Chapter 1

Question 1

variable

Answer 1

something that can change and be measured

Question 2

replication

Answer 2

repeating an experiment or research study

Question 3

experimental group

Answer 3

treatment group; received an intervention

Question 4

case study

Answer 4

a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Question 5

critical thinking

Answer 5

examine assumptions, evaluates the source, finds hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assess the conclusion; NOT just “believing something because someone said so”

Question 6

operational definition

Answer 6

carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study

Question 7

survey

Answer 7

self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a group

Question 8

population

Answer 8

everyone in the group being studied; bigger than a sample

Question 9

regression toward the mean

Answer 9

extreme scores tend to fall back to average

Question 10

double blind procedure

Answer 10

the researcher and the participants do not know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group.

Question 11

placebo effect

Answer 11

any experimental results caused by expectation because the participant did not receive any active treatment, but believed he/she did

Question 12

debriefing

Answer 12

giving an explanation of the study after the experiment is over

Question 13

range

Answer 13

difference between the highest and lowest score

Question 14

theory

Answer 14

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

Question 15

hypothesis

Answer 15

testable prediction based on a theory

Question 16

naturalistic observation

Answer 16

a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations, not interacting, participating, or changing anything

Question 17

experiment

Answer 17

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable)

Question 18

control group

Answer 18

comparison group; no treatment received

Question 19

Random sample

Answer 19

a small group that represents the whole population; everyone has a equal chance to be included

Question 20

independent variable

Answer 20

the factor that is manipulated in an experiment

Question 21

dependent variable

Answer 21

the variable that may change because of the manipulation; the outcome measured

Question 22

confounding variable

Answer 22

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect

Question 23

random assignment

Answer 23

having an equal chance of being assigned to either group (experimental or control), which minimizes preexisting differences between groups

Question 24

mean

Answer 24

average

Question 25

median

Answer 25

the number in the middle

Question 26

mode

Answer 26

most frequent score

Question 27

standard deviation

Answer 27

a measurement of how much scores vary around the mean

Question 28

scatterplot

Answer 28

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

Question 29

intuition

Answer 29

automatic feeling or thought; not conscious reasoning

Question 30

hindsight bias

Answer 30

the tendency to believe, after learning the result I knew that all along

Question 31

correlation

Answer 31

a measure of how much two factors vary together

Question 32

correlation coefficient

Answer 32

statistical index of the relationship between two things; -1 to +1

Question 33

informed consent

Answer 33

participants need to get enough information to decide if they want to participate in an experiment

Question 34

normal curve

Answer 34

bell-shaped curve that describes the data; most scores are near the middle

Question 35

statistical significance

Answer 35

a statement based on statistics of how likely it is that a result happened by chance