IB