Key definitions Flashcards
What is an independent variable?
The variable we manipulate or change.
What is a dependent variable?
The variable we measure.
What is extraneous variable?
Any variable other than the IV that could affect the DV.
What is confounding variable?
Any variable other than the IV that has affected the DV.
What is standardisation?
The process of keeping extraneous variable the same across experimental conditions.
What is operationalisation?
Making variable measurable so they can be tested scientifically.
What is randomisation?
Using chance in order to control for the effects of bias when designing materials or deciding the order of conditions.
What is order effects?
This refers to how the positioning of task influences performances on that task.
What is Participant variable?
-Any characteristic or aspect of a participant’s background that could affect study results, even though it’s not the focus of an experiment.
What is demand characteristics?
Where participants guess the aim of the study causing them to change their behaviour.
What is counterbalancing?
Where half the participants complete the conditions in one order(A then B) and the other half complete the conditions in the other order(B then A)
What is Qualitative date?
-Data that can be expressed in words.
What is Quantitative date?
-Data that can be counted.
What is Deception?
Where participants are lied to or mislead about the true aims of a study.
What is Debrief?
Where the true aims of a study are explained to participants after the study is conducted.
What is Validity?
How accurate the data is.
What is Ecological validity?
The extent to which psychologists can apply their findings to other settings predominantly to everyday life.
What is Temporal Validity?
-The extent to which psychologists can apply their findings to across periods of time.
What is Face Validity?
A measure of whether a test measures what it intends to measure.
What is concurrent validity?
A measure where the performance of the test in question is compared to a test that is already recognised and trusted within the same field.
What is reliability?
How consistent the date is.
What is objectivity?
Not being biased and so not letting personal opinion get in the way.
What is falsifiability?
The ability to prove something wrong.
What is paradigms?
-A set of beliefs that the majority agree are correct.
What is pilot studies?
A small scale trial run conducted before the study.
What is social desirability bias?
The tendency to underreport socially undesirable attitudes and behaviours and to over report more desirable attributes to be seen in a move positive light.
What is the investigator effects?
The unwanted influences that the investigator communicates to the participants which affects their behaviour.
What is conformation bias?
The tendency to seek out and prefer information that supports our pre-existing beliefs.
What is single blind procedures?
When the participants do not know if they are in the experimental condition or the control condition but the research does.
What is double blind procedures?
When neither the participants or the researcher know if they are in the experimental condition or the control condition.
