psy 202 midterm terminology (textbook)

behaviorism

A psychological approach that emphasizes environmental influences on observable behaviors.

Big Data

Science that uses very large data sets and advanced computational methods to discover patterns that would be difficult to detect with smaller data sets.

Biopsychosocial model

An approach to psychological science that integrates biological factors, psychological processes, and social-contextual influences in shaping human mental life and behavior.

Critical thinking

Systematically questioning and evaluating information using well-supported evidence.

Culture

The beliefs, values, rules, norms, and customs that exist within a group of people who share a common language and environment.

Data ethics

The branch of philosophy that addresses ethical issues in data sciences, including data accessibility, identifiability, and autonomy.

Distributed practice

Learning material in several bursts over a prolonged time frame.

Diversity and inclusion

The value and practice of ensuring that psychological science represents the experiences of all humans.

Elaborative interrogation

Learning by asking yourself why a fact is true or a process operates the way it does.

Epigenetics

The study of biological or environmental influences on gene expression that are not part of inherited genes.

Functionalism

An approach to psychology concerned with the adaptive purpose, or function, of mind and behavior.

Interleaved practice

Switching between topics during studying.

Mind/body problem

A fundamental psychological issue: Are mind and body separate and distinct, or is the mind simply the physical brain’s subjective experience?

Natural selection

In evolutionary theory, the idea that those who inherit characteristics that help them adapt to their particular environments have a selective advantage over those who do not.

Nature/nurture debate

The arguments concerning whether psychological characteristics are biologically innate or acquired through education, experience, and culture.

Open science movement

A social movement among scientists to improve methods increase research transparency, and promote data sharing.

Psychological science

The study, through research, of the mind, brain, and behavior.

Replicability

The likelihood that the results of a study would be very similar if it were run again.

Retrieval-based learning

Learning new information by repeatedly recalling it from long-term memory.

Self-explaination

Reflecting on your leaning process and trying to make sense of new material in your own words.

Steam of consciousness

A phrase coined by William James to describe each person’s continuous series of ever-changing thoughts.

accuracy

a degree to which an experimental measure is free from error

bayesian statistics

A class of statistics that combines existing beliefs with new data to update the estimated likelihood that a belief is true

case study

A descriptive research method that involves the intensive examination of an atypical person or organization

central tendency

A measure that represents the typical response or the behavior of a group as a whole

confound

Anything that affects a dependent variable and that may unintentionally vary between the experimental conditions of a study

control group

The participants in a experiment who receive no intervention or who receive an intervention that is unrelated to the independent variable being investigated

correlational studies

A research method that describes and predicts how variables are naturally related in the real world, without any attempt by the researcher to alter them or assign causation between them

culturally sensitive research

Studies that take into account the role that culture plays in determining thoughts, feelings, and actions

data

Measurements gathered during the research process

dependent variable

The variable that is measured in a research study

descriptive research

Research methods that involve observing behavior to describe that behavior objectively and systematically

descriptive statistics

Statistics that summarize the data collected in a study

directionality problem

A problem encountered in correlational studies; the researchers find a relationship between two variables, but they cannot determine which variable may have caused changes in the other variable

experiment

A research method that tests causal hypotheses by manipulating and measuring variables

experimental group

The participants in an experiment who receive the treatment

experimentation aversion

A tendency for people to prefer to receive an untested treatment than to participate in a randomized study to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment

external validity

The degree to which the findings of a study can be generalized to other people, settings, or situations

false positive

A result that occurs when there is no real effect but a study produces a statistically significant result by chance

HARKing

“Hypothesizing after the results are known” instead of generating a theory before running the study and analyzing the results

hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction, narrower than the theory it is based on

independent variable

The variable that is manipulated in a research study

inferential statistics

A set of procedures that enable researchers to decide whether differences between two or more groups are probably just chance variations or whether they reflect true differences in the populations being compared

institutional review boards (IRBs)

Groups of people responsible for reviewing proposed research to ensure that it meets the accepted standards of science and provides for the physical and emotional well-being of research participants

internal validity

The degree to which the effects observed in an experiment are due to the independent variable and not to confounds

mean

A measure of central tendency that is the arithmetic average of a set of numbers

median

A measure of central tendency that is the value in a set of numbers that falls exactly halfway between the lowest and highest values

meta-analysis

A “study of studies” that combines the findings of multiple studies to arrive at a conclusion

mode

A measure of central tendency that is the most frequent score of value in a sry of numbers

naturalistic observation

A type of descriptive study in which the researcher is a passive observer, separated from the situation and making no attempt to change or alter ongoing behavior

operational definition

A definition that qualifies and quantifies a variable so the variable can be understood objectively

participant observation

A type of descriptive study in who h the researcher is involved in the situation

p-hacking

Testing the same hypothesis using statistical tests in different variations until one produces a statistically significant result

population

Everyone in the group the experimenter is interested in

preregistration

Documenting a study’s hypotheses, methods, and analysis plan ahead of time and publishing it on a time-stamped website

questionable research practices

Practices that unintentionally make the research less replicable

random assignment

Placing research participants into the conditions of an experiment in such a way that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any level of the independent variable

reliability

The degree to which a measure is stable and consistent over time

replication

Repetition of a research study to confirm or contradict the results

research

A scientific process that involves the careful collection, analysis, and interpretation of data

sample

A subset of a population

scatterplot

A graphical depiction of the relationship between two variables

scientific method

A systematic and dynamic procedure of observing and measuring phenomena, used to achieve the goals of description, prediction, control, and explaination; it involves an interaction along research, theories, and hypotheses

self-report methods

Methods of data collection in which people are asked to provide information about themselves, such as in surveys or questionnaires

standard deviation

A statistical measure of how far away each value is, on average, from the mean

theory

A model of interconnected ideas or concepts that explains what is observed and makes predictions about future events. Theories are based on empirical evidence.

third variable problem

A problem that occurs when the researcher cannot directly manipulate variables; as a result, the researcher cannot be confident that another, unmeasured variable is not the actual cause of differences in the variables of interest.

variability

In a set of numbers, how widely dispersed the values are from each other and from the mean

variable

Something in the world that can vary and that a researcher can manipulate, measure, or both

correlation coefficient

A descriptive statistic that indicates the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables

construct validity

The extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure