Chapter 1

Question 1

Psychoanalytic Theory

Answer 1

Sexual and aggressive behaviours are repressed in unconscious until they are transformed and expressed in socially acceptable ways.

Question 2

Behaviourism

Answer 2

Only observable behaviour can be directly observed and measured.

Question 3

Correlational method

Answer 3

Research in which two or more variables are measured and analyzed to determine to what extent, if any, they are associated.

Question 4

Correlation coefficient

Answer 4

A positive or negative numerical value that shows the direction and the strength of a relationship between two variables.

Question 5

Reverse Causality problem

Answer 5

Possibility that a correlation between variables x and y occur because one causes the other, but it’s impossible to determine if x causes y or y causes x.

Question 6

Third Variable Problem

Answer 6

Possibility that two variables may be correlated but do not exert a causal influence on one another, rather they are caused by some additional variable.

Question 7

Longitudinal Study

Answer 7

Studies in which variables are measured in the same individuals over two or more periods of time, typically months or years.

Question 8

Experimental Method

Answer 8

a study in which a researcher manipulates a variable, referred to as the independent variable, measures possible effects on another variable, referred to as the dependent variable, and tries to hold all other variables constant.

Question 9

Internal Validity

Answer 9

judgement that for a particular experiment, it is possible to conclude that the manipulated independent variable caused the change in the measured dependent variable.

Question 10

Interaction

Answer 10

a pattern of results in which the effect of one independent variable on the dependent variable depends on the level of a second independent variable.

Question 11

Random Assignment

Answer 11

participants are assigned to conditions in such a way that each person has an equal change of being in any condition of an experiment.

Question 12

Field research

Answer 12

research that occurs outside the lab, such as in schools, office buildings, medical clinics etc.

Question 13

Quasi-experimental designs

Answer 13

type of research in which groups of participants are compared on some dependent variable, but for practical/ethical reasons they are not formed on random assignment (ie: alcoholics-unethical to assign a group to drink daily)

Question 14

Operational definition

Answer 14

specific concrete method of measuring or manipulating a conceptual variable

Question 15

Construct validity

Answer 15

degree in which the dependent measure assesses what it intends to assess or the manipulation manipulates what it intends to manipulate.

Question 16

Confound

Answer 16

a variable other than the conceptual variable intended to be manipulated that may be responsible for the effect on the dependent variable, making alternative explanations possible.

Question 17

Conceptual replication

Answer 17

repetition of a study with different operationalizations of the crucial variables but yielding similar results.

Question 18

moderator variables

Answer 18

variables that explain when, where, or for whom an effect is most likely to occur.

Question 19

meta-analysis

Answer 19

a process of analyzing data across many related studies to determine the strength and reliability of a finding.

Question 20

Cover story

Answer 20

an explanation of the purpose of a study that is different than the true purpose

Question 21

Demand Characteristics

Answer 21

aspects of a study that give away its purpose or communicate how the participants is expected to behave.

Question 22

experimental bias

Answer 22

possibility that the experimenter’s knowledge of the condition a particular participant is in could affect her behaviour toward the participant and thereby introduce a confounding variable to the independent variable manipulation.

Question 23

debriefing

Answer 23

at the end of the study, procedure in which participants are assessed for suspicion and then receive a gentle explanation of the true nature of the study in a manner that counteracts any negative effects of the study experience.

Question 24

Main perspectives in Social Psychology

Answer 24

Neuroscience 
Evolutionary
Existential
Cultural
Cognitive

Question 25

Stereotype Threat theory

Answer 25

Members of socially devalued groups often perform poor than members of majority/advantaged groups.

Question 26

Stigma consciousness

Answer 26

Tendency to be highly conscious of one’s stereotyped status and believe these stereotypes have a strong effect on how one is viewed by others.

Question 27

Parsimonious

Answer 27

Explains a wide range of observations w relatively small number of basic principles.

Question 28

Gordon Allport (1954) 
Contact hypothesis

Answer 28

Specific forms of contact between groups can break down stereotypes and negative feelings.

Question 29

Power analysis

Answer 29

Statistical technique to determine size of sample needed to make study’s results replicable.