Chapter 2 Flashcards
(42 cards)
Empiricism
The belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation
Scientific Method
A set of principles about appropriate relationship between ideas and evidence
Theory
A hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon
Hypothesis
A falsifiable prediction made by a theory
Empirical method
A set of rules and techniques for observation
Operational Definition
A description of a property in concrete, measurable terms
Measure
A device that measures muscle contractions under the surface of a person’s skin
Validity
The extent to which a measurement and a property are conceptually related
electromyograph (EMG)
A device that measures muscle contractions under the surface of a person’s skin
Reliability
The tendency for a measurement to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the sme thing.
Power
The ability of a measure to detect the concrete conditions specified in the operational definition.
Demand Characteristics
Those aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think they should.
naturalistic observation
A technique for gathering information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments.
Double-Blind
An observation whose true purpose is hidden from both the observer and the person being observed.
variable
A property whose value can vary across individuals or over time
Correlation
Two variables are said to be correlated when variations in the value of one variable are synchronized with variations in the value of the other.
Causation
Something that produces a direct effect
Natural Correlations
the correlations we observe in the world around us, observations can tell us that two variables have a relationship-we can’t tell what kind of relationship that is.
Third Variable correlation
The fact that two variables are correlated only because each is causally related to a third variable.
Third-Variable Problem
The fact that a causal relationship between two variables cannot be inferred from the naturally occurring correlation between them because of the ever-present possibility of a third-variable correlation.
Experiment
A technique for establishing the causal relationship between two variables.
Manipulation
The creation of an artificial pattern of variation in a variable in order to determine its causal powers.
Independent Variable
The variable that is manipulated in an experiment
Experimental Group
The group of people who are treated in a particular way, as compared to the control group, in an experiment.
