Studied by 28 people
hindsight bias/I-knew it all along phenomenon
tendency to believe, after learning on outcome, that one would have froseen it
scientific method
a method of investigation involving observation and theory to test scientific hypotheses
theory
explains behaviors or events by offering ideas
hypothesis
a testable proposal intended to explain certain facts or observations
operational definitions
a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures(operations) used in a research study
replicate
reproduce or make an exact copy of (in this case an experiment)
descriptive methods
describes behaviors, often by suing case studies, surveys, or naturalistic observations
correlational
method associate different factors or variables
variables
anything that contributes to a result
experimental method
manipulate variables to discover their effects
case study
examines one individual or group in depth in hope of revealing things true of us all
case study strengths
gives us insight, can show us what can happen
case study weakness
misleading mistaken judgement; anecdotal cases can overwhelm general truth(ex: just because one persons grandpa lived a long age while smoking, does not mean smoking is not bad. studies show smoking is bad for health)
naturalistic observations
a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation
naturalistic observation stenghts
revelations that may not have been found in a lab setting, shows complexity, describes behavior
naturalistic observation weakness
does not explain behaviors
Hawthorne effect
when we know we are being watch, we change our behaviors
overconfidence
we think we know more than we do
false consensus effect
a person overestimated how many people agree with them (political views, interest, etc.)
the basic scientific attitudes
skepticism, curiosity, humility
surveys
looks cases in less depth, asking people to report their behavior or opinions
survey benefits
broad range of opinion
survey weakness
sampling bias, response bias, social desirability bias, wording effect
sampling bias
generalize from a few valid but unrepresentative cases
anecdotal fallacy
use of anecdotal evidence
population
all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn
random sampling
what has to happen to make the samples not bais
random sample
a sample in which every element in the population has an equal chance of being selected
wording effect
the phrasing of the word can change the opinion of people (ex: "gun safety" vs "gun control"
correlate
a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other
correlation coefficient
a statistic representing how closely two variables co-vary; it can vary from -1 through 0 to +1
correlation research strenghts
can predict how well one variable predicts another
correlation research weakness
does not specify cause and effect
illusory correlation
perceiving a relationship where none exits, or perceiving a stronger-than-actual relationship
regression toward the mean
tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back (regress) toward the average
experiment
a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (dependent variables) By random assignment of participation, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors
experimental group
in an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable
experimental research strenghts
control variables, determine effects
experimental weaknesses
confounding variable. ethical on some issues, lack ecological validity
control group
the group not exposed to the treatment
random assign
assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different group
double blind procedure
an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant(blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo
placebo effect
any effect that seems to be a consequence of administering a placebo; the change is usually beneficial and is assumed result from the person's faith in the treatment or preconceptions about what the experimental drug was supposed to do (ex: phony drug makes people have better moods)
independent variable
factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied
confounding variables
a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study's results
dependent variable
the outcome that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated
operational definitinos
specify the procedures that manipulate the independent variable or measure the dependent variable
validity
experiment will test what it is suppose to test
placebo
introduce something fake to the control group to keep anominity
quasi-experimental design
subjects not randomly assigned to groups
ethical guidelines
informed consent, rights to withdraw, avoid deception, debrief, confidentiality, privacy, protect from physically & mental harm, advise participants when psychological or physical problems are discovered, consider implication and psychological consequence, monitor work of other colleagues
informed consent
giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate
debrief
the post experimental of a study including its purpose and any deceptions to its participants
descriptive statistics
numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics if group, includes measure of central tendency and measures of variation
histograms
a bar graph depicting a frequency distribution
mode
most frequently occurring score (s) in a distribution
mean
average of a distribution; add the scores then divide by number of scores
median
middle score in a distribution
skewed
a representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value
range
differences between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
standard deviation
a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score; better for averages
dimodal distribution
it has two peaks or humps (modes)
normal curve/distribution
bell-shaped distribution often symmetrical
inferential statistics
numerical data that allow one to generalize - to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population
statistical significance
a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance
scatterplot
show us relationship
ex: 2, 5, 8: mean = 5, 2-5 = -3, 5-5 = 0, 8-5 = 3, -3^2 + 0^2 + 3^2 = 18, 18/3 = 6
how to calculate standard deviation
data clustered around the mean
What does a small Standard Deviation mean?
mean
What measure greatly affects measure of central tendency
central tendency
single score that represents a whole set of scores
range (i believe idk)
What measure greatly affects measure of central variation/dispersion
Measure of central tendency shows where the center or middle of the data set is located, whereas measure of variation shows the dispersion among data values.
Central tendency vs measure of variation
positive correlation
negative correlation
no correlation
