Pyschology Chapter 1

Question 1

any action that can be directly observed (e.g., walking, talking, crying, or smiling).

Answer 1

behavior

Question 2

a distribution of scores that has two modes.

Answer 2

bimodal distribution

Question 3

an experiment that tests whether a clinical treatment (e.g., a specific form of psychotherapy) is effective.

Answer 3

clinical outcome study

Question 4

a commonly used method for calculating effect size.

Answer 4

Cohen’s d

Question 5

anything that causes confusion in terms of what the results of a study might mean.

Answer 5

confound

Question 6

a variable held constant across all conditions of an experiment so as not to influence its results.

Answer 6

control variable

Question 7

choosing a sample based on convenience

Answer 7

convenience sampling

Question 8

a relationship between two variables.

Answer 8

correlation

Question 9

a measure of how precisely one variable (e.g., X) can be predicted when all that is known is another variable (e.g., X).

Answer 9

correlation search

Question 10

a research design that attempts to determine whether two or more variables are related to each other.

Answer 10

correlational research

Question 11

any aspect of a study that clues participants to how they are expected to think, feel, or behave.

Answer 11

demand characteristics

Question 12

the variable that is measure in an experimental design; hypothesized to be affected by the independent variable.

Answer 12

dependent variable

Question 13

a research design most commonly used in psychology to describe a population of people (or animals depending on the type of research) in terms of a variable.

Answer 13

descriptive research

Question 14

the difference between an individual’s score and the mean

Answer 14

deviations

Question 15

This type of experiment contains two major protections against confounds: (1) a placebo-control experimental condition and (2) procedures that make participants and experimenters “blind” to which experimental condition participants are assigned.

Answer 15

double-blind placebo-control experiment

Question 16

How strongly the experimental manipulation affected the dependent variable in an experiment

Answer 16

effect size

Question 17

How strongly the experimental manipulation affected the dependent variable in an experiment

Answer 17

experimental condition

Question 18

occurs when experimenters’ expectations influence study results

Answer 18

experimenter bias

Question 19

the belief in something regardless of what the objective evidence suggests.

Answer 19

faith

Question 20

a graph showing how many people in a sample reported each possible value of a variable.

Answer 20

frequency plot

Question 21

a factual statement that can be objectively tested.

Answer 21

hypothesis

Question 22

the variable that is manipulated or changed in an experimental design; is hypothesized the change the dependent variable

Answer 22

independent variable

Question 23

changing an independent variable to determine whether doing so causes something to happen to the dependent variable.

Answer 23

manipulation

Question 24

the average score in a set of data

Answer 24

mean

Question 25

mean, median, and mode; measurements that help to describe what is typical.

Answer 25

measure of central tendency

Question 26

range and standard deviation; measure how much the scores within a distribution vary from one another

Answer 26

central

Question 27

the middle occurring score(s) in a set of data when all scores are placed in order from smallest to greatest.

Answer 27

median

Question 28

psychological phenomena that cannot be directly observed (e.g., happiness, sadness, or confusion).

Answer 28

mental processes

Question 29

the most commonly occurring score in a data set.

Answer 29

mode

Question 30

an analysis that tests how strongly one variable is predicted by two or more other variables simultaneously

Answer 30

multiple-regression analysis

Question 31

when one variable decreases as the other variable increases, or conversely, when one variable increases as the other variable decreases.

Answer 31

negative correlation

Question 32

when more subjects in a distribution report values above the mean than below it; the “hump” or peak in the distribution is on the right side and the “tail” is pointed toward the left.

Answer 32

negatively skewed

Question 33

a distribution of data that is not significantly skewed, where most scores are near the mean of the sample.

Answer 33

normal distribution or bell curve

Question 34

description of how a variable will be treated or measured in a study.

Answer 34

operational definition

Question 35

a data point (or points) that is much bigger or smaller than the others in a set.

Answer 35

outlier

Question 36

not allowing participants to know what experimental condition they are in.

Answer 36

participant blinding

Question 37

a number frequently used by psychologists to describe a correlation between two variables; is positive if correlation is positive, and negative if correlation is negative. The strength of the correlation is determined by the size of the number, ignoring the sign.

Answer 37

Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient

Question 38

something given or done to participants that is not expected to affect participants in the same way as the experimental treatment (e.g., a sugar pill versus an experimental depression medication).

Answer 38

placebo

Question 39

the common phenomenon where if you think that something will have an effect on you, you actually experience that effect.

Answer 39

placebo effect

Question 40

experimental condition in which participants receive a placebo treatment.

Answer 40

placebo-control condition

Question 41

when one variable increases as the other variable increases, or conversely, when one variable decreases as the other variable decreases.

Answer 41

positive correlation

Question 42

when more subjects in a distribution report values below the mean than above it; the “hump” or peak in the distribution is on the left side and the “tail” is pointed toward the right.

Answer 42

positively skewed

Question 43

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Answer 43

Psychology

Question 44

putting participants into experimental groups in a random fashion.

Answer 44

Random assignment

Question 45

selecting a sample from a population at random; ensures that everyone in the population has an equal chance of being in the sample, thus making the sample representative of the population.

Answer 45

random sampling

Question 46

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a sample of data.

Answer 46

Range

Question 47

when one study finds the same or similar results as another previously conducted study.

Answer 47

Replicated

Question 48

An empirical way of testing a hypothesis (e.g., descriptive, correlational, and experimental).

Answer 48

Research designs

Question 49

a representative portion or slice of a population

Answer 49

Sample

Question 50

scatterplot a plot that depicts each data point in terms of its values on two variables (e.g., X and Y). Useful way of depicting a correlation between two variables

Answer 50

scatterplot

Question 51

a way of learning about the world by formulating testable ideas and then making objective observations (i.e., collect data) to determine which ideas are tenable.

Answer 51

science

Question 52

An experiment that includes only the placebo-control condition and participant blinding; vulnerable to experimenter bias.

Answer 52

single - blind placebo - control experiment

Question 53

this describes a correlation that occurs only because both variables are being similarly influenced by a third variable.

Answer 53

spurious

Question 54

a measure of variability; the square root of the variance.

Answer 54

Standard deviation

Question 55

characteristics and experiences that participants bring with them to experiments (i.e., they are preexisting).

Answer 55

Subject factors

Question 56

a scientific explanation of a phenomenon; should contain statements that (1) have already been tested and verified by previous research or (2) are able to be tested for accuracy in future research

Answer 56

theory

Question 57

Occurs when a variable that is not being studied causes similar change to two variables being studies. This creates what is called a spurious correlation between the two variables (i.e., they are correlated only because they are both being similarly affected by another variable).

Answer 57

third variable explanation

Question 58

experimental condition in which participants receive whatever experimental treatment is being tested.

Answer 58

treatment condition

Question 59

anything that can differ in value.

Answer 59

Variable

Question 60

a measure of variability; calculated by dividing the sum of squared deviations by the number of scores in a data set minus one.

Answer 60

variance

Question 61

when two variables are not related to each other.

Answer 61

Zero correlation