Unit Zero Vocab Flashcards
The scienticfic study of behavior and mental processes
Psychology
A historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthly people
Humanistic Psychology
A scientific study of OBSERVABLE behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning
Behavioral Psychology
Hint; Genetic, neural, hormonal
The scientific study of the links between biological and psychological
Biological Psychology
The scientific study of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Cognitive Psychology
The study of the evolution of behavior and mind, using principles of natural selection
Evolutionary Psychology
PAST
A branch of psychology that studies how the unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior, and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorder
Psychodynamic psychology
CULTURE
The study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking
Social-Culture psychology
An intergrated approach that incorparates biological, psychological, and socal-cultural levels of analysis
Biopsychsocial approach
shared beliefs, expectations, rules, values and behaviors that are considered typical, acceptables, or appropriate within a group or society
Why is this bad for reseachers?
Cultural Norms
Because reseacher can misinterpt behaviorsor the group they are reseachi
A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
Why is this bad for reseachers?
Confirmation Bias
Not looking at opposing evidence
I knew it all along!
The tenddency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.
Why is this bad for reseachers?
Hindsight Bias
Getting wrong results
The tendency to be confident than correct- to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements
Why is this bad for reseachers?
Overconfidence
Overestimate their knowledge and skip details and info
A testable prediction
Hypothesis
A theory or hypothesis is considered ____________ if it can be proven false through evidence.
Falsifiable
A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a reseach study
Operational Definitions
In an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable
Experimental group
In an experiment, the group NOT exposed to treatment
Control group
The experimental factor that is manipulated: variable being studied
Independent Variable
The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations
Dependent Variable
A factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s results
Confounding Variables
Results based on expectation of the treatment
Placebo
A procedure in which participants are unaware of the experimental conditions under which they are operating
Single-Blind
Drug evaluations
A procedure in which both the participants and the experiments interacting with them are unaware of the particular experimental conditions.
Double Blind
A subset of a population
Sample
All those in a group being studied, from which samples must be drawn
Population
The selection of study from a larger group in an unbiased way, such that the sample obtained accuratly reflects the total population
Representative Sample
A process for selecting a sample of study participants from a larger potential group of individuals, such that each person has the same fixed probability of being included in the sample
Random Sampling
Any process for selecting a sample of individuals or cases that is neither random nor systematic but rather is governed by chance or ready availability
Convenience Sampling
To generalize from a few vivid, but unrepresentative cases
HANDPICKING
Sampling Bias
Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing pre exisiting differences between the different groups
Random assignment
The extent to which results or findings obtained from a sample are applicable to a broader population
Generalizablilty
The bias or tendency of individuals to present themselves in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others
Social Desirability Bias
Referring to a variable, study, or analysis that involves a method of inquiry based on descriptive data without the use of numbers
Qualitative Data
Involving the use of numerical measurement system to analyze data
Quantitative Data
The evaluation of scientific or academic work, such as research or articles submitted to journals for publication, by other qualified professionals practicing in the same field
Peer Review
Repeating the essence of a reseach study, usually with different participants in different situations
Replication
ACCURATE
The extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to
Validity
The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores
Ex: dipping a thermometer in water multiple times
Reliability
_________contributes to a result. In non-experimental research, they are not manipulated or controlled
Variables
A descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles
Case Study
A measure of the extent to which two variables change TOGETHER, and thus of how well either variable predicts the other
Correlation
A quantitative technique that combines the results of multiple studies on the same topic to form a single, objective conclusion
Meta- Analysis
Observing and recording behavior in naturally occuring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation
Naturalistic Observation
A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process
Experimental
In correlation research, the situation in which it is known that two variables are related although it is not known which is the cause and which is the effect
Directionality Problem
When two variables, a and b, are found to be postively and negatively correlated, it does not nessarily mean that one causes the other: It may be that changes in an unmeaured or unintened thir variable, c, are causing random and coincidental relationship between the two variables
Third Variable Problem
A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or bahaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group
Survey Technique
People may not give answers that are fully correct either because they do not know the full answer or because they seek to make a good impression
Self Report Bias
A committee named by an agency or institution to review reseach proposals originating within that agency for ethical acceptability and compliance with this organizations codes of conduct
Institutional Review Board
An ethical prinicple that reseach participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate
Informed consent
An ethical principle that involoves obtaining agreement to participate in a study from particpants who are not leagally able to provide informed consent
Informed Assent
An ethical principle that requires reseachers to protect and create safeguards fro participants from physical, mental, and/or emotional harm
Protection from Harm
An ethical principle that requires reseachers to limit the disclosure of a participants identifiable information
Confidentiality
Any distortion of or withholding of fact with the purpose of misleading others
Deception
In an experimental situation, an aide of the experimenter who poses as a participant but whose behavior is rehearsed prior to the experiment
EX: an actor in an experiment
Research confederate
The process of providing participants with a fuller explanation of the study, after it have been completed; including its purpose and any deceptions
Debriefing
Adding the scores and then diving by the number of scores
Mean
The middle score: half above, half below
Median
The most frequent occuring number
Mode
The differnece between the highest and lowest scores
Range
A symetrical, bell-shaped curve that decribes the distribution of many types of data (68-95-98)
Normal curve
The degree of variance or dispersion (spread) of values that is obtained for a specific variable
Variation
The degree to which a set of scores, measurements, or other numbers are asymmetrically distruted around a central point
Think: about how a normal curve shifts
Skewness
A set of scores with two peaks or modes around which values tend to cluster
Bimodel distribution
A measure of the variability of a set of scores or values within a group, indicating how narrowly or broadly they deviate from the mean
Standard deviation
A statistical measure used to indicate the relative standing of a score within a group
Percentile Rank
The tendency for extremely high or low scores to fall back (closer to the mean) upon retesting over time
Regression Toward The Mean
A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables, The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship
Scatterplot
A numerical index reflecting the degree of linear relationship between two variables. (-1, 0, 1)
Correlation Coefficient
A statisticial measure of magnitude strength or meaningfulness of a relationship between two variable
(small >.2, medium .2-.5, large <.5)
Effect size
a degree to which research outcome cannot be resonably be attributed to the operation of chance or random factors
Statitsical Significance
