Experimental Psychology, Ch 2-7

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Naturalistic Observation: a scientific approach that focuses on observation and description; it is generally used with naturally occurring and ongoing phenomena, with little experimenter intervention
correlational approach: design that is used to establish the relationship berween two variables without the ability to infer causal relationships
experimental method: a method based on strict control in experimentation for making valid inferences concerning the relationships between one variable and another
modeling: a procedure using either a conceptual or a mathematical model to generate data
retrospective, post-hoc methods: a procedure by which a researcher examines data available prior to the beginning of the study to answer the research question (ex. medical recordes from teh past 20 years)
qualitative methods: methods that emphasize verbal descriptions and narratives rather than traditional statistical methods.
quantitative methods: methods that emphasize measures using numbers and traditional statistical techniques
hypothesis: a statement or expectation developed in relation to an explicit or implicit theory concerning potential outcomes of an experiment
experimental group: the group that receives the independent variable in an experiment
control group: the group that receives a zero level of the independent variable and that is used to assess the effects of the independent variable or treatment
operational definiton: a definition that presents a construct in terms of observable operations that can be measured and utilized in research

it redefines the concept in terms of clearly observable operations that anyone can see and repeat
independent variable: the variable that the experimenter manipulates, levels established by experimenter and independent of anything that happens during the experiment
dependent variable: the variable that is measured by the experimenter
treatment effect: the effect produced by the treatment or independent variable on the dependent variable,
the difference in the magnitude of the dependent variable for the control and experimental groups
confounding variables: a variable that systematically varies with the independent variable that could provide an alternative explanation for the influence of the independent variable on the dependent variable
internal validity: refers to one's ability to make valid inferences conderning the relationship between a dependent and an independent variable in a experimental situation
external validity: generalizability of an experimental outcome to other groups, settings , treatment variables, and measurement variables
deduction: reasoning from the general to the particular, as in the case of creating an expected hypothesis for a particular experiment from a general theoretical statement. Opposite of induction.
induction: process of reasoning from a part to a whole, as might be performed when data from a particular study are used to develop a general theory
antecedent: the first or two propositions in a logical argument of the form,

If antecedent is true, then consequent follows.
consequent: the second of two propositions in a logical argument of the form

It antecedent is true, then consequent follows.
affirming the consequent: form of reverse confirmatory reasoning in which one case is used to draw the illogical conclusion relating to all similar cases.

If p, then q.
p.
therefore q.
denying the antecedent: form of reasoning in which a false premise is illogically concluded to result in a false consequent

If p, then q.
Not p.
Therfore, not q.
modus ponens (confirmatory reasoning): reasoning that a true premise leads to a true consequent

If p,then q.
p
therfore, q.
modus tollens (disconfirmatory reasoning): reasoning that a false consequent leads to a false premise

If p, then q.
not q
therefore not p.
paradigm: worldview and set of assumptions that direct what a scientst examines, what measurements are made, and how these are to be understood
Karl Popper: Falsificationism - name given to poppers description of how science is performed.

emphasizes science as a process for the eliminatio of false theories
Thomas Kuhn: science goes through series of revolutions, paradigms until another paradigm shift (revolution) takes place
stable period between shifts is normal science
construct validity: asks whether the procedure we are using is actually an adequate definition of the construct we are measuring
measurement: the process of determining a dimensional or quantitative representation of a construct
validity: accuracy of our ideas and our research; degree to which these are true and capable of support
reliability: requirement that a measure be consistent and reproducible
test-retest reliablity: a measure of consistency(usually the correlation coefficient) in which a measurement is conducted at two separate times and their similarity determined
scales of measurement: refers to the type of information a number conveys
frequency distribution: set of scores organized according to frequency of occurence
x-axis: the horizontal axis of a graph also referred to as the abscissa. independent variable typically plotted here
y-axis: vertical axis of a graph also referred to as the ordinate. dependent variable plotted here
bimodal distribution: refers to the situation in which the scores of a distribution form two separate nodes or peaks, one at each end of the distribution
mean: average of a set of scores
median: middle score in a destribution
mode: score that occurs with the greatest frequency
variability: the manner in which measurements vary within an experiemental condition.

The statistical measurement of variability are those of standard deviation and variance
standard deviation: measure of variability calculated by taking the square root of the variance
sum of squares: number used in the determination of the variance; calculated by summing the squared values for the deviation of each data point from the mean of that data set
inferential statistics: used to infer from a given sample of scores parameters related to the set of all possible scores from which that sample was drawn
null hypothesis: hypothesis that the differences between two or more population parameters are zero.

used nontechnically to refer to the condition that no differences exist between groups in an experiment
confound: factor that systmeatically biases the research but was not purposely introduced by the experimenter
chance variation: occurrence of events without any known antecedent as seen from the standpoint of the experiment
systematic variation: variation due to systematic factors
F-ratio: statistic for comparing the variance attributed to chance with that attributed to treatment effects, calculated in an analysis of variance
type 1 error: error of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true
alpha level: the probability of making a type 1 error
type 2 error: error of accepting the null hypothesis when it is false
beta level: the probability of making a type 2 error
power: the inverse (1-B) of the probability of making a type 2 error; related to the number of individual results required to show a significant difference given a particular effect size
effect size: the statistical magnitude of change that the independent variable has on the dependent variable
control: techniques used to reduce the effects of extraneous variables on results and to ensure greater certainty that the changes in the dependent variable result from the independent variable
random number table: table of numbers created so that their occurrence cannot be predicted from a mathematical formula
random sampling: the selection of participants in an unbiased manner so that each potential participant has an equal possibility of being selected for the experiment
random assignment: occurs when a partcipants chances of being assigned to each group in an experiment are equal

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