| Term | Definition |
|---|
| hindsight bias | tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.) (Myers Psychology 8e p. 020) |
| critical thinking | thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 024) |
| theory | explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 024) |
| hypothesis | testable prediction, often implied by a theory. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 025) |
| operational definition | statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables. For example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 025) |
| replication | repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 025) |
| case study | an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 026) |
| survey | technique for ascertaining self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 027) |
| false consensus effect | the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 028) |
| population | all cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study. (Note: Except for national studies, this does not refer to a country's whole population.) (Myers Psychology 8e p. 028) |
| random sample | sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 028) |
| naturalistic observation | observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 029) |
| correlation | measure of extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. The correlation coefficient is the mathematical expression of the relationship, ranging from -1 to 1. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 030) |
| scatterplot | 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 between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation). (Also called a scattergram or scatter diagram.) (Myers Psychology 8e p. 031) |
| illusory correlation | perception of a relationship where none exists. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 033) |
| experiment | research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 036) |
| control condition | condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 037) |
| double-blind procedure | experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 037) |
| experimental condition | condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 037) |
| placebo effect | experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is assumed to be an active agent. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 037) |
| dependent variable | outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 038) |
| independent variable | experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 038) |
| mean | arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 041) |
| median | middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 041) |
| mode | most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 041) |
| range | difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 042) |
| standard deviation | computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 042) |
| statistical significance | statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 043) |
| culture | enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next. (Myers Psychology 8e p. 045) |
| null hypothesis | hypothesis that states there is no difference between two or more sets of data making it opposite of the research hypothesis |
| single-blind procedure | information that could introduce bias or otherwise skew the result is withheld from the participants, but the experimenter will be in full possession of the facts |
| extraneous variables | any variables other than the independent variable that seem likely to influence the dependent variable in a specific study |
| confounding of variables | when two variables are linked together in a way that makes it difficult to sort out their specific effects. |
| quasi-experiment | researchers takes subjects & conditions as they naturally occur, with little if any control over what happens. |
| cross-sectional research | people of different ages are compared to one another at a single point in time |
| longitudinal research | research in which the same people are re-studied and re-tested over a long period |
| reliability | the extent to which a test yields consistent results - a measure is repeatable |
| validity | the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to - test accuracy |
| test-retest reliability | if you take the same test 2 x's & you get the same score again it shows test-retest reliability. Example: |
| alternate form reliability | A type of reliability, different forms of the same instrument are used and the scores are compared |
| split-half reliability | different version of the test on the retake date. |
| inter-rater reliability | More than one individual scores same test, regardless of who rates test - scores should be the same. |
| construct validity | Extent to which scores suggest that a test is actually measuring a abstract theoretical idea (such as anxiety, personality, introversion, etc.). |
| content validity | degree to which context of a test is representative of domain its supposed to cover. |
| criterion validity | degree to which test scores indicate a result on a specific measure that is consistent with some other criterion of characteristic being assessed; also known as predictive validity |
| face validity | measures whether a test looks like it tests what it is supposed to test |
| nominal data | data of categories only. Data cannot be arranged in an ordering scheme. (Gender, Race, Religion) |
| ordinal data | data exists in categories that are ordered but differences cannot be determined or they are meaningless. (Example: 1st, 2nd, 3rd) |
| interval data | differences between values can be found, but is NO absolute ZERO. Examples: temperature F, time |
| ratio data | data with an absolute 0. Ratios are meaningful. (Length, Width, Weight, Distance) |
| Hawthorne Effect | change in a subject's behavior caused simply by the awareness of being studied |
| positive correlation | correlation where as one variable increases, the other also increases, or as one decreases so does the other. Both variables move in the same direction. |
| negative correlation | an association between increases in one variable and decreases in another |
| correlational study | a research project designed to discover the degree to which two variables are related to each other |
| z score | in a normal distribution it tells you how far a number is above or below the mean in terms of standard deviations. |
| positive skew | data is left skewed with many more scores toward the lower end of the distribution |
| negative skew | data is right skewed with many more scores on the higher end of the distribution |
| operational definition | a statement that describes how to measure a particular variable or define a particular term specifically in a study |
| social desirability bias | A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself. |
| random assignment | Assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups. |
| stratified sample | sample drawn in such a way that known subgroups within a population are represented in proportion to their numbers in the general population |
| experimenter bias | expectations by the experimenter that might influence the results of an experiment or its interpretation |
| frequency histogram | type of bar graph that shows the frequency distributions |
| frequency polygon | type of line graph that shows frequency distributions |
| ANOVA | statistical method for making simultaneous comparisons between two or more means |
| correlation coefficient | statistical measure of the strength of association between two variables ranging from -1.0 to 1.0 |
| illusory correlation | perception of a relationship where none exists. |
| internal validity | characteristic of an experiment that allows one to draw accurate cause and effect relationships between an IV and DV |
| external validity | extent to which the data collected from a sample can be generalized to the entire population. |
| hawthorne effect | a change in a subject's behavior caused simply by the awareness of being studied |
| abstract | concise summary of journal research article |
| method section | portion of journal article that describes the research methods such as subjects, data collection techniques, etc. |
Combine with other sets
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