Psychology 100 Lecture 1: Theory and Research Methods

Vocabulary flashcards generated from Psychology 100 Lecture 1 covering scientific theory, research methods, observational techniques, and experimental design concepts.

Intuition

A common way to generate explanations in everyday life that provides spontaneous insights and hunches, though subject to human biases.

Confirmation Bias

A cognitive bias in human intuition where people favor information that confirms their existing beliefs.

Hindsight Bias

A cognitive bias in human intuition where people perceive past events as having been predictable.

Theory

A story, map, simplification of descriptions, or a set of principles that explains a set of observations and usually specifies causation.

Scientific Theory

An evidence-based explanation of aspects of the world that uses the empirical approach and is falsifiable.

Falsifiable

The property of a scientific theory meaning it can be proven wrong; failure to falsify a scientific theory makes it valid.

Terror Management Theory

A theory proposing that when people are reminded of their own deaths, they become more ready to enforce their cultural worldviews, often leading to punitive actions or violence (Becker, 1973).

Hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction prompted by a theory that enables researchers to accept, reject, or revise the theory.

Induction (Research Process)

A research process that moves from Observation to Pattern, then to Tentative Hypothesis, and ultimately to Theory.

Deduction (Research Process)

A research process that moves from Theory to Hypothesis, then to Observation, and ultimately to Confirmation.

Case Study

An in-depth examination and close observation of a single individual, event, or rare phenomenon to shed light on unique cases or give rise to hypotheses.

Naturalistic Observation

An observational study method where behavior is observed in its natural setting without control, providing real and rich data.

Artificial Observation

An observational study method where behaviors are observed in artificial or controlled laboratory settings to allow experimenter control.

Correlational Study

A research method where data is collected (usually via self-report survey) without manipulation to determine relationships between variables.

Survey

A method used to collect information about existing variables with no manipulation or change applied.

Positive Correlation

A relationship where two variables change in the same direction, such as self-esteem and athletic ability.

Negative Correlation

A relationship where two variables change in opposite directions, such as mental health risk and secure attachment in children.

Correlation Coefficient ($r$)

A numerical measure ranging between $-1$ and $+1$, where the sign indicates the direction of correlation and the absolute value indicates strength.

Spurious Correlation

An apparent statistical relationship between two variables that is driven by a third variable effect rather than a direct connection.

Experimental Study

A research method in which the researcher systematically manipulates one source of influence while holding others constant to establish causal relationships.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the researcher, representing the hypothesized cause.

Control Condition

A baseline comparison group in an experiment that does not receive the key treatment or manipulation.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The outcome variable measured by researchers to see if it changes in response to variations in the independent variable.

Random Assignment

The process of assigning participants into experimental conditions randomly to eliminate confounding variables caused by self-selection.

Operational Definition

The explicit and measurable definition given to each variable within a scientific study.

Confounding Variable

An uncontrolled variable that changes systematically along with the independent variable, potentially distorting experimental results.

Placebo

An inactive treatment (such as a sugar pill) used in a control condition to separate true treatment effects from expectations.

Experimenter Effect

Unintentional influence exerted by a researcher's expectations on the outcome of an experiment.

Rosenthal Effect

An experimenter effect where people's expectations influence how they interact with others and affect the eventual outcome.

Double-Blind Procedure

An experimental arrangement in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know which condition participants are assigned to.