exam 4

psych 209

Conditions

one of the levels of the independent variable in an experiment

design confound

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a threat to internal in an experiment in which a second variable happens to vary systematically along with the intended independent variable

systematic variability

a description of when the levels of a variable coincide in some predictable way with an experiment group membership, creating a potential confound

unsystematic variability

a description of when the levels of a variable fluctuate independently of experiment group membership, contributing to variability within groups

selection effects

a threat to internal validity that occurs in an independent group design when the kinds of participants at one level of the independent variable are systematically different from those at another level

matching groups

participants who are similar on some measured variable are groups into sets; the members of each set are then randomly assigned to different experimental conditions

independent-groups design

separate groups of participants are placed into different levels of the independent variable

within-groups design

each person is presented with all levels of the independent variable

repeated-measures design

a type of within-groups design where participants are measured on a dependent variable more than once after exposure to each level of ind. variable

concurrent-measures design

an experiment using a within-groups design in which participants are exposed to all the levels of an independent variable at roughly the same time and a single attitudinal or behavior preference is the dependent variable

order effects

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in a within-group design, a threat to internal validity in which exposure to one condition changes participant responses to a later condition 

practice effects

a type of order effect in which a long sequence might lead participants to get better at the task or get bored by end

carryover effects

a type of order effect in which some form on contamination carries over from one condition to the next

counterbalancing

in repeated measured experiments presenting the levels of the independent variable to participants in different sequences to control for order effects

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full counterbalancing

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a method of counterbalancing in which all possible condition orders are represented 

partial counterbalancing

a method of counterbalancing in which only some of the possible condition orders are represented

**Latin square**

**-** a technique for partial counterbalancing**,** a formal system to ensure that every condition appears in each position at least once

demand characteristic

a cue that leads participants to guess a study’s hypothesis or goals (threat to internal val)

manipulation check

an extra dependent variable that researchers can insert into an experiment to convince them that their experimental manipulation worked 

pilot study

a study completed before the study of interest usually to test the effectiveness or characteristics of manipulations

scientific literature

a series of related studies, conducted by various researchers that have tested similar variables

file drawer problem

a problem relating to literature review and meta-analyses based on only published literature which might overestimate the support for a theory because studies finding null effects are less likely to be published than studies finding significant results and thus are less likely to be included in such reviews

HARKing

hypothesizing after the results are known

P-hacking

a family of questionable data analysis techniques such as adding participants after the results are initially analyzed, removing or looking for different outliers, computing scores several different ways, or running a few different types of statistics to get a p-value of below .05

underreporting null findings

not publishing null findings

open science

sharing ones data and material freely so others can collaborate use and verify the results

open data

psychologists provide full set of data

open material

psychologists provide their study’s full set of measures and manipulations so others can replicate

generalization mode

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when researchers want to generalize the finding from the sample in a previous study to a larger population, concerned about external validity 

ecological validity

an aspect of external validity, the extent to which studies are similar to real-world context

field settings

real world setting used for research

experimental realism

the extent to which a study is designed to evoke authentic emotions and behaviors

effect size

describes the strength of a relationship between two or more variables, larger effect size is more important

statistically significant

when p < .05, when it is unlikely the result came from the null-hypothesis population 

Curvilinear association

an association between two variables in which the relationship between the two variables is not a straight line, instead as one variable increases the other variables increase and then decrease 

directionality problem

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in a correlational study, the occurrence of both variables being measured around the same time makes it unclear which variable in the association came first 

third-variable problem

when we can come up with an alternative explanation for the association between two variables

spurious associations

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a bivariate correlation that is attributed only to systemic mean differences in subgroups within the sample; the original association is not present within the subgroups

moderator

a variable that depending on its level changes the relationship between two other variables

latin square

a technique for partial counterbalancing**,** a formal system to ensure that every condition appears in each position at least once

variable

an attribute that varies having at least two levels or values

constant

an attribute in a study whose levels (values) are simply observed and recorded

measured variable

a variable in a study whose levels are simply observed and recored

manipulated variable

a variable a researcher controls, usually by assigning study participants to the different levels of the variable

construct

a variable of interest, stated at an abstract level, usually defined as part of a formal statement of a psychological theory

operational definition

the specific way in which a concept of interest is measured or manipulated as a variable in a study

operationalize

to turn a conceptual definition of a variable into a specific measured variable or manipulated variable in order to conduct a research study

claim

an argument someone is trying to make

frequency claims

a claim that describes a particular rate or degree of a single variable

association claims

a claim that argues that one level of a variable is likely to be associated with a particular level of another variable

correlate

when one variable changes, the other variable tends to change too (said to be related)

correlational study

To support an association claim the researcher usually measures the two variables and determines whether they’re associated

positive association

an association in which high levels of one variable go with high levels of the other variable and low levels of one variable go with low levels of the other variable

negative association

an association in which high goes with low and low goes with high

zero association

a lack of systematic association between two variables

casual claim

a claim argues that one of the variables is responsible for changing the other

validity

the appropriateness of a conclusion or decision, and in general, a valid claim is reasonable, accurate, and justifiable

construct validity

how well a conceptual variable is operationalized

generalizability

how did the researchers choose the study’s participants and how well do those participants represent the intended population

external validity

how well the results of a study generalize to, or represent, people or contexts besides those in the original study

statistical validity

the extend to which a study’s statistical conclusion is precise, reasonable, and replicable

point estimate

a single estimate of some population value based on data from a sample

confidence interval

a range designed to include the true population value a high proportion of the time

internal validity

in a relationship between one variable (A) and another (B) the extent to which A rather than some other variable (C) is the response for changes in B

independent variable

the manipulated variable

dependent variable

the measured variable

comparison group

a group in an experiment whose levels on the independent variable differ from those of the treatment group in some intended and meaningful way

confounds

a general term for a potential alternative explanation for a research finding, a threat to internal validity

confederate

an actor playing a specific role for the experimenter

probabilistic

describing the empirical method, stating that science is intended to explain a certain proportion (but not necessarily all) of the possible cases

the availability heuristic

a biased intuition where people incorrectly estimate the frequency of something relying predominantly on instances that easily come to mind rather than using all possible evidence in evaluating a conclusion

present/present bias

people incorrectly estimate the relationship between an event and its outcome, focusing on times the event and outcome are present while failing to consider evidence that is absent and harder to notice. Reflects our failure to consider appropriate compassion groups

confirmation bias

he tendency to consider only the evidence that supports a hypothesis including asking only the questions that will lead to the expected answer

bias blind spot

the belief that we are unlikely to fall prey to other biases compared to others

empirical journal articles

a scholarly article that reports for the first time the results of a research study

review journal articles

summarize and integrate all the published studies that have been done in one research area

meta analysis

combines the results of many studies and gives a number that summarizes the magnitude of the effect size of a relationship

disinformation

the deliberate creation and sharing of information known to be false

empiricism

involves using evidence from the senses(sight, hearing, touch) or from instruments that assist the senses as the basis for conclusions

theory

a set of statements that describes general principles about how variables relate to one another

hypothesis

a statement of the specific result the researcher expects to observe from a particular study if the theory is correct (also called a prediction)

preregistered

after the study is designed before collecting any data, the researcher state publicly what the study’s outcome is expected to be

replication

the study is conducted again to test whether the result is consistent

weight of the evidence

a conclusion drawn from reviewing the  scientific literature and considering the proportion of studies that is consistent with a theory

falsifiability

a feature in scientific theory, it is possible to collect data that will indicate that the theory is wrong

universalism

Scientific claims are evaluated according to their merit, independent of the researcher’s credentials or reputation. The same-established criteria apply to all scientists and all research

communality

Scientific knowledge is created by a community and its findings belong to the community.

applied research

research whose goal is to find a solution to a particular real-world problem

basic research

research whose goal is to enhance the general body of knowledge without regard for direct application to practical problems

translational research

use of lessons from basic research to develop and test applications to health care, psychotherapy, or other forms of treatment and intervention

disinterestedness

scientists strive to discover the truth whatever that ends up being

organized skepticism

scientists question everything

self-correcting

process where scientists make their research available for peer review with the goal of correcting errors

operational variable

the specific way in which a concept of interest is measured or manipulated as a variable in a study

the margin of error of the estimate

an inferential statistic providing a range of values that has a high probability of containing the true population value

covariance

the degree to which two variables go together, criteria for establishing a causal claim

temporal precedence

one of three criteria for establishing a casual claim, the proposed casual variable comes first in time before the proposed outcome variable

paywalled

referring to a journal that the public must pay to have access to

debriefed

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to inform participants after the study of the study’s true nature, details, and hypothesis 

principle of respect for persons

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research participants should be treated as autonomous agents and certain groups deserve special protection