Psychology As A Science Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts, research methods, experimental designs, biases, ethics, and statistical measurements from the Psychology As A Science lecture.

Psychology

The scientific study of human behavior and mental processes.

Behavior

Actions that can be seen and measured.

Mental Process

Internal and invisible actions in our minds that cannot be seen or measured and rely on psychological constructs to collect data.

Critical Thinking

An approach that requires asking for evidence (empiricism), looking for bias, being self-aware, and evaluating cause-and-effect relationships or alternative explanations.

Hindsight Bias

The "I knew it all along" phenomenon where individuals predict the past better than the future.

Overconfidence

The tendency to be more confident in our knowledge or predictions than correct.

Confirmation Bias

Looking only at evidence that supports one's own claim.

Cultural Norms

Shared expectations that shape belief structures without relying on empiricism or evidence.

Peer Reviewers

Experts who evaluate a study's theory, originality, and accuracy.

Theory

An organizational structure that effectively organizes observations and uses evidence to predict behaviors or events.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction produced by a theory.

Falsifiability

The measure of how likely an idea or hypothesis can be proven false.

Operational Definitions

Carefully worded statements about exact procedures and variables in a study, used to manage researcher bias and allow for replication.

Replication

Repeating the essence of a research study to increase its reliability.

Survey

A structured interview or questionnaire targeting a sample group that relies on self-report to represent a population group.

Likert Scale

A rating scale question format used in surveys (e.g., 1-5).

Social Desirability Bias

Answering research questions in a way participants believe the researcher wants them to answer.

Self-Report Bias

A bias that occurs when participant behavior or information is reported erroneously.

Sampling Bias

A flawed sampling process that produces a group unrepresentative of the overall population.

Convenience Sampling

Collecting data from sample groups who are readily available.

Longitudinal Study

A study that follows the same sample group over an extended period of time (years).

Cross-Sectional Study

A study comparing varied sample groups over a single variable.

Case Study

A non-experimental method where a group or individual is studied in depth to search for universal principles.

Naturalistic Observation

Watching individuals act in situations where they are unaware of an observer.

Meta-analysis

A statistical combination of multiple studies that balances conflicting information or answers additional questions.

Correlational Research

Non-experimental research that measures how closely two variables are related or vary together, which cannot prove cause and effect.

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical index communicating the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables, ranging from +1.0 to -1.0.

Population

The entire group a researcher plans to apply their findings to.

Representative Sample

A sample group that accurately mirrors the target population.

Random Sampling

A selection method that gives every person in a population the same opportunity to participate.

Stratified Sample

A sampling technique that produces the best portrayal of a population by mirroring its sub-structures.

Directionality Problem

An issue in correlation data where it is unknown which variable is the cause and which is the effect.

Illusory Correlation

The appearance of a relationship between variables that does not actually exist.

Third Variable Problem

An unmeasured variable causing the observed results in a study.

Regression Towards the Mean

The tendency for extreme outlier scores to normalize toward the expected average over time.

Experiment

A research method in which one variable is manipulated to measure its effect on another variable.

Control Group

The group in an experiment where all variables are kept constant and participants are not exposed to the treatment.

Experimental Group

The group in an experiment where participants are exposed to treatment and the independent variable is manipulated.

Single-Blind Procedure

An experimental procedure where participants are unaware of which group assignment they have received.

Double-Blind Procedure

An experimental procedure where both participants and research staff are unaware of group assignments.

Placebo Effect

Results caused by expectations alone when control group participants are given a fake treatment (placebo).

Independent Variable

The variable that the researcher suspects causes a change in the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable

The variable measured to determine the actual change caused by the independent variable.

Confounding Variable

Any factor that impacts the study outcome but was not part of the initial hypothesis.

Validity

The extent to which a test or study accurately measures or predicts what it is supposed to.

Reliability

The extent to which a research study yields consistent results.

Standardization

The procedure of making research application universal and comparable to a norm.

Generalizability

The ability to accurately apply research findings from a sample to the larger population.

Quasi-Experimental Design

A research design that lacks random assignment due to utilizing preexisting groups.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

A governing body that sets and enforces ethical guidelines to protect human and animal participants from harm.

Informed Consent

An ethical requirement where a participant is informed of what will happen in the study before agreeing to participate.

Informed Assent

Agreement to participate in a research study provided by minor participants.

Debriefing

A post-experiment explanation given to participants covering findings, deception, and purpose.

Descriptive Statistics

Numerical measures used to describe and summarize the characteristics of a specific group.

Inferential Statistics

Numerical data used to generalize findings from a sample group to a broader population.

Histogram

A bar graph showing frequencies of data.

Standard Deviation

A statistical score that helps analyze the distribution of scores and how close they are to the average.

Statistical Significance

The likelihood that study results were obtained by chance, expressed as $p < .05$.

Null Hypothesis

A hypothesis that assumes there are no differences between experimental groups.