Unit 1: Scientific Foundations of Psychology (Experimental Design and Statistics)

Question 1

Correlation

Answer 1

the measure of the extent to which 2 variables change together, and thus of how well either variable predicts the other.

Indicated by the correlation coefficient of two variables (r-value)

Question 2

Illusory Correlation

Answer 2

the appearance of a relationship between 2 cariables when one does not actually exist.

Can happen when people only acknowledge confirming evidence

connection to confirmation bias

Question 3

Correlation Coefficient

r-value

Answer 3

the statistical index of the correlation between 2 variables.

Correlation does not prove causation

Question 4

Experimental Method

LIst basic steps

Answer 4

1. Hypothesis
2. Experiment design - establish an operational definition
3. Pick a population/experimental group
4. Conduct experiment: manipulate independent variable and measure effects on the dependent variable
5. Debrief participants if necessary

Question 5

Population

Answer 5

all those in a group being studied, from which samples are drawn.

Question 6

Random Sampling

Answer 6

Randomly choosing members of a population so that each sample has an equal probability of being chosen.

Ensures that an experiment is generalizable to the public.

The sample fairly represents the population.

Question 7

Sampling Bias

Answer 7

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample.

Question 8

Hindsight Bias

Answer 8

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have forseen it (the i-knew-this-would-happen phenomenon)

Question 9

Sample

Answer 9

Sampling is the process of selecting a representative group from the population under study.

A sample is said representative group

Question 10

Experimental Group

Answer 10

group that recieves/is effected by the independent variable.

Question 11

Control Group

Answer 11

all other variables are the same (at a base line), accept the independent variable

The standard to which comparisions with the experimental group are made.

Question 12

Random Assignment

Answer 12

after random sampling experiments randomly assign people to the experiemental or control group to minimize the effect of preexisting differences.

minimizes the effect of confounding variables

Question 13

Confounding Variable

Answer 13

any variable, aside from the IV that might affect the dependent variable

Random assignment helps minimize the effect og confounding variables

ex. age, time of day, amount of sleep participants recieve, culture, socioeconomic status

Question 14

Experimenter bias

Answer 14

the expectations of the experimenter causes them to treat subjects in two groups differently, which affects results

Question 15

Participant bias

Answer 15

participation knowing/believing they’re in the control or experimental group –> causing them to act differently

Question 16

Double blind procedure

Answer 16

neither the participant nor the experimentor know who is in the control or the experimental group

mitigates participant/experimenter bias

Question 17

Placebo Effect

Answer 17

peolpe who believe they recieving treatment (IV is being changed) will act/feel as it they did

Pro: able to assign causality
Con: limited by ethical concerns

Question 18

Operational Definition

Answer 18

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study or how certain variables will be measured.

ex. intelligence is measured by numerical score on an IQ test

Allows experiments to be replicated

Question 19

Case Study

Answer 19

a descriptive technique in which one individual/group is studied in depth over a long period of time in hopes of revealing universal principles.

Not very generalizable

Question 20

Naturalistic Observation

Answer 20

obersinve and recording behavior in naturally occuring situations without trying to manipulate/control the situation.

Question 21

Survey

Answer 21

a technique ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random saple of the group.

Question 22

Descriptive Statistics

Answer 22

used to represent/describe data from experiments

cannot be used to draw conclusions

examples:
- tables, diagrams, graphs
- measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode)
- variation - range, standard deviation

Question 23

Inferential statistics

Answer 23

Help us analyze and draw conclusions from data

can be used to generalize results/draw conclusions

Question 24

APA Guidelines for Humen Research

List all 6

Answer 24

1. Informed consent: Participants must know that they are subjects, and must know the study entails
2. Deception: allowed only if the study cannot be preformed without it
3. Debriefing: subjects must be must be told the purpose/results of the study after it concludes
4. Anonymity: researchers cannot disclose personal details of subjects without consent
5. Coercion: cannot force people to take part via threats or offers they can’t refuse
6. Risk: the risk cannot cause significant or long-term harm to the subjects

Question 25

Statistical significance

Answer 25

How likely the results are to have occured due to random chance (instead of changes in the IV).

ex. p-value, t-test

Question 26

Wording Effect

Answer 26

the possible effects on participants caused by the order of presented words or even the choice of the words themselves.