Research Methods in Psychology Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture slides on introductory psychological research methods, statistical analysis, and ethical guidelines.

Psychology

The scientific study of mental processes and behavior.

Mental Processes

The "thinking" parts of our brain; everything happening inside our heads that cannot be seen from the outside.

Behavior

What people do and how they act; all the observable actions that can be seen from the outside.

Perspectives in Psychology

Different ways of understanding and explaining human behavior and mental processes.

Psych Fingers Mnemonic

A memory technique mapping psychological perspectives to hand parts: Pinky = Biological, Ring = Humanism, Middle = Behaviorism, Index = Cognitive, Thumb = Psychodynamic, Open Palm = Socio-Cultural, Wrist Bone = Evolutionary, Multiple Fingers = Biopsychosocial.

Empirical Evidence

Information obtained through observation, experimentation, or measurement that provides objective data to counteract cognitive bias.

Scientific Method

A systematic approach used in psychology to study human behavior and mental processes through observation, hypothesis formulation, experimentation, data analysis, and drawing conclusions.

Falsifiable Hypothesis

A specific statement or prediction in psychology that can be tested and potentially proven false through observation or experimentation.

Reliability

The degree to which a measure or test produces consistent results when administered repeatedly under similar conditions.

Validity

The extent to which a research study or measurement tool accurately measures what it intends to measure.

American Psychological Association (APA)

The largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States.

Social Desirability Bias

The tendency of individuals to respond to questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others or conforms to social norms rather than providing honest answers.

Correlational Research

A scientific method used in psychology to examine naturally occurring associations between two or more variables without manipulating them.

Scatterplot

A visual representation used in correlational research to display the relationship between two variables and assess its strength, direction, and outliers.

Correlation Coefficient

A numerical measure ranging from -1 to +1 that indicates the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.

Experimental Method

A research technique used to investigate cause-and-effect relationships by deliberately manipulating one variable and measuring its effect on another.

Independent Variable

The variable that the researcher deliberately changes or manipulates in an experiment to observe its effect.

Dependent Variable

The variable that is observed and measured for changes in an experiment, representing the outcome or response.

Experimental Group

The group of participants in an experiment who are exposed to the independent variable being tested.

Control Group

A group of participants in an experiment who are not exposed to the independent variable, serving as a baseline for comparison.

Single-Blind Study

A research design in which participants are unaware of whether they are in the experimental or control group, but the researchers know.

Double-Blind Study

A research design in which both the participants and the researchers conducting the study are unaware of who belongs to the experimental or control group.

Placebo Condition

An experimental setup in which a control group receives an inactive substance or fake treatment (placebo) while the experimental group receives the active treatment.

Sample

A subset of individuals or cases selected from a larger population of interest to make inferences about the whole population.

Random Sample

A selection technique ensuring that every individual in a population has an equal opportunity to be included in the study, reducing researcher bias.

Sample Bias

A distortion that occurs when a sample is not representative of the broader target population, leading to inaccurate conclusions.

Descriptive Statistics

Numerical measures used to summarize, organize, and describe the key characteristics of a dataset in a concise way.

Inferential Statistics

Statistical procedures that use data gathered from a sample to draw conclusions, make predictions, or generalize to a larger population.

Measures of Central Tendency

Statistical tools (mean, median, and mode) used to identify a single value representing the center or typical score of a distribution.

Mean

A measure of central tendency representing the average value of a data set, calculated by dividing the sum of all values by the total count.

Mode

A measure of central tendency representing the value or score that occurs most frequently in a dataset.

Normal Curve

A symmetrical bell-shaped distribution where the majority of data clusters near the center (mean) with fewer values toward the extremes.

Regression to the Mean

The statistical phenomenon where extreme initial scores tend to move closer toward the average when measured again.

Skewed Distributions

Asymmetrical data distributions where scores cluster toward one end and the tail extends either to the right (positive skew) or to the left (negative skew).

Standard Deviation

A statistical index that measures how spread out or close together individual values are relative to the mean of the dataset.

Percentile Rank

A statistical value indicating the percentage of scores in a distribution that are equal to or lower than a specific score.

Statistical Significance

The statistical likelihood that observed research findings did not occur by chance alone, typically indicated by a p-value below 0.05.

Meta Analysis

A statistical method combining and analyzing results from multiple independent research studies on the same topic to draw overall conclusions.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

An ethics committee responsible for reviewing and approving research proposals to safeguard the rights and welfare of human participants.

Informed Consent

The ethical requirement that participants voluntarily agree to take part in a study after being informed of its purpose, procedures, risks, and rights.

Informed Assent

An agreement to participate in research designed for children or individuals with limited decision-making capacity alongside legal guardian consent.

Confidentiality

The ethical duty of researchers to protect participant identities and ensure that personal research data is kept secure and private.

Deception

Misleading participants about the true purpose or procedures of a study, permissible only when justified by scientific need and followed by debriefing.

Confederates

Individuals who pose as real participants in a research study but are actually working in secret collaboration with the experimenters.

Debriefing

The post-experimental process of providing participants with full explanations regarding the true purpose, hypotheses, and methods of a study.

Defensible Claim

A clear, specific argument or position grounded in empirical evidence and psychological science that directly responds to a research prompt.