Chapter 5: Introduction to Experimental Research Flashcards
What are the 4 types of variables?
dependent, independent, subject, extraneous
independent variables are..
manipulated by the experimenter
dependent variables are..
measured behaviours
extraneous variables are..
held constant
subject variables are..
preexisting participant characteristics
cannot assume causality from subject variables
What are the 3 types of independent variables?
situational, task, instructional
What is a confounder?
uncontrolled extraneous variable that covaries with the independent variable and could provide an alternative explanation for the results
What is a ceiling effect?
when the average group scores are so high that no difference can be determined between conditions
what is a floor effect?
when all the scores are extremely low and no difference can be determined between conditions
statistical conclusion vailidity is…
the extent to which the researcher uses statistics properly and draws the appropriate conclusions from them
external validity is..
whether research findings generalise beyond the experimental context
construct validity is..
the adequacy of operational definitions for both the independent and the dependent variables
ecological validity is..
Whether research findings generalise from artificial to natural environments
internal validity is…
the degree to which an experiment is methodologically sound and confound-free
Name some threats to internal validity
- history
- attrition
- maturation
- abscence of control groups
- comparisons between nonequivalent groups
- regression to the mean
- practice effects
- subject selection effects
- instrumentation
