Chapter 2 Vocab Flashcards
hindsight bias
tendency to believe after learning an outcome that one would have forseen it
‘i knew it all along’
critical thinking
thinking that doesn’t blindly accept arguments and conclusions…
theory
an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events
hypothesis
a testable prediction often implied by a theory
operational definition
a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables.
i.e. a human intellignce may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures
replication
repeating the essence of a research study
usually with different participants in different situations to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances
case study
an observation techniqu in which one person is studied in depth in the hopes of revealing universal principles
survey
technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group
usually by questioning a rep., random sample of the group
population
all the cases in a group being studied
from which samples may be drawn
random sample
a sample that fairly represents a population b/c each member has an equal chance of inclusion
naturalistic observation
observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations w/out trying to manipulate and control the situation
correlation
measure of the extent to which 2 factors vary togthr, and thus of how wll either factor predicts the other
correlation coefficient
a statistical index of the relationship between two things
scatterplot
a graphed cluster of dots
each of which represents the values of 2 variables
the slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the 2 variables
the amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation
illusory correlation
perception of a relationship where none exists
experiment
research method in which an investigatory manipulates one+ factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process
random assignment
assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups
double-blind procedure
experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the resarch staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treament or a placebo
drug-evalution
placebo effect
experimental results caused by expectations alone;
any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inhert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent
experimental group
the group exposed to the treament (independent variable)
control group
group that is not exposed to the treament
and contrasts with the experimental groups and servse as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment
independent variable
experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied
confounding variable
factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment
dependent variable
the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable
