Module 2: Research Strategies: How Psychologists Ask and Answer Questions

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key research methods, statistical concepts, experimental designs, cognitive biases, and ethical guidelines from Module 2.

Hindsight bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it; also known as the "I knew it all along" phenomenon.

Overconfidence

The human tendency to think we know more than we actually do, leading individuals to be more confident than correct when answering factual questions or making predictions.

Perceiving order in random events

The cognitive tendency for pattern-seeking humans to perceive meaningful patterns, streaks, or order in random data or occurrences where none actually exist.

Misinformation

Misleading information, whether intended to deceive or not.

Disinformation

Intentionally false information that is deliberately created or distributed to deceive others.

Illusory truth effect

The tendency for repeated statements to become more memorable, plausible, and credible over time, leading people to perceive familiar claims as factual.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to search for, favor, and welcome evidence that confirms prior beliefs, while disregarding or resisting evidence that contradicts them.

Echo chamber

An environment or social media space where people seek out, follow, and interact primarily with like-minded individuals who reinforce and amplify their existing beliefs.

Truth sandwich

A four-step debunking framework that begins with a clear fact, acknowledges the myth, explains why the myth is a fallacy/misinformation, and concludes by restating the original factual truth.

Prebunking

A proactive strategy that inoculates individuals against future misinformation by forewarning them about deceptive techniques and equipping them with counterarguments before they encounter falsehoods.

Scientific method

A self-correcting process for evaluating ideas through systematic observation and empirical analysis.

Peer reviewers

Independent expert scientists who evaluate an unplublished research study's theoretical basis, originality, and accuracy before a scientific journal editor decides whether to publish it.

Theory

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations, connects isolated facts, and predicts behaviors or events.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory, specifying what empirical findings would support or disconfirm the theory.

Operational definition

A carefully worded, measurable statement defining the exact procedures used to manipulate an independent variable or measure a dependent variable in a study.

Replication

Repeating the essence of a research study, typically with different participants, materials, and circumstances, to determine whether the original finding's results reliably reproduce.

Preregistration

The practice of publicly communicating a study's planned design, hypotheses, data collection methods, and analyses before conducting the research to ensure scientific openness and transparency.

Meta-analysis

A statistical procedure that combines and synthesizes the findings of multiple independent studies to derive an overall conclusion and avoid small-sample limitations.

Case study

A descriptive research technique in which one individual or group is examined in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Naturalistic observation

A descriptive research technique that involves recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without attempting to manipulate or control the environment.

Survey

A descriptive research technique that examines many cases by asking individuals to self-report their attitudes, opinions, or behaviors.

Wording effects

The significant impact that subtle adjustments in the phrasing or order of survey questions can have on respondents' expressed answers and opinions.

Sampling bias

A flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample, often resulting from overgeneralizing from a few vivid but atypical cases.

Random sample

A sample that fairly represents a population because every individual in the entire population has an equal chance of being selected for participation.

Population

All the individuals in a designated group from which samples may be drawn and to which findings can be generalized.

Correlation

A measure of the extent to which two variables vary together, indicating how well either variable can predict the occurrence or magnitude of the other.

Correlation coefficient ($r$)

A statistical index of the direction and strength of the relationship between two variables, ranging from $-1.00$ to $+1.00$.

Positive correlation

A direct relationship indicated by a correlation coefficient greater than $0$ up to $+1.00$, meaning that two variables rise together or fall together.

Negative correlation

An inverse relationship indicated by a correlation coefficient less than $0$ down to $-1.00$, meaning that as one variable increases, the other decreases.

Scatterplot

A graphed cluster of dots representing the values of two variables, where the slope suggests the relationship's direction and the scatter suggests its strength.

Illusory correlation

The perception of a relationship between two variables where no real relationship exists, or the perception of a stronger relationship than actually occurs.

Regression toward the mean

The statistical tendency for extreme or unusual events, scores, or fluctuating performances to return toward their average baseline over time.

Experiment

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more independent variables to observe their effect on a dependent variable while controlling confounding variables.

Experimental group

In an experiment, the group of participants who are exposed to the independent variable or treatment condition.

Control group

In an experiment, the group of participants not exposed to the treatment, serving as a baseline against which the effects of the treatment can be compared.

Random assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, minimizing preexisting differences between the groups.

Quasi-experiment

A research design used to evaluate the impact of an intervention or condition on different groups without using random assignment.

Double-blind procedure

An experimental procedure in which neither the research participants nor the researchers administering treatments and collecting data know which group received the real treatment or the placebo.

Placebo effect

Any experimental results or healing improvements caused by expectations alone, triggered by the administration of an inert substance or condition believed to be active.

Independent variable

In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated and controlled by the researcher to determine its effect.

Confounding variable

A factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment, which researchers control through random assignment.

Dependent variable

In an experiment, the outcome factor that is measured; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

Informed consent

An ethical principle requiring that potential research participants receive sufficient information about a study's procedures and risks to choose freely whether to participate.

Debriefing

The post-experimental explanation of a study provided to participants, disclosing its true purpose and any temporary deception employed.