chapter 2 methods

Question 1

two variables that exhibit no apparent relationship

Answer 1

zero correlation

Question 2

the influence of language, or wording, on people’s responses to survey questions

Answer 2

wording effects

Question 3

a bias whereby only a motivated fraction of a population respond to a survey or participate in research

Answer 3

volunteer bias

Question 4

Any group of individuals who may not be able to provide free and informed consent to participate in research

Answer 4

vulnerable populations

Question 5

something that varies in the context of a research study

Answer 5

variable

Question 6

a method using questions to collect information on how people think or act

Answer 6

survey

Question 7

a medical procedure to remove or otherwise destroy tissue

Answer 7

ablation

Question 8

the tendency for participants to agree or respond “yes” to all questions regardless of their actual opinions

Answer 8

acquiescent response bias

Question 9

A person’s affirmative permission to take part in a research study. In cases of decisional impairment, assent must be obtained in addition to informed consent.

Answer 9

assent

Question 10

A concept of research ethics whereby researchers strive to do ‘good’ in a research study.

Answer 10

beneficence

Question 11

An in-depth analysis of a unique circumstance or individual.

Answer 11

case study

Question 12

The understanding that one variable directly affects another variable.

Answer 12

casuality

Question 13

A person who is acting as a participant, but in reality, is another researcher.

Answer 13

confederate

Question 14

Other variables that may influence one or both variables that we are measuring, thereby influencing the correlation coefficient.

Answer 14

confounding variable

Question 15

A measure (denoted as r) that captures the direction and strength of a relationship between variables.

Answer 15

correlation

Question 16

A numerical representation of the strength of the relationship between variables (denoted as r).

Answer 16

correlation coefficient

Question 17

Facts or information collected, examined, and considered for decision-making processes.

Answer 17

data

Question 18

the act of withholding information about the purpose and procedures of the study during the informed consent process

Answer 18

deception

Question 19

Information provided to participants about what the researcher was investigating and how their participation will contribute to the research question.

Answer 19

debriefing

Question 20

the extent to which research findings in the lab can be generalized to the real world

Answer 20

ecological validity

Question 21

Participants respond to questions in ways that would be seen as acceptable by others.

Answer 21

socially desirable bias

Question 22

When the freedom of ‘choice’ to participate in research is compromised as a result of undue influence from another source.

Answer 22

situational vulnerability

Question 23

Memories whose contents relate to specific facts and pieces of meaningful information not based on personal experience.

Answer 23

semantic memories

Question 24

Rational explanations to describe and predict future behavior.

Answer 24

scientific theories

Question 25

A six-step method of acquiring knowledge and methodologically answering questions.

Answer 25

scientific method

Question 26

A type of graph that has one variable on the x-axis (the horizontal axis) and the other variable on the y-axis (the vertical axis) and provides a visual representation of relationships between variables.

Answer 26

scatterplot

Question 27

A sample that deviates from a true representation of a population.

Answer 27

sampling error

Question 27

An unfair or unequal representation of a population of people or things that results from flawed sampling strategies (intentional or not).

Answer 27

sampling bias

Question 28

A subset (or portion) of a population.

Answer 28

sample

Question 29

The tendency for people to answer the question the way they feel they are expected to answer or in systematic ways that are otherwise inaccurate.

Answer 29

response bias

Question 30

A set of principles or standards of behavior for psychologists to follow in research.

Answer 30

research ethics

Question 31

A term referring to a 'do-over' of a study using the same methods, but different subjects and investigators.

Answer 31

replication

Question 32

reactivity / HAWTHORNE EFFECT

Answer 32

A change in a person or animal's behavior that is the result of being observed by others.

Question 33

The belief or theory that reason is the key source of knowledge.

Answer 33

rationalism

Question 34

Memories whose contents pertain to how something is done, such as the motor skills involved in walking and riding a bicycle.

Answer 34

procedural memories

Question 35

When variables change in the same direction; as one variable increases, the other variable increases, or as one variable decreases, the other variable decreases.

Answer 35

positive correlation

Question 36

All members of a group.

Answer 36

population

Question 37

A research method in which a researcher becomes part of the group under investigation.

Answer 37

participant observation

Question 38

how a researcher decides to measure a variable.

