The science of psychology (Kap 2) EJ PÅ TENTAN

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 characteristics or factor that can vary

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

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

archival measure record or document that already exists

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 the researcher observes behaviour as it occurs in a natural setting

survey research information about a topic is obtained by administrating questionnaires or interviews to many people

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

representative sample reflects the important characteristics 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 direction and strenght 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 correlation between two variables

independent variable the factor that is manipulated by the experimenter

dependent variable the factor that is measured by the experminter and may be influenced by the independent variable

experimental group the group that receives a treatment or an active level of the independent variable

control group is not exposed to the treatment or 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

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

confounding of variables two variables are interwined in such a way that we cannot determine 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 pharmacological effect

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

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

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

descriptive statistics allow us to summarize and describe the characteristics of a set of data

mode the most frequently occuring score in a distribution

median the point that devides a distribution of scores in half when those scores are arranged in ordet 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 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 it is very unlikely that a particular finding occured by a chance alone

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

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