person/small group
- (rare: like alien-limb syndrome)

Question 13

generalizing

Answer 13

ability to apply findings of a research project to larger groups

Question 14

naturalistic observation

Answer 14

observing people in natural environments

Question 15

hawthorne effect

Answer 15

people m ay change their beh simply because they know their being observed

Question 16

observer bias

Answer 16

observers closely involved in research project; may unconsicously skew observations to fit expectations

Question 17

inter-rater reliability

Answer 17

access consistency of observation by diff. observers
- need to verify diff. observers are recording same data

Question 18

survey research

Answer 18

answering questions

Question 19

wording effects

Answer 19

questions should be written in a way where theyre clear/concise

Question 20

sampling effects

Answer 20

dont just apply surveys (anytime we do research)

Question 21

population

Answer 21

everyone in group being studied

Question 22

sample

Answer 22

subset of population (specific group)

Question 23

representative sample

Answer 23

has the same characteristics as the population as a whole
- has to have the same ratio of men-woman/same demographics

Question 24

random assignment

Answer 24

random

Question 25

convenience sample

Answer 25

people who happen to be on hand

Question 26

archival research

Answer 26

use of existing records, newspapers, diaries, etc...

Question 27

longitudinal designs

Answer 27

study same group of participants for an extended period of time -benefits: individual/developmental trends -downfalls: long time to run/costly/attrition

Question 28

attrion

Answer 28

loss of participants over time

Question 29

cross-sectional designs

Answer 29

compare several age groups to eavh other -benefits: cost/time/developmental trends/limited dropouts -downfalls: no indivual trends/cohort effects

Question 30

cohort effects

Answer 30

changes in results dur to when someone is born/not developmental process

Question 31

sequential designs

Answer 31

study people of diff. ages over a extended period of time -combination of longitudinal/cross-sectional design

Question 32

correlation research

Answer 32

measure of the xtent to which 2 factors vary together -enables prediction of one from the other

Question 33

correlation

Answer 33

a relationship among 2 or more variables

Question 34

correlation coefficient

Answer 34

from -1 to 1 that indicates strength/direction of relationship b/w variables

Question 35

negative correlation

Answer 35

closer to 0 (weaker) - variables change in opp directions

Question 36

positive correlation

Answer 36

closer to -1/1 - variables change in same direction

Question 37

correlation doesnt indicate...

Answer 37

causation

Question 38

confounding variable

Answer 38

something othet than variable of interest cuases changes

Question 39

illusory correlations

Answer 39

ppl. believe that relationships exist between 2 things when no such relationship exists - ex: moon effects beh

Question 40

confirmation bias

Answer 40

we accept evidence that fits out belief and ignore that which diesnt

Question 41

experimental method

Answer 41

manipulating one variabke ti determine if changes to one variable will change another

Question 42

independet variable

Answer 42

variable thats manipulatede ex: IV = drug/DV: effects on depression

Question 43

dependent variable

Answer 43

shows any effects of the manipulation of the IV ex: IV = drug/DV: effects on depression

Question 44

operational definition

Answer 44

descrbes diff. varibales and how they are measured

Question 45

replicaion

Answer 45

repetition of a resaerch study (diff. situations/subjects) to determine of basic findings can be generalized

Question 46

experimental groups

Answer 46

expoed to IV

Question 47

control group

Answer 47

not exposed to IV - need a control group to see whatg happens to people over time

Question 48

random assignment

Answer 48

random assignmen t of people to groups by chance

Question 49

confounding variables

Answer 49

anything other than the IV that cuases chnaged in the DV

Question 50

placebo effect

Answer 50

changes in results cuased by expectations (not IV)

Question 51

double-blind study

Answer 51

neither participanmts/experimenter know which group participants are in

Question 52

single-blind study

Answer 52

participants dont know, but researcher does

Question 53

principles

Answer 53

not specific findings that help exlain everyday beh

Question 54

reliability

Answer 54

measure gives consistne tresultsl

Question 55

validity

Answer 55

meaures meaure what it cklaims to measure

Question 56

informed consent

Answer 56

told enought to decide if they want to participate

Question 57

consetn forms

Answer 57

documented written consent

Question 58

deception

Answer 58

participants are misled about purp;ose; aims of research

Question 59

debreifing

Answer 59

at end of study/ review experiemtt/ answer questions

Question 60

confidentiality

Answer 60

essential part of ethical psych research

Question 61

institutional research board

Answer 61

reviews proposals for research that involves human participants