psychology as a science Flashcards
control group
group that has not been or will not be exposed to the independent variable.
correlation
predictable relationship between two or more variables.
correlation coefficient
statistic expressing the strength and nature of a relationship between two variables.
debriefing
the supplying of full information to participants at the end of their participation in a research study.
deductive reasoning
reasoning proceeding from broad basic principles applied to specific situations.
dependant variable
condition or event that you expect to change as a result of variations in the independent variable.
descriptive research methods
studies that allow researchers to demonstrate a relationship between the variables of interest, without specifying a causal relationship.
double blind procedure
study in which neither the participant nor the researcher knows what treatment or procedure the participant is receiving.
empiricial
group that is exposed to the independent variable.
Hawthorn effect
what happens when people who are being observed in studies or at their workplace improve or change some of their behaviour simply because they are being watched or studied, not in response to an experimental manipulation.
Hypothetico-deductive reasoning
process of modern science where scientists begin with an educated guess, perhaps based on previous research, about how the world works, and then set about designing small controlled observations to support or invalidate that hypothesis.
independent variable
condition or event that is thought to be a factor in changing another condition or event.
mean
arithmetic average of a set of scores.
inductive reasoning
reasoning process proceeding from small specific situations to more general truths.
informed consent
what occurs when researchers give as much information as possible about the purpose, procedures, risks, and benefits of the study so that a participant can make an informed decision about whether or not to participate.
naturalistic observation
a study in which researchers directly observe people in a study behaving as they normally do.
negative correlation
relationship in which, on average, scores on one variable increase as scores on another variable decrease.
operationalize
to develop a working definition of a variable that allows you to test it.
perfect correlation
one in which two variables are exactly related, such that low, medium, and high scores on both variables are always exactly related.
positive correlation
relationship in which, on average, scores on two variables increase together.
research ethics board (REB)
research oversight group that evaluates research to protect the rights of participants in the study.
standard deviation
statistical index of how much scores vary within a group.
variable
condition, event, or situation that is studied in an experiment.
ungrouped frequency distribution
the number of times that each of the unique scores occurs in a data set is calculated.
Frequency polygons
typically used to graphically represent grouped frequency distributions.
measures of central tendency
to summarize a collection of data with a single number that represents the entire data set
mean
it is equivalent to the (arithmetic) average of the data set.
median
represents the midpoint or middle in an ordered set of data
mode
which is the most frequently occurring score or observation
measures of variability.
provide some idea of a typical number in a set of data, they do not tell us anything about how different the numbers in a set of data are from one another
range
which is the difference between the largest and the smallest values in a data set.
deviation score
exam score minus the mean
variance
is the average of the squared deviation scores.
standard deviation
the square root of the variance
positively skewed
the average (or mean) for the distribution is considerably larger than the median value since the few extremely large salaries are included in the calculation of the mean.
positive or direct relationship
Positive values of the correlation coefficient (r > 0.00)
negative or inverse relationship
where the correlation coefficient is negative (i.e., r< 0.00)
coefficient of determination
indicates the degree to which values on one variable can be predicted by knowing the values of the other variable.
null hypothesis
the psychologist asserts that in the underlying population from which the sample was obtained, there is no difference between the average performance of individuals who might receive the drug and those who might not receive the drug
alternative hypothesis
would be that in the population from which the sample was obtained, the average performance on the memory test for individuals receiving the memory drug would be better than that for individuals not receiving the drug (in other words, asserting that the memory drug is effective).
