Psych 209: Chapter 6 Vocab

Question 1

Between-Subjects Design

Answer 1

Any experimental design in which different groups of participants serve in the different conditions of the study

Question 2

Within-Subjects Design (Repeated-Measures Design)

Answer 2

Any experimental design in which the same participants serve in each of the different conditions of the study

Question 3

Equivalent Groups

Answer 3

Groups of participants in a between-subjects design that are essentially equal to each other in all ways except for the different levels of the independent variable

Question 4

Random Assignment

Answer 4

The most common procedure for creating equivalent groups in a between-subjects design

Each individual volunteering for the study has an equal probability of being assigned to any one of the groups in the study

Question 5

Block Randomization

Answer 5

A procedure used to accomplish random assignment and ensure an equal number of participants in each condition

Ensures that each condition of the study has a subject randomly assigned to it before any condition has a subject assigned to it again

Also used in within-subject designs as a counterbalancing procedure to ensure that when participants are tested in each condition more than once, they experience each condition once before experiencing it again

Question 6

Matching

Answer 6

A procedure for creating equivalent groups in which participants are measured on some factor ( a matching variable) expected to correlate with the dependent variable

groups are then formed by taking participants who score at the same level on the matching variable and randomly assigning them to groups

Question 7

Matching Variable

Answer 7

Any variable selected for matching participants in a matched groups study

Question 8

Psychophysics

Answer 8

One of experimental psychology’s original areas of research

investigates the relationship between physical stimuli and the perception of those stimuli

Studies thresholds

Question 9

Sequence (order) Effect

Answer 9

Can occur in a within-subjects design when the experience of participating in one of the conditions of the study influences performance in subsequent conditions

Question 10

Progressive Effects

Answer 10

In a within-subjects design any sequence effect in which the accumulated effects are assumed to be the same from trial to trial

Question 11

Carryover Effects

Answer 11

Form of sequence effect in which systematic changes in performance occur as a result of completing one sequence of conditions rather than a different sequence.

Question 12

Counterbalancing

Answer 12

For a within-subjects variable, any procedure designed to control for sequence effects

Question 13

Complete Counterbalancing

Answer 13

Occurs when all possible orders of conditions are used in a within-subjects design

Question 14

Partial Counterbalancing

Answer 14

Occurs when a subset of all possible orders of conditions is used in a within-subjects design

Question 15

Latin Square

Answer 15

Form of partial counterbalancing in which each condition of the study occurs equally often in each sequential position and each condition precedes and follows each other condition exactly one time

Question 16

Reverse Counterbalancing

Answer 16

Occurs in a within-subjects design when participants are tested more than once per condition

subjects experience one sequence and then a second with the order reversed from the first

Question 17

Cross-Sectional Study

Answer 17

In developmental psychology, a design in which age is the independent variable and different groups of people are tested; each group is a different age

Question 18

Longitudinal Study

Answer 18

In developmental psychology, a design in which age is the independent variable and the same group of people are tested repeatedly at different ages

Question 19

Cohort Effects

Answer 19

A cohort is a group of people born at about the same time

cohort effects can reduce the internal validity of cross-sectional studies because differences between groups could result from the effects of growing up in different historical eras

Question 20

Cohort Sequential Design

Answer 20

In developmental psychology research, a design that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal designs

a new cohort is added to a study every few years, and than studied periodically throughout the time course of the study

Question 21

Experimenter Bias

Answer 21

Occurs when the experiment’s expectations about a study affect its outcome

Question 22

Protocols

Answer 22

A detailed description of the sequence of events in a research session

used by an experimenter to ensure uniformity of treatment of research participants

Question 23

Double Blind

Answer 23

A control procedure designed to reduce bias

neither the participant nor the person conducting the experimental session knows which condition of the study is being tested

often used in studies evaluating drug effects

Question 24

Participant Bias

Answer 24

Can occur when the bahvior of participants is influenced by their beliefs about how they are supposed to behave in a study

Question 25

Hawthrone Effect

Answer 25

Name often given to form a participant bias in which behavior is influenced by the mere knowledge that the participant is in an experiment and is therefore of some importance to the experimenter

Question 26

Good Subject

Answer 26

A form of participant bias in which participants try to guess the experimenter’s hypothesis and then behave in such a way as to confirm it

Question 27

Demand Characteristics

Answer 27

Any feature of the experimental design or procedure that increases the chances that participants will detect the true purpose of the study

Question 28

Evaluation Apprehension

Answer 28

A form of anxiety experienced by participants that leads them to behave so as to be evaluated positively by the experimenter

Question 29

Manipulation Check

Answer 29

In debriefing, a procedure to determine if subject were aware of a deception experiment’s true purpose

also refers to any procedure that determines if systematic manipulations have the intended effect on participants