R Flashcards
-assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups.
random assignment
a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.
random sample
the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
range
defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions
rationalization
defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.
reaction formation
a measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier, as on a fill-in-the-blank test.
recall
the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors
reciprocal determinism
a measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned, as on a multiple-choice test.
recognition
a simple, automatic, inborn response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee-jerk response.
reflex
a resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm
refractory period
defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated.
regression
the tendency for extremes of unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward the average
regression toward the mean
the conscious repetition of information, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage.
rehearsal
in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
reinforcer
the perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself.
relative deprivation
