EXPE CHAPTER 7: THE BASICS OF EXPERIMENTATION Flashcards
the variable (antecedent condition) an experimenter intentionally manipulates.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLE (IV)
of an independent variable are the values of the IV created by the experimenter. An experiment requires at least two
LEVELS
when the value of an extraneous variable systematically changes along with the independent variable.
CONFOUNDED
specifies the exact meaning of a variable in an experiment by defining it in terms of observable operations, procedures, and measurements.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
the outcome measure the experimenter uses to assess the change in behavior produced by the independent variable.
depends on the value of the independent variable.
DEPENDENT VARIABLE
refers to the consistency of experimental operational definitions and measured operational definitions.
RELIABILITY
specifies the exact procedure for creating values of the independent variable.
EXPERIMENTAL OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
measures the magnitude of the dependent variable using ranks, but does not assign precise values.
ORDINAL SCALE
how accurately an operational definition represents a construct.
CONSTRUCT VALIDITY
means how accurately a measurement procedure predicts future performance.
PREDICTIVE VALIDITY
specifies the exact procedure for measuring the dependent variable.
MEASURED OPERATIONAL DEFINITION
assigns items to two or more distinct categories that can be named using a shared feature, but does not measure their magnitude.
NOMINAL SCALE
the degree to which observers agree in their measurement of the behavior.
INTERRATER RELIABILITY
measures the magnitude of the dependent variable using equal intervals between values with no absolute zero point.
INTERVAL SCALE
measures the magnitude of the dependent variable using equal intervals between values and an absolute zero.
RATIO SCALE
means the degree to which a person’s scores are consistent across two or more administrations of a measurement procedure.
TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY
measures the degree to which different parts of an instrument (questionnaire or test) that are designed to measure the same variable achieve consistent results.
INTERITEM RELIABILITY
means the operational definition accurately manipulates the independent variable or measures the dependent variable.
VALIDITY
the degree to which the validity of a manipulation or measurement technique is self-evident. This is the least stringent form of validity.
Face validity
produced when physical or psychological changes in the subject threaten internal validity by changing the DV.
MATURATION THREAT
means how accurately a measurement procedure samples the content of the dependent variable.
CONTENT VALIDITY
the degree to which changes in the dependent variable across treatment conditions were due to the independent variable.
INTERNAL VALIDITY
occurs when an event outside the experiment threatens internal validity by changing the dependent variable.
HISTORY THREAT
occurs when prior exposure to a measurement procedure affects performance on this measure during the experiment.
TESTING THREAT
when changes in the measurement instrument or measuring procedure threatens internal validity.
INSTRUMENTATION THREAT
threat occurs when subjects are assigned to conditions on the basis of extreme scores, the measurement procedure is not completely reliable, and subjects are retested using the same procedure to measure change on the dependent variable.
STATISTICAL REGRESSION
occurs when individual differences are not balanced across treatment conditions by the assignment procedure.
SELECTION THREAT
occurs when subjects drop out of experimental conditions at different rates.
SUBJECT MORTALITY THREAT
occur when a selection threat combines with at least one other threat (history, maturation, statistical regression, subject mortality, or testing).
SELECTION INTERACTIONS
describes the Participants, Apparatus or Materials, and Procedure of the experiment.
METHOD SECTION
when the equipment used in a study was unique or specialized, or when we need to explain the capabilities of more common equipment so that the reader can better evaluate or replicate the experiment.
APPARATUS SECTION
