Psykologi kap 2

hypothesis a specific prediction about some phenomenon or other

Theory a set of formal statements that explains how and why certain events are related to one another

variable any characteristic or factor that can vary

perational definition defines a variable in terms of the specific procedures used to produce or measure it.

electroencephalography (EEG) measures the activity of large groups of neurons through a series of large electrodes placed on the scalp

unobtrusive measure records behaviour in a way that keeps participants unaware that they are being observe

archival measure: record or document that already exists

informed consent before people agree to par- ticipate in research they should be informed about: the study’s purpose and procedures; the study’s potential benefits; potential risks to participants; the right to decline participation and with- draw at any time without penalty; whether responses will be confi- dential and, if not, how privacy will be safeguarded

Deception which occurs when participants are misled about the nature of a study, is con- troversial

descriptive research seeks to identify how humans and other animals behave, particularly in natural settings

case study an in-depth analysis of an individual, group or event

naturalistic observation technique in which the researcher observes behaviour as it occurs in a natural setting

survey research technique where information about a topic is obtained by administering questionnaires or interviews to many people

population all the individuals that we are interested in drawing a conclusion about

sample a subset of individuals drawn from the larger population

representative sample reflects the important characteris- tics of the population

correlational research measures one variable (X), measures a second variable (Y), and statistically determines whether X and Y are related

correlation coefficient a statistic that indicates the direc- tion and strength of the relation between two variables

positive correlation higher scores on one variable are associated with higher scores on a second variable

negative correlation when higher scores on one variable are associated with lower scores on a second variable

scatterplots graphs that show the correlation between two variables

Experiment in an experiment the experimenter manipulates one or more variables, measures whether this manipula- tion influences other variables and attempts to control extraneous factors that might influence the outcome of the procedure

independent (predictor) variable the factor that is manipulated by the experimenter

dependent (response, output, outcome) variable the factor that is measured by the experimenter and may be influ- enced by the independent variable

experimental group the group that receives a treat- ment or an active level of the independent variable

control group the group not exposed to the treatment or that receives a zero level of the independent variable

random assignment procedure in which each participant has an equal likelihood of being assigned to any one group within an experiment

counterbalancing procedure in which the order of conditions is varied so that no condition has an overall advantage relative to the others

Qualitative study More open data-gathering techniques, such as interviews, self-report questionnaires and analysis of video material, are used and analysed, looking for patterns laid down by the researcher

internal validity the degree to which an experiment supports clear causal conclusions

confounding of variables two variables are intertwined in such a way that we cannot deter- mine which one has influenced a dependent variable

demand characteristics cues that participants pick up about the hypothesis of a study or about how they are supposed to behave.

Placebo a substance that has no pharma- cological effect

Placebo effect people receiving a treatment show a change in behaviour because of their expectations, not because the treatment itself had any specific benefit

experimenter expectancy effects subtle and unintentional ways in which researchers influence their participants to respond in a man- ner that is consistent with the researcher’s hypothesis

double-blind procedure approach in which both the par- ticipant and experimenter are kept blind as to which experimental condition the participant is in

external validity the degree to which the results of a study can be general- ized to other populations, settings and conditions

Replication process of repeating a study to determine whether the original findings can be duplicated

descriptive statistics statistics that allow us to summarize and describe the characteristics of a set (or dis-tribution) of data

Mode the most frequently occurring score in a distribution

Median the point that divides a distribu- tion of scores in half when those scores are arranged in order from lowest to highest

mean the arithmetic average of a set of scores

Range the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

standard deviation statistic that takes into account how much each score in a distribution differs from the mean

inferential statistics allow us to make inferences about a population from data provided by a sample of that distribution

statistical significance holds that it is very unlikely that a particular finding occurred by chance alone

meta-analysis a statistical procedure for combin- ing the results of different studies that examine the same topic

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