Chapter 4

Question 1

Demand characteristics

Answer 1

Cues in a study which helps the participant to work out what is expected

Example: Researchers’ tone

Question 2

Double blind

Answer 2

Experimental procedure where neither participants nor data gatherers/assessors know which treatment participants have received

Question 3

Enlightenment

Answer 3

Tendency for people to be familiar with psychological research findings

Example: a psychology student who can explain key psychological theories and their applications in everyday life is considered to have a high level of enlightenment in the field.

Question 4

Error Variance

Answer 4

Variance among scores caused by the operation of randomly acting variables.

Example: Testing teaching methods, and measuring a test, but error variance would be uncontrollable factors, like attention level, prior knowledge or mood during the test.

Question 5

Evaluation Apprehension

Answer 5

Participants concern about being tested, which may affect results.

Example: Imagine a group of students participating in a classroom quiz competition. If a student experiences evaluation apprehension, they might become stressed or anxious because they’re being tested in front of their peers.

Question 6

Experimenter expectancy

Answer 6

Tendency for experimenters knowledge of what is being tested to influence the outcome of research

Example: If the experimenter strongly believes that the new method is highly effective, they might unconsciously give subtle cues, such as unintentional encouragement or more enthusiastic feedback, to the group of students exposed to this method.

Question 7

Hawthorne effect

Answer 7

Effect on human performance caused solely by the knowledge that one is being observed.

Example: Being more productive because your manager is watching you

Question 8

Meta-analysis

Answer 8

Statistic analysis of results of multiple equivalent studies of the same, or very similar, effects in order to assess validity more thoroughly.

Example: Gather 20 different studies on the usage of Weed on PSTD victims, to use statistical methods to calculate the overall effect size from the 20 studies combined.

Question 9

Participant expectancy

Answer 9

Effect on participants expectancy about what they might think is supposed to happen in a study

Example: testing a new energy drink which is supposed to enhance their alertness and concentration. Having high participant expectancy will make them feel more alert. Kinda like placebo. They could use placebo on another group to test it.

Question 10

Pleasing the experimenter

Answer 10

tendency of participants to act in accordance with what they think the experimenter would like to happen.

Question 11

Primary data

Answer 11

results collected by researcher directly in their study

Question 12

Random error

Answer 12

Any error possible in measuring a variable, excluding error that is systematic.

Example: using a very sensitive weight.

Question 13

Reactive study/design

Answer 13

study in which participants react in some way to the experience of being studied/tested

Example: changing up your diet because you are being tested regarding your food patterns.

Question 14

Representative design

Answer 14

Extent to which the conditions of an experiment represents those outside the laboratory to which the experimental effect is to be generalised.

Basically, Is this representative to everyone else outside the lab?

Question 15

Reproducibility Project

Answer 15

Large study designed to assess the extent to which the findings of 100 psychological studies could be repeated in replications. Surprisingly low reproducibility was found.

Example: basically someone who tested 100 psychological studies to check if they could be repeated or reproduced.

Question 16

Secondary data

Answer 16

results gathered from studies the researchers does not conduct.

Question 17

Single blind

Answer 17

Procedure in an experiment where either the participants or data assessors do not know which treatment each participant received.

Question 18

Social desirability

Answer 18

tendency of research participants to want to “look good” and provide socially acceptable answers.

Example: Saying you eat healthier than you do, because it makes you look good.

Question 19

Standardised procedure

Answer 19

Tightly controlled steps taken by experimenter with each participant and used to avoid experimenter bias or expectancy effects.

Example: Just do the same with everyone

Question 20

Validity

Answer 20

the extent to which an affect demonstrated in research is genuine, not produced by spurious variables and not limited to specific context

Question 21

Construct (validity)

Answer 21

Extent to which conceptions and operational measures of variables encompass the intended theoretical constructs. The constructs can be of persons (samples), treatments (IVs), observations (DV measures) and settings.

Example: testing happiness based on amounts of smiles in a day, but people might “fake smile”

Question 22

Ecological (validity)

Answer 22

Widely overused term in which can generally be replaced with “representative design”. Also used to refer to the extent to which a research effect generalises across situations. The original meaning comes from cognitive psychological and refers to the degree to which proximal stimulus predicts the distal stimulus for the observer. Should not be automatically applied to the laboratory/field distinction.

Example: basically if it is how well it can be generalised into real-world scenarios.

Question 23

External (validity)

Answer 23

Extent to which results from research can be generalised across people, places and times.

Example: Is the drug applicable to different people, places and times?

Question 24

Internal (validity)

Answer 24

Extent to which an affect found in a study can be taken to be genuinely caused by manipulation of the independent variable.

Example: dependent value is dependent on independent value. Better math scores are because of teaching method, not anything else.

Question 25

Population (validity)

Answer 25

Extent to which research effect can be generalised across people

Example: an experiment done on 100 males between 25-30 is not good enough to be generalised for every adult, male or female.

Question 26

Threat to (validity)

Answer 26

Any aspect of the design or method of a study that weakens the likelihood that a real effect has been demonstrated or that might obscure the existence of a real effect.

For example: only picking the most motivated students to participate in an experiment to judge the whole class level of a subject.