Psychology terms from ch. 1-3 from "Psychology,the science of Mind and Beha
Terms
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- Archival measures
- Records or documents that already exist that psychologists can add to their findings.
- Case study
- In-depth analysis of an individaul, group, or event
- Confounding Variable
- two variable that are intertwined in such a way that we cannot determine which one has influenced a dependent variable
- Control Group
- A group that is not exposed to treatment or receives a zero-level of the independent variable
- Correlational Research
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3 components:
1. measure one variable (x)
2. measure second variable (Y)
3. Statistically determine whether x and y are related
measures variables, does not munipulate them!!! - Correlational coefficient
- statistic that indicates the direction and the strength of the relation between two variables
- Counterbalancing
- In experiments, a procedure in which each participant engages in all of the conditions. The order of the conditions is altered for different participants so that, overall, no condition has an order advantage relative to the other conditons.
- Demand Characteristics
- Cues picked up by research participants to guess the purpose or hypothesis of a study, thereby causing them to alter their behavior
- Dependent Variable
- In an experiment, the factor measured by the researcher that presumably is influenced by the independent variable
- Descriptive Statistics
- Statistics that summarize and describe the characteristics of a set of scores.
- Double-Blind Procedure
- Procedure in which both the participant and the experimenter are kept unaware of the research condition to which the participant has been assigned
- Experiment
- Research method in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable under controlled conditions and measures whether this produces changes in the dependent variable
- Experimental group
- The group that receives a treatment or is exposed to an active level of the independent variable.
- Experimenter Expectancy effects
- suble and unintentional ways in which an experimenter influences participants to behave in a way that will confirm the experimenter's hypothesis
- external validity
- Degree to which the results of a study can be generalized to other people, settings, and conditions.
- Hypothesis
- Tentative explaination or a prediction about some phenomenon
- Independent Variable
- In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated by the researcher
- Population
- In a survey, the entire set of individuals about whom we wish to draw a conclusion
- inferential statistics
- statistics that tell us how confident we can be in drawing conclusions or inferences about a population based on finding obtained from a sample
- informed consent
- Principle that prior to agreeing to participate in reasearch, a person should be fully informed about the procedures, benefits, risks involved, right to withdraw at any time without penalty, and matters of confidentiality and privacy.
- internal validity
- The degree to which an experiment produces clear casual conclusions; internal validity is high when there is no confounding variables.
- mean
- A statistic that represents the arithmetic average of a set of scores
- median
- In a set of data, the point that divides the distribution in half when the individual scores are arranged in order from lowest to highest
- meta-analysis
- Statistical procedure for combining the results of different studies that examine the same topic
- mode
- a statistic that represents the most frequently occuring score in a distribution of data.
- naturalistic observation
- A method in which the researcher observes behavior in a natural setting and tries to avoid influencing the paricipants being observed.
- negative correlation
- Relation between two variables in which higher scores on one variable are associated with lower scores on the other variable
- operational definition
- Defining a concept or variable in terms of the specific procedures used to produce or measure it.
- Placebo
- an inactive or inert substance
- Placebo Effect
- A change in behavior that occurs because of the expectation or belief that one is receiving a treatment.