RM Exam 2 Flashcards
What is an independent variable?
A stimulus or aspect of the environment that the experimenter directly manipulates to determine it’s influences on behavior. (“Cause” of cause/effect)
What is a dependent variable?
A response or behavior that the experimenter measures. Changes in the DV should be cause by manipulation of the IV. (“Effect” of cause/effect)
What is an extraneous variable?
Undesired variables that may operate to influence the DV and thus invalidate an experiment.
What does it mean for a hypothesis to be in “general implication form?”
It’s when the hypothesis is phrased like an if, then statement.
What is a directional hypothesis?
When there is a prediction of a specific outcome of an experiment.
What is a nondirectional hypothesis?
When a hypothesis does not have a specific prediction
What are the methods we use to “control” for extraneous variables?
Randomization, elimination, constancy, and counterbalancing
What is randomization?
A control technique that ensures that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any group in an experiment.
What is elimination?
A control technique in which an extraneous variable is completely removed from an experiment.
What is constancy?
A control technique in which an extraneous variable is reduced to a single value that is experienced by all participants
What is counterbalancing?
A procedure for controlling order effects by presenting different treatment sequences
What is within-subject counterbalancing?
Presentation of different treatment sequences to the same participant
What is within-group counterbalancing?
Presentation of different treatment sequences to different participants
Why does having more participants in a study give more accurate results?
Because it eliminates the possibility of “extreme scorers” influencing the score a bit
How does one reduce experimenter effects on a study?
By standardizing methods, appearance, and attitude of the experimenter. You can also use single/double-blind studies.
What is a single-blind experiment?
An experiment where either the experimenter or participants are unaware of the treatment the participants are receiving.
What is a double-blind experiment?
An experiment where neither the experiment nor the participants know what treatment the participants are getting.
What are demand characteristics?
Features of the experiment that inadvertantly lead participants to respond in a particular manner.
What is the good participant effect?
The tendency of participants to behave as they perceive the experimenter wants them to behave.
What is the rosenthal effect?
When the experimenter’s preconceived idea of appropriate responding influences the treatment of participants and their behavior
What is internal validity?
It’s when you consider whether the IV is the only possible explanation for your DV.
What is history? (The threat to internal validity)
Refers to events that occur between the DV measurements in a repeated-measures design
What is maturation?
Refers to changes in participants that occur over time during an experiment; could include actual physical maturation or tiredness, boredom, hunger, and so on
What is practice effect?
A positive effect that occurs when measuring the DV causes a change in the DV (because of practice)
What are reactive measures?
DV measures that actually change the DV being measured
What is instrumentation?
Occurs if the equipment or human measuring the DV changes the measuring criterion over time.
What is statistical regression?
Occurs when low scorers improve or high scorers fail on a second administration of a test solely as a result of statistical reasons
What is selection?
Occurs if participants are chosen in such a way that the groups are not equal before the experiment
What is mortality?
Occurs if experimental participants from different groups drop out of the experiment at different rates
What is external validity?
Examines if the experimental results are generalizable to a wider audience
What is population generalization?
Applying the results from an experiment to a group of participants that is different and more encompassing than those used in the original experiment
What is enviormental generalization?
Applying the results from an experiment to a situation or environment that differs from the original experiment
What is temporal generalization?
Applying the results from an experiment to a time that is different from the time when the original experiment was conducted.
What is interaction of testing and treatment?
Occurs when a pretest sensitizes participants the treatment yet to come
What is interaction of selection and treatment?
Occurs when a treatment effect is found only for A specific sample of participants
What is convenience sampling?
A researcher’s sampling of participants based on ease of locating the participants; often it does not involve true random selection
What is statistics?
The branch of mathematics that involves the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data
What is descriptive statistics?
Procedures used to summarize a set of data
What is inferential statistics?
Procedures used to analyze data after an experiment is completed in order to determine whether the IV has a significant effect.