Answer 38

operational definition

Question 39

Variables that change in the opposite direction. An increase in one variable leads to a decrease in the other.

Answer 39

negative correlation

Question 40

Observation of behavior as it happens, without an attempt to manipulate or control the subjects' natural environment.

Answer 40

naturalistic observation

Question 41

A straight line on a scatterplot showing the general relationship of data points.

Answer 41

line of best fit

Question 41

The act of doing harm

Answer 41

maleficence

Question 42

An ethical principle in research whereby those people who participate in the research process should also be the same people who stand to benefit from the research outcomes.

Answer 42

justice

Question 43

An ethical principle that psychologists should engage in accurate, honest, and non-biased practices in the science, teaching, and practice of psychology.

Answer 43

integrity

Question 44

A committee of independent people who review and assess whether a research project will be carried out in a way that is consistent with general ethical principles.

Answer 44

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Question 45

The extent to which two or more observers (raters) agree with each other about their observations. It is usually assessed as a correlation.

Answer 45

interrater reliability

Question 46

An experiment has ________________when there are no other explanations for the relationship between an independent and dependent variable. That is, there are no extraneous variables present in the experiment.

Answer 46

internal validity

Question 47

The process by which research participants learn about and understand the purpose, benefits, and potential risks of participating in a research study.

Answer 47

informed consent

Question 48

tests and analyses that allow us to draw conclusions from our data, such as whether there is a measurable difference between two groups.

Answer 48

inferential statistics

Question 49

The variable that the experimenter manipulates. must have at least two levels (different conditions or treatments)

Answer 49

independent variable

Question 50

An attribute of participants that is necessary to be a part of a research study.

Answer 50

inclusion criterion

Question 51

The tendency to describe our own behavior as better than average.

Answer 51

illusory superiority

Question 52

An educated prediction about the outcome of an experiment.

Answer 52

hypothesis

Question 53

A part of the cerebral cortex known to play a role in the transference of certain types of memories into long-term memory stores.

Answer 53

hippocampus

Question 54

An experiment that takes place in 'real-world' settings in which a researcher manipulates and controls the conditions of the behavior under observation.

Answer 54

field experiment

Question 55

The ethical principle of developing trusting relationships between researchers and participants.

Answer 55

fidelity

Question 56

Any variables that are not the focus of study, but that may influence the outcome of research if not controlled.

Answer 56

extraneous variables

Question 57

Whether the results from a study can be applied beyond the scope of the original study. For example, whether it can apply to other settings, other people, and other time periods.

Answer 57

external validity

Question 58

An attribute of a person that would prevent them from participating research study.

Answer 58

exclusion criteria

Question 59

Memories whose contents pertain to specific events (“episodes”).

Answer 59

episodic memory

Question 60

A part of the cerebral cortex found on the ventral part of the temporal lobes and known to play a role in behavior and memory.

Answer 60

entorhinal cortex

Question 61

The combination of inclusion and exclusion criteria to create a set of characteristics shared by all participants that ensure that those participating will meaningfully help to address the research question

Answer 61

eligibility criteria

Question 62

Instances that diminish a potential participant's capacity to provide informed consent.

Answer 62

decisional impairment

Question 63

The variable that the experimenter believes is affected by the independent variable, and measures after the independent variable occurs

Answer 63

dependent variable

Question 64

Any means to capture, record, or otherwise, describe a group. These methods are concerned with identifying 'what is' rather than 'why it is.'

Answer 64

descriptive methods

Question 65

Statistical information that describes a dataset, including frequencies, measures of central tendency such as mean, median, mode, and also measures of variability including range, variance, and standard deviation.

Answer 65

descriptive statistics

Question 66

research aims to be what two things

Answer 66

valid and reliable

Question 67

accuracy of a measurement

Answer 67

validity

Question 68

consistency or repeatability of a measurement

Answer 68

reliability

Question 69

the tendency of people to overestimte their ability to have predicted an outcome that count not possibly have been predicted

Answer 69

hindsight bias

Question 70

a process that allows a researcher to ensure the sample represents the population on some criteria

Answer 70

stratified sampling

Question 71

- the group that believes the experimenter is conducting the experiment on them, but the experimenter is not - group exposed to the fake condition of the independent variable - measure the effect of participant expectations on dependent variable

Answer 71

placebo group