PSY 1305 Chapter 1 Module 2

hindsight bias

also known as the i-knew-it-all-along phenomenon. the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome that one would have foreseen it.

overconfidence

tend to think we know more that we do

perceiving order in random events

finding patterns even in random data

peer reviewers

scientific experts who evaluate a research article’s theory, originality, and accuracy

theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

hypotheses

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

operational definitions

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study. for example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures. (also known as operationalization)

replicate

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced

preregistration

publicly communicating planned study design, hypotheses, data collection, and analyses

meta-analysis

a statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion

exploratory research

investigators gather data and seek patters that inspire theories

confirmatory research

the researcher has a pretty specific idea about the relationship between the variables under investigation.

case study

a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

naturalistic observations

a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without changing or controlling the situation

survey

a descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group

random sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

population

all those in a group being studied, from which rando samples may be drawn. except for national studies, this does NOT refer to a country’s whole population.

correlate

a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor (variable) predicts the other

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the direction and strength of the relationship between two things (from -1.00 to +1.00)

variables

anything that can vary and is practical and ethical to measure

scatterplots

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. the slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. the amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation).

illusory correlation

perceiving a relationship where none exists, or perceiving a stronger-than-actual relationship

regression toward the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back (regress) toward the average

double-blind procedure

an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are uninformed (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. commonly used in drug-evaluation studies

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent

confounding variables

in an experiment, a variable other than the variable being studied that might influence a study’s results

experimental group

in an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable

independent variable

the variable that is manipulated

dependent variable

the variable that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated