understanding psychological research pt 4

Question 1

illusory correlations

Answer 1

seeing relationships between two things when in reality no such relationship exists

Question 2

confirmation bias

Answer 2

tendency to ignore evidence that disproves ideas or beliefs

Question 3

experimental group

Answer 3

group designed to answer the research question; experimental manipulation is the only difference between the experimental and control groups, so any differences between the two are due to experimental manipulation rather than chance

Question 4

control group

Answer 4

serves as a basis for comparison and controls for chance factors that might influence the results of the study—by holding such factors constant across groups so that the experimental manipulation is the only difference between groups

Question 5

operational definition

Answer 5

description of what actions and operations will be used to measure the dependent variables and manipulate the independent variables

Question 6

experimenter bias

Answer 6

researcher expectations skew the results of the study

Question 7

single-blind study

Answer 7

experiment in which the researcher knows which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group

Question 8

double-blind study

Answer 8

experiment in which both the researchers and the participants are blind to group assignments

Question 9

placebo effect

Answer 9

people’s expectations or beliefs influencing or determining their experience in a given situation

Question 10

independent variable

Answer 10

variable that is influenced or controlled by the experimenter; in a sound experimental study, the independent variable is the only important difference between the experimental and control group