Unit 0: Scientific Foundations - Flashcard Definitions

A comprehensive vocabulary flashcard set covering foundational research methods, statistical concepts, psychological perspectives, and ethics from Unit 0.

Behavioral perspective

explains behavior through learning: conditioning, reinforcement, punishment.

Bimodal distribution

a distribution with two peaks (two modes).

Biological perspective

explains behavior through brain, genes, hormones, and nervous system.

Biopsychosocial approach

combines biological, psychological, and social factors to explain behavior.

Case study

in-depth study of one individual or small group.

Measures of central tendency

single scores that summarize the center of a data set (mean, median, mode).

Cognitive bias

a systematic error in thinking that skews judgments or decisions.

Cognitive perspective

explains behavior through mental processes like memory, perception, problem-solving.

Confidentiality

ethical rule requiring participant data/identity to stay private.

Confederates

people posing as participants who are secretly working for the researcher.

Confirmation bias

tendency to seek/favor information that confirms what you already believe.

Control group

the group that does NOT get the treatment/IV; the baseline for comparison.

Convenience sampling

choosing participants simply because they're easy to reach (not random).

Correlation

a measure of how two variables relate; does NOT prove causation.

Correlation coefficient

a number from $-1$ to $+1$ showing the strength/direction of a relationship.

Cultural norms

behaviors considered typical or acceptable within a specific culture.

Debriefing

explaining the true purpose of a study to participants after it ends.

Deception

misleading participants about a study's true purpose during the study.

Dependent variable (DV)

the variable that is measured; what changes as a result of the IV.

Descriptive statistics

numbers that summarize a data set (mean, median, mode, range) without generalizing.

Directionality problem

uncertainty about which of two correlated variables is causing the other.

Double-blind procedure

neither participants NOR researchers know who's in which group.

Effect sizes

a statistic showing how strong/large a relationship or difference is.

Ethical guidelines

standards (APA) researchers must follow to protect participants.

Evolutionary perspective

explains behavior through natural selection and survival/reproductive advantage.

Experiment

a method that manipulates an IV to test cause-and-effect on a DV.

Experimental group

the group that DOES receive the treatment/IV.

Experimenter bias

researcher's expectations unintentionally influence the results.

Falsifiable

capable of being proven wrong through testing (a requirement of good theories).

Framing

how an issue/question is worded, which affects how people respond to it.

Generalizability

how well findings from a sample apply to the whole population.

Hindsight bias

the "I-knew-it-all-along" tendency to see past events as having been predictable.

Histogram

a bar graph showing the frequency distribution of numerical data.

Humanistic perspective

emphasizes free will, self-actualization, and personal growth.

Hypothesis

a specific, testable prediction about the relationship between variables.

Illusory correlation

perceiving a relationship between two things that doesn't actually exist.

Independent variable (IV)

the variable the researcher deliberately manipulates.

Inferential statistics

numbers (like p-values) used to generalize from a sample to a population and test significance.

Informed assent

a minor's agreement to participate (used alongside parental consent).

Informed consent

participants agree to take part after being told the risks/purpose beforehand.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

a committee that reviews studies to make sure they're ethical.

Likert scales

a survey rating scale (e.g., 1–5, strongly disagree to strongly agree).

Mean

the arithmetic average of a data set.

Measures of variation

statistics describing how spread out data is (range, standard deviation).

Median

the middle score when data is arranged in order.

Meta-analysis

a study that statistically combines results from many separate studies.

Mode

the most frequently occurring score in a data set.

Naturalistic observation

watching behavior in its real-world setting without interfering.

Negative correlation

as one variable increases, the other decreases.

Negative skew

a distribution with its tail pulled toward the LOW (left) end.

Non-experimental

a method that doesn't manipulate variables, so it can't show cause-and-effect.

Normal curve

a symmetrical, bell-shaped distribution of data.

Operational definition

a precise, measurable description of how a variable is defined/manipulated in a study.

Overconfidence

overestimating the accuracy of your own knowledge or judgments.

Peer review

experts evaluate a study's quality/validity before it's published.

Percentile rank

the percentage of scores that fall at or below a given score.

Placebo

a fake, inactive treatment given to the control group.

Placebo effect

improvement that occurs simply because a person expects/believes treatment will work.

Population

the entire group a researcher wants to draw conclusions about.

Positive correlation

as one variable increases, the other also increases.

Positive skew

a distribution with its tail pulled toward the HIGH (right) end.

Protection from harm

ethical rule that participants must not be physically or psychologically harmed.

Psychodynamic perspective

explains behavior via unconscious drives and childhood experiences (Freud).

Qualitative

data described in words/categories rather than numbers.

Quantitative

data expressed as numbers/measurable amounts.

Random assignment

randomly placing participants into experimental vs. control groups to reduce bias.

Random sample

every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.

Range

the difference between the highest and lowest scores.

Regression toward the mean

extreme scores tend to move closer to average on a retest.

Replication

repeating a study to check if the same results occur again.

Representative sample

a sample that accurately reflects the traits of the whole population.

Confounding variable

an outside factor (not the IV) that affects the DV and muddies results.

Sample

the subset of a population that actually participates in a study.

Sampling bias

a sample that fails to represent the population fairly.

Scatterplot

a graph of dots used to show the relationship between two variables.

Self-report bias

inaccurate survey/interview answers due to exaggeration or social desirability.

Single-blind procedure

only the PARTICIPANT doesn't know their group assignment.

Skewed distribution

an asymmetrical distribution pulled toward one end.

Social desirability bias

answering in a way meant to look good to others rather than truthfully.

Sociocultural perspective

explains behavior through social and cultural influences.

Standard deviation

a measure of how much scores typically deviate from the mean.

Statistical significance (p-value)

the probability results happened by chance; a low p-value suggests a real effect.

Structured interviews

the same set of questions asked in the same order to every participant.

Survey technique

using questionnaires to gather self-reported data from many people quickly.

Theory

an organized set of principles that explains and predicts behavior.

Third-variable problem

an unmeasured outside variable may actually explain a correlation between two others.

Variable

anything that can change, be manipulated, or be measured in research.

Variation

the degree to which individual scores differ from one another.