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chapter 1

Terms in this set (30)

hindsight bias
the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have forseen it (I knew it all along phenomenon)
critical thinking
thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden value, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions
theory
an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations
hypothesis
a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
operational definition
a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables
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
case study
an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles
survey
a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them
false consensus effect
the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors
population
all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study
random sample
a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
naturalistic observation
observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation
correlation coefficient
a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other
scatterplot
a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables
illusory correlation
the perception of a relationship where none exists
experiment
a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process
double-blind procedure
an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or the placebo
placebo effect
experimental results caused by expectations alone
experimental condition
the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable
control condition
the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment
random assignment
assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to different groups
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independent variable
the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied
dependent variable
the experimental factor that is being measured; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable
mode
the most frequently occurring score in a distribution
mean
the arithmetic average of a distribution
median
the middle score in a distribution
range
the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
standard deviation
a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score
statistical significance
a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance
culture
the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
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