Psy15 Chapter 2: Methods of Social Psychology

Question 1

hindsight bias

Answer 1

People’s tendency to be overconfident about whether they could have predicted a given outcome.

Question 2

hypothesis

Answer 2

A prediction about what will happen under particular circumstances

Question 3

theory

Answer 3

A body of related propositions intended to describe some aspect of the world

Question 4

correlational research

Answer 4

Research that does not involve random assignment to different situations, or conditions, and that psychologists conduct just to see whether there is a relationship between variables

Question 5

experimental research

Answer 5

In social psychology, research that randomly assigns people to different conditions, or situations, and that enables researches to make strong inferences about how these different conditions affect people’s behavior

Question 6

reverse causation

Answer 6

When variable 1 is assumed to cause variable 2, yet the opposite direction of causation may be the case

Question 7

third variable

Answer 7

When variable 1 does not cause variable 2 and variable 2 does not cause variable 1, but rather some other variable exerts a causal influence on both

Question 8

self-selection

Answer 8

A problem that arises when the participant, rather than the investigator, selects his or her level on each variable, bringing with this value unknown other properties that make causal interpretation of a relationship difficult

Question 9

longitudinal study

Answer 9

A study conducted over a long period of time with the same population, which is periodically assessed regarding a particular behavior

Question 10

independent variable

Answer 10

In experimental research, the variable that is manipulated; it is hypothesized to be the cause of a particular outcome

Question 11

dependent variable

Answer 11

In experimental research, the variable that is measured (as opposed to manipulated); it is hypothesized to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable

Question 12

random assignment

Answer 12

Assigning participants in experimental research to different groups randomly, such that they are as likely to be assigned to one condition as to the other

Question 13

control condition

Answer 13

A condition comparable to the experimental condition in every way except that it lacks the one ingredient hypothesized to produced the expected effect on the dependent variable

Question 14

natural experiments

Answer 14

Naturally occurring events or phenomena having somewhat different conditions that can be compared with almost as much rigor as in experiments where the investigator manipulates the conditions

Question 15

external validity

Answer 15

An experimental setup that closely resembles real-life situations so that results can safely be generalized to such situations

Question 16

field experiment

Answer 16

An experiment set up in the real world, usually with participants who are not aware that they are in a study of any kind

Question 17

internal validity

Answer 17

In experimental research, confidence that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results

Question 18

debriefing

Answer 18

In preliminary versions of an experiment, asking participants straightforwardly if they understood the instructions, found the setup to be reasonable, and so forth. In later versions, debriefings are used to educate participants about the questions being studied

Question 19

reliability

Answer 19

The degree to which the particular way that researchers measure a given variable is likely to yield consistent results

Question 20

measurement validity

Answer 20

The correlation between some measure and some outcome that the measure is supposed to predict

Question 21

statistical significance

Answer 21

A measure of the probability that a given result could have occurred by chance

Question 22

basic science

Answer 22

Science concerned with trying to understand some phenomenon in its own right, with a view toward using that understanding to build valid theories about the nature of some aspect of the world

Question 23

applied science

Answer 23

Science concerned with solving some real-world problem of importance

Question 24

intervention

Answer 24

An effort to change people’s behavior

Question 25

institutional review board (IRB)

Answer 25

A university committee that examines research proposals and makes judgments about the ethical appropriateness of the research

Question 26

informed consent

Answer 26

Participants’ willingness to participate in a procedure or research study after learning all relevant aspects about the procedure or study

Question 27

deception research

Answer 27

Research in which the participants are misled about the purpose of the research or the meaning of something that is done to them