psych chapter 2

Question 1

Theory

Answer 1

an organized system of assumptions and principles that purports to explain a specified set of phenomena and their inter relationships.

Question 2

hypothesis

Answer 2

a statement that attempts to predict or to account for a set of phenomena, scientific hypotheses specify relationships among events or variables and are empirically tested.

Question 3

operational definition

Answer 3

a precise definition of a term in a hypothesis which specifies the operations for observing and measuring the process of phenomenon being defined.

Question 4

principle of faisifability

Answer 4

a principle that a scientific theory must make predictions that are specific enough to expose the theory to the possibility of dis confirmation, that is , the theory must predict not only what will happen but also what will not happen

Question 5

confirmation bias

Answer 5

the tendency to look for or pay attention only to the information that confirms ones own belief

Question 6

representative sample

Answer 6

a group of individuals, selected from a population for study, that matches the population on important characteristics such as age and sex.

Question 7

descriptive method

Answer 7

methods that yield descriptions of behaviour but not necessarily casual explanations

Question 8

case study

Answer 8

a detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated.

Question 9

observational study

Answer 9

a study in which the researcher carefully and systematically observes and records behavior without interfering with the behavior, it may involve either naturalistic or laboratory observation.

Question 10

psychological tests

Answer 10

procedures used to measure and evaluate personality traits, emotional aptitudes, interests, abilities and values.

Question 11

standardize

Answer 11

in test construction to develop uniform procedures for giving and scoring a test

Question 12

norms

Answer 12

in test constructions, established standings of performance

Question 13

reliability

Answer 13

in test construction, the consistency of scores derived form a test, from on time and place to another.

Question 14

validity

Answer 14

the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure.

Question 15

surveys

Answer 15

questionnaires and interviews that ask people directly about their experiences, attitudes or opinions.

Question 16

volunteer bias

Answer 16

a shortcoming of findings derived from a sample of volunteers instead of a representative sample, the volunteers may differ form those who did not volunteer.

Question 17

correlational study

Answer 17

a descriptive study that looks for a consistent relationship between two phenomena

Question 18

correlation

Answer 18

a measure of how strongly two variables are related to one another

Question 19

variables

Answer 19

characteristics of behavior or experience that can be measured or described by a numeric scale

Question 20

negative correlation

Answer 20

an association between increases in one varioable and decreases in another

Question 21

coefficient of correlation

Answer 21

a measuer of correlation that ranged in value form -1 to 1

Question 22

experiment

Answer 22

a controlled test of a hypothesis in which the researcher manipulates one variable to discover its effect on another.

Question 23

independent variable

Answer 23

a variable that an experimenter manipulates

Question 24

dependent variable

Answer 24

a variable that an experimenter predicts will be affected by manipulations of the independent variable.

Question 25

control condition

Answer 25

in an experiment a comparison condition in which participants are not exposed to the same treatment as in the experimental condition.

Question 26

random assignment

Answer 26

a procedure for assigning people to experimental and control groups in which each individual has the same probability as any other of being assigned to a given group.

Question 27

placebo

Answer 27

an inactive substance or fake treatment used as a control in an experiment or given by a medical practitioner.

Question 28

single blind study

Answer 28

a experiment in which participants do not know whether they are in an experiment or a control group, but the researchers do.

Question 29

experimenter effects

Answer 29

unintended changes in study participants behavior due to cues that the experimenter inadvertently conveys

Question 30

double blind study

Answer 30

an experiment in which neither the people being studied nor the individuals running the study know who is in the control group and who is in the experimental group until after the results are tallied.

Question 31

field research

Answer 31

descriptive or experimental research conducted in a natural setting outside the laboratory.

Question 32

descriptive statistics

Answer 32

statistical procedure that organize and summarize research data.

Question 33

standard deviation

Answer 33

a commonly used measure of variability that indicates the average difference between scores in a distribution and their mean.

Question 34

cross sectional study

Answer 34

a study in which people or animals of different ages are compared at a given time.

Question 35

longitudinal study

Answer 35

a study in which people or animals are followed and periodically reassessed over a period of time.