Final Study Guide Terms

Psychology 227 with Mclaughlin at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania

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By: Katelyn Polumbo
Created: 2011-04-28
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ways of knowing/non-scientific types of evidence

faith/intuition, authority, rational-inductive

scientific method

a set of procedures used to gain information in the sciences; it involves systematic observations obtained in an objective manner that avoids biases by the observer or by the participants in the study

replication

experiments need to be designed to be replicated

peer review

evaluation of creative work or performance by other people in the same field in order to maintain or enhance the quality

hypothesis

a possible answer to a research question. Scientific investigations are often designed to test a hypothesis

experiment

investigations in which two (or more) equivalent groups of subjects are treated in exactly the same way, except that the independent variable is different

confounds

an uncontrolled, extraneous variable or other flaw in the research design that yields alternative explanations for the results and thus limits the study's internal validity

independent variable

A variable whose variation does not depend on that of another.

dependent variable

A variable whose value depends on that of another.

control group

group within an investigation that does not receive the treatment being tested

subject/participant variable

a measurable characteristic of the participant such as height, weight, or gender that cannot be manipulated by a researcher.

falsifiability

hypotheses need to be falsifiable. capable of being falsified, counterfeited, or corrupted

between subjects design

each participant participates in one and only one group.

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental conditions within an investigation in a manner such that each participant is equally likely to be assigned to each condition

selection bias

a confound arising when there are no difference between the comparison groups within a study

placebo effect

confound arising when a behavior change is apparent after the introduction of an intervention, even though the intervention is known to be ineffectual

random/extraneous variable

variables other than the independent variable that can affect the dependent variable

control variable

variable that is held constant or whose impact is removed in order to analyze the relationship between other variables without interference, or within subgroups of the control variable

internal validity

the extent to which a study actually answers the research questions that it was designed to answer. A study with good internal validity has no confounds and only one explanation for the results

experimenter bias/demand

effect of the experimenter's expectations on the outcome of a study

double blind

procedure in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know to which condition the participants have been assigned

ceiling/floor effects

ceiling - situation in which the dependent variable yields scores at or near the top limit of the measurement tool for one or all of the conditions

floor - situation in which the dependent variable yields scores at or near the lower limit of the measurement tool for one or all conditions

correlation

measure of the degree of relationship between two variables. The strength of the relationship is represented by an absolute value

third variable/directionality problem

when two variables, A and B, are found to be positively or negatively correlated, it may be that changes in an unmeasured third variable, Variable C

within subjects design

design in which each participant receives each level of the independent variable at least once

pretest-posttest design

a before–after design in which each participant is given the pretest, administered the treatment, then given the posttest.

practice

when participants take the same test, etc. and have practice...therefore do better.

fatigue

when participants become tired

maturation

experiments that happen over long periods of time. the time could have been the change, not the treatment.

regression to the mean

the phenomenon that extreme scores tend to be less extreme upon retesting; the move toward the mean

counterbalancing

procedure for distributing the effect of an extraneous variable across the experimental conditions within a within-subjects design

operational definition

a definition of the exact procedures used to produce a phenomenon or to measure some variable

reliability

consistency with which the same results are obtained from the same test, instrument, or procedure

validity

extent to which the dependent variable is measuring what it purports to measure

experimenter effect

confound arising when behavior difference in a study are caused by the participation of different experimenters

external validity

extent to which the results of an investigation can be generalized beyond the original study

construct validity

the extent to which a measurement method accurately represents a construct and produces an observation distinct from that produced by a measure of another construct

population

all individuals to whom a research project is meant to generalize

sample

subset of the population

random sample

sample in which the elements were selected randomly from a sampling frame

null hypothesis

the prediction that there is no difference between the groups being compared. the null hypothesis is true if the population that the sample is from is the same as the population with which it is being compared

alpha

probability of making type I errors

type I error

rejecting the null hypothesis when it's ture

type II error

failing to reject the null hypothesis when it's false

power

probability of detecting a difference between the groups in the study when the null hypothesis is false. Power is calculated as 1-beta

significance

p < .05, shows change is not due to chance

post-hoc tests

a statistical test done after (1) doing a general test such as an ANOVA and (2) finding asignificant effect. Post hoc tests are used to follow up on significant results obtained from a more general test. Because a significant ANOVA says only that at least two of the groups are significantly different from one another, post hoc tests may be performed to find out which groups are significantly different from one another.

descriptive statistics

procedures that organize, summarize, and describe a set of data

outliers

scores in a distribution that are inordinately large or small relative to the other scores

correlation coefficient

a statistic representing how closely two variables co-vary; it can vary from -1 (perfect negative correlation) through 0 (no correlation) to +1 (perfect positive correlation)

scatterplot

graphical representation of a correlation between to variables

inferential statistics

procedures and measures used to make inferences about population characteristics from samples drawn from that population.

error variance

variation among scores that is not caused by the independent variable but instead is caused by random factors or by extraneous variables

between group variance

an estimate of the effect of the independent variable plus error variance

within group variance

estimate of the population error variance

ANOVA

analysis of variance, a statistical method in which the variation in a set of observations is divided into distinct components

independent samples t-test

used with a between subjects design

dependent samples t-test

used with a within subjects design

Pearson's r

used with a correlational design

degrees of freedom

the number of observations that may freely vary; it is equal to the number of observations minus the number of restrictions placed on those observations

curvilinear relationship

a functional relationship between an independent and dependent variable that is graphically represented by a curved line.

Hawthorne effect

effect of observers on the behavior of subjects in the social sciences

expectancy

The state of thinking or hoping that something, esp. something pleasant, will happen or be the case.

sampling bias

extent to which a sample does not represent the underlying population

IRB

INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARDS - committees of individuals with diverse backgrounds who review proposals for research with human participants

IACUC

nstitutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) is a self-regulating entity that, according to U.S. federal law, must be established by institutions that use laboratory animals for research or instructional purposes to oversee and evaluate all aspects of the institution's animal care and use program.

informed consent

form given in advance to each participant in a research project; it describes the purpose of the study and what the participant will be asked to do and includes any known risks or benefits of the study

APA

American Psychological Association - national organization of psychologists and people in related fields

confidentiality

secrecy about the identity of research participants

anonymity

remaining unknown

deception

lying to, or misleading research participants

confederate

person with knowledge of the experiment posing as a participant

debriefing

fully explaining the purpose of the experiment to the participants usually after the experiment is over

factorial design

research design in which the effect of two or more independent variables on a dependent variable is assessed

factors

an independent variable

main effect

effect of an independent variable on a dependent measure within a factorial design

marginal mean

average of scores for each level of an independent variable, disregarding other independent variables. marginal means are used in factorial designs to interpret main effects

interaction

in a factorial design, the effect of a dependent measure on an independent variable within each level of each independent variable

quasi-experiment

type of research design in which non equivalent groups are compared, a single group is observed a number of times, or both of these techniques are combined

About this deck

By: Katelyn Polumbo
Created: 2011-04-28
Size: 83 flashcards
Views: 5

About StudyBlue

“I have been getting MUCH better grades on all my tests for school. Flash cards, notes, and quizzes are great on here. Thanks!”
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