Chapter 1 Vocab

Question 0

Overconfidence

Answer 0

The tendency to be more confident, than correct-to overestimate the accuracy of ones beliefs and judgements

Question 1

Hindsight Bias

Answer 1

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.

Question 2

Critical Thinking

Answer 2

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. It examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence,and assess conclusions.

Question 3

Scientific Method

Answer 3

Explains through an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts behaviors or events.

Question 4

Theory

Answer 4

Aims to explain some phenomenon and allows researchers to generate testable hypotheses with the hope of collecting data that support the theory.

An explanation of using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations

Question 5

Hypothesis

Answer 5

A statement that expresses a relationship between two variables.

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Question 6

Operational Definitions

Answer 6

An explanation of how variables are measured

A statement of the procedures(operations) used to define research variables. It allows us to measure variables

Question 7

Replicate

Answer 7

Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

Question 8

Case Study

Answer 8

A research method used to get a full, detailed picture of one participant or a small group of participants

An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Question 9

Survey

Answer 9

Involves asking people to fill out surveys

A technique for ascertaining the self reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them

Question 10

False Consensus Effect

Answer 10

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Question 11

Population

Answer 11

The group from which a sample is selected

All the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study

Question 12

Random Sample

Answer 12

A method of seeking a sample from a population

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Question 13

Naturalistic Observations

Answer 13

Research method that involves observing participants in their natural habitats without interacting with them

Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Question 14

Correlation

Answer 14

A statistical measure of a relationship between two variables

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

Question 15

Scatterplots

Answer 15

A graph of correlated data

A graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables

Question 16

Illusory Correlation

Answer 16

The perception of a relationship where none exists

Question 17

Experiment

Answer 17

The only research method that can show a casual relationship

When an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

Question 18

Double-Blind Procedure

Answer 18

Method followed such that neither the participants nor the researcher are aware of who is in the experimental or control groups while the experiment is going on

the participant and the staff are ignorant about whether the participant has received the treatment or a placebo

Question 19

Placebo Effect

Answer 19

Any effect on behaviors by expectations; any affect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is assumed to be an active agent

Question 20

Experimental Condition

Answer 20

The participants who are exposed to the independent variable

Question 21

Control Condition

Answer 21

The participants that serve as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

Question 22

Random Assignment

Answer 22

The process by which participants are put into either an experimental or a control group

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

Question 23

Independent variable

Answer 23

The experimental factor that is manipulated

Question 24

Dependent variable

Answer 24

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

Question 25

Mode

Answer 25

The most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

Question 26

Mean

Answer 26

The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores

Question 27

Median

Answer 27

The middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it

Question 28

Range

Answer 28

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Question 29

Standard Deviation

Answer 29

A computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

Question 30

Statistical Significance

Answer 30

5% is the cutoff for statistically significant results. In a statistically significant experimental result, the is less than a 5% chance that the results occurred by chance

A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

Question 31

Culture

Answer 31

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

Question 32

Experimenter Bias

Answer 32

The unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of the experimental and control groups differently to increase the chance of confirming their hypothesis