research methods Flashcards
Confounding Variables
An extra variable that you didnt account for (age).
occurs when two variables are associated in such a way that their effects on a response variable cannot be distinguished from each other.
Counterbalancing
A method of controlling for order effects in a repeated measure design by either including all orders of treatment or by randomly determining the order for each subject.
Obscuring Variables
They are factors which make changes in the dependant variable hard to observe( prevent you from seeing the independent and dependent variable relationships) and also cause increased measurement error and more noise in the data.
A) Individual differences
B) the external situation
C) ineffective manipulation
D) measurement issiues
Reversibility
Once taught (a skill to a child), he is permanently changed and cannot be changed back or taught agin.
Control Group
In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.
control variable
We control what we can, and what we don’t control, we ramdomize
The independent group design
different groups of participants (at random) are placed into different levels of the independent variable. We treat all subjects identically .
within-subjects design
There are no treatment groups. Each subject is confronted with all values of the independent variable.
(Challenges contain reversibility, carryover effects and participants dropout)
carryover effects
occur when participants’ experience in one condition affects their behavior in another condition of a study
(Positive effects: memory, practice and motivation effects )
(Negative effects: boredom and fatigue effects)
matched-subjects design
Each individual in one sample is matched with an individual in the other sample. the matching is done so that the two individuals are equivalent (or nearly equivalent) with respect to a specific variable that the researcher would like to control.
randomized block design
Divide subjects with similar characteristics into blocks, and then within each block, randomly assign subjects to treatment groups.
nonsignificant/null finding
Null means nothing due to manipulation not doing anything
manipulation check
In an experiment, an extra dependent variable researchers can include to determine how well an experimental manipulation worked.
Such as motivation, anxiety, stress and messines
ceiling and floor effects
Measurement problem whereby the researcher cannot measure the effects of an independent variable or a possible interaction effect because performance has reached a maximum (or minimum) in any condition of the experiment.
individual differences
variations among people in their thinking, emotion, personality, and behavior.
