ap psych experimental terms

hypothesis

your prediction of how the experiment will come out, based upon a theory

population

all cases in study, group which samples are drawn

random sample

group you are doing the actual experiment on, they should all have had same chance of being selected from population

random assignment

the way which you assign members of random sample to control or experimental group - has equal chance of being selected to each group

subject

person you are doing an experiement one, member of random sample who has been randomly assigned

operational definition

statement of procedures used to define research variable, spell out what you are comparing & how you are going to measure & compare dependent variable

independent variable

experimental fact that is going to be manipulated or changed - will compare results of this fact to baseline or control group on which variable was not done

experimental group

group being experimented on or acted upon by independent variable

control group

group compared to experimental group to see if any change has occured because of indpendent variable

dependent variable

behavior or mental process that is being tested, the behavior or mental process that changes because of the introduction of indpendent variable - results of experiment are compared to behavior or mental process before & after or against control group of dependent variable

results

outcome in quantitive or measurable behavioral terms comparing dependent variable before & after

discussion

your assessment of experiment based on results

control of possible confounding variables

steps you take to make sure your random samples are as identical as possible & that environment in which they tested are as similar as possible

confounding variables

uncontrolled variables that affect control group & experimental group affecting your results- could be things like time of day being different, using male voice in one group & female in another, & other distracting circumstances

double blink as a control for experimenter bias

if your asked to control for experiment bias, if you cant go wrong by using a double blind technique, neither experimenter or subject know who is in control group or experiment group so they wont sway results