Unit 0 - Science Practices

Bio-Psychological Approach

Explains behavior through psychological functions and human biology

Behavioral Approach

Explains behavior as a product of learning and relation through past experiences (all behaviors are conditioned through past ones)

Psychoanalytical Approach

explains behavior through unconscious forces (unaware feelings, desires, and conflicts)

Humanistic Approach

explains behavior through choice

Cognitive Approach

explains behavior as a result of cognitive function or thinking (your perception influences your behavior and the outcome)

Sociocultural Approach

explains behavior as a result of strong influence by social groups and culture (aligning yourself with societal norms and other people)

Evolutionary Approach

explains behavior as a result of the desire for the next generation (your children) to survive

Confirmation Bias

a phenomenon where people tend to look for and favor information that confirms a preexisting belief that they had

Hindsight Bias

a phenomenon where events that have occurred are thought of as more predictable as they were before they occurred

Overconfidence Bias

a phenomenon where when someone’s confidence is greater than their general accuracy, it can lead to them making decisions based on their overestimated outcomes

Experimental

a type of research method that clearly states a cause or effect with an independent or dependent variable

Hypothesis

an idea or explanation for something that is based on known facts but has not yet been proved

Falsifiable Hypothesis

a hypothesis that is able to be proven false with solid hard evidence

Independent Variable

a variable that researchers can manipulate to influence the dependent variable in some way

Operational Definition

the necessary parameters of a study that clearly defines all parts of the hypothesis

Random Assignment

groups are assigned randomly. thats it

Social Desirability Bias

a phenomenon where a participant of a study may want to try to give the researcher their desired results

Single Blind Study

a type of experimental study where participants do not know if they are part of the experimental group or the control group to prevent social desirability bias

Double Blind Study

a type of experimental study where the participant AND experimenter don’t know what the fricking crap is happening so the researcher cant influence the outcome

Confounding Variable

an uncontrolled variable eliminated or unaccounted for in the study

Representative Sampling

when a sample is gathered that accurately reflects the larger population

Generalizability

the idea that a bigger sample or a sample with a wider range of people will yield better results

Convenience Sampling

when the sample that is gathered contains only people who are close (proximity or familiarity) to the researcher, so it is not as generalizable and will not yield very good results

Sampling Bias

the phenomenon where the skewing of a sample away from representing the population will yield worse results

Non-Experimental

a type of research method that does NOT have researcher-controlled independent variables

Case Study

a type of non experimental study that deals with an in depth investigation of an individual or a small group

Naturalistic Observation

a type of non experimental study that deals with the observation if people in a natural environment, with the researcher noting down observations and debriefing the individuals later on their role in the study

Meta - Analysis

a type of non experimental study that compiles other research studies to make an overall claim

Experimenter Bias

a phenomenon where the experimenter may treat some participants different than others

Dependent Variable

a variable that is influenced/changed by the independent variable

Experimental Group

the group that receives the variable being tested in an experimental study

Control Group

the group that does not receive the variable being tested in an experimental study and works as a benchmark to see what the variable actually did

Placebo

an inactive treatment that is given to the control group

Correlational Study

a type of non experimental study that analyzes data based on two variables’ correlation

Measurement Instrument

tools that are used to measure results of a study

Qualitative

a type of measurement instrument that describes the results of a study in words/nonnumerical data

Quantitative

a type of measurement instrument that describes the results of a study in numbers and quantity

Likert Scale

a type of quantitative measurement instrument that has the participants describe their experience on a numerical scale (1-5)

Peer Review

a type of measurement instrument that assesses the validity and reliability of a study by running it through an expert

Repetition

a type of measurement instrument that assesses the validity and reliability of a study by replicating it and looking for similar results

The Directionality Problem

a difficulty with correlational studies that occurs because the relationship between the variables (and which one is affecting the other) may be unclear

The Third Variable Problem

a difficulty with correlational studies that occurs because an undiscovered causative variable could influence the perception of correlation

Correlation Coefficient

a number that ranges from -1 to 1 that determines the strength and type of correlation (closer to 1 is a stronger relationship, + numbers are positively correlated with each other and vice versa)

Self Report Bias

a phenomenon that occurs when participants fill out a survey and skew their results to avoid looking bad to others

Survey Technique

a method where participants give their opinion on a topic and their opinions are collected, measured, and analyzed.

Institutional Review

a method by which psychology studies are accepted or rejected based on how they meet ethical guidelines

Informed Consent

an ethical guideline where research participants must give consent to participate in a study after being informed about it

Informed Assent

an ethical guideline where minors must sign a corresponding assent form after being informed about the study AND their parents must sign a consent form

Research Confederates

“Posers” in a study who act like they are research participants even though they know everything about the research study

Debriefing

an ethical guideline where all participants should be informed at the end of a study that they were actually a part of a research study and all confederates must reveal themselves

Bimodal Distribution

a graph with two peaks (modes)

Central Tendency

a statistical measure that identifies one number as a number that represents the whole dataset the best

Statistical Significance

the demonstration that the results of a study are not just the results of chance

Effect Size

a numerical measure of the strength or magnitude of the relationship between variables or the size of the difference between groups in a study