Psychology 2e - Chapter 2 Key Terms

These flashcards cover key psychological terms and concepts from Chapter 2 of the Psychology 2e textbook.

Archival research

Using past records or data sets to answer research questions or find patterns.

Attrition

Reduction in number of participants as some drop out over time.

Cause-and-effect relationship

Changes in one variable cause changes in another; determined only through experiments.

Clinical or case study

Observational research focusing on one or a few people.

Confirmation bias

Tendency to ignore evidence that disproves beliefs.

Confounding variable

Unanticipated factor affecting both variables, giving a false impression of causation.

Control group

Basis for comparison; does not receive experimental manipulation.

Correlation

Relationship between two or more variables; one changes as the other does.

Correlation coefficient

Number (-1 to +1) showing strength and direction of a relationship.

Cross-sectional research

Compares multiple segments of a population at one time.

Debriefing

Informing participants about the full nature of an experiment after deception.

Deception

Purposely misleading participants to maintain integrity of the study.

Deductive reasoning

Predicting results from a general premise.

Dependent variable

Variable measured to see effect of independent variable.

Double-blind study

Both researchers and participants are unaware of group assignments.

Empirical

Grounded in observable, objective evidence.

Experimental group

Receives experimental manipulation; compared with control group.

Experimenter bias

Researcher expectations skew results.

Fact

Objective observation established through evidence.

Falsifiable

Able to be disproven by results.

Generalize

Applying results from a sample to the larger population.

Hypothesis

Testable statement about the relationship between variables.

Illusory correlation

Seeing relationships that don’t exist.

Independent variable

Variable controlled or manipulated by the experimenter.

Inductive reasoning

Drawing conclusions from observations.

Informed consent

Informing participants of procedures, risks, and rights before participation.

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

Reviews animal research proposals.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Reviews research proposals involving human participants.

Inter-rater reliability

Agreement among observers on classification of an event.

Longitudinal research

Studying same individuals over long periods.

Naturalistic observation

Observing behavior in its natural setting.

Negative correlation

Two variables move in opposite directions.

Observer bias

Observations skewed by observer expectations.

Operational definition

Defines how variables are measured and manipulated.

Opinion

Personal judgment not necessarily based on fact.

Participants

Subjects of psychological research.

Peer-reviewed journal article

Evaluated by experts before publication.

Placebo effect

Expectations influence experience.

Population

Entire group researchers are interested in.

Positive correlation

Two variables move in the same direction.

Random assignment

Equal chance of participants being assigned to any group.

Random sample

Subset of a population with equal selection chance.

Reliability

Consistency of results.

Replicate

Repeating experiments to test reliability.

Sample

Subset of individuals from the population.

Single-blind study

Researcher knows group assignments, participants do not.

Statistical analysis

Determines how likely group differences are due to chance.

Survey

Questionnaire or interview to collect data from many people.

Theory

Well-developed set of ideas explaining phenomena.

Validity

Accuracy in measuring what it’s supposed to measure.