understanding psychological research pt 1

Question 1

institutional review board (IRB)

Answer 1

committee of administrators, scientists, and community members that reviews proposals for research involving human participants

Question 2

informed consent

Answer 2

process of informing a research participant about what to expect during an experiment, any risks involved, and the implications of the research, and then obtaining the person’s consent to participate

Question 3

deception

Answer 3

purposely misleading experiment participants in order to maintain the integrity of the experiment

Question 4

debriefing

Answer 4

when an experiment involved deception, participants are told complete and truthful information about the experiment at its conclusion

Question 5

institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC)

Answer 5

committee of administrators, scientists, veterinarians, and community members that reviews proposals for research involving non-human animals

Question 6

correlation

Answer 6

relationship between two or more variables; when two variables are correlated, one variable changes as the other does

Question 7

positive correlation

Answer 7

two variables change in the same direction, both becoming either larger or smaller

Question 8

negative correlation

Answer 8

two variables change in different directions, with one becoming larger as the other becomes smaller; a negative correlation is not the same thing as no correlation

Question 9

cause-and-effect relationship

Answer 9

changes in one variable cause the changes in the other variable; can be determined only through an experimental research design

Question 10

cofounding variable

Answer 10

unanticipated outside factor that affects both variables of interest, often giving the false impression that changes in one variable causes changes in the other variable, when, in actuality, the outside factor causes changes in both variables