0.5 techniques in experimental psychology

experimental method

establishes a cause and effect between variables

independent variable

variable that is changed/manipulated to see if it changes the outcome of the experiment

dependent variable

variable that measures the outcome of the experiment

confounding variable

a variable that wasn't accounted for/controlled in a study that affects the results => decreasing accuracy

operational definition

how variables are measured and manipulated in a story (outlines exact procedure of a study)

experimental group

participants who are affected by the independent variable

control group

serves as a baseline to compare with the experimental group

random assignment

randomly assigns participants to either control or experimental group => limits bias

placebo effect

individuals improve on something because they believe they're receiving beneficial treatment when they actually aren't

experimental bias

experimenter's beliefs influence the outcome/results of a study (manipulation of results

single-blind study

the participants don't know if they're in the experimental or control groups, the researchers do know who's in which group

double-blind study

both participants and researchers don't know who's in the experimental group or the control group

placebo condition

the placebo acts as a fake independent variable given to the control group (group without the IV)

sample

part of a population selected for a study (used to generalize a whole population)

representative sample

sample that represents a whole population (demographic, ethnicities, diversity, characteristics)

random sample

when everyone has an equal chance of participating in the study (limits bias from researchers/participants + increases generalization)

sample bias

when the sample does not represent the larger population well

generalization

research findings obtained from a study that can be applied to a larger population as a whole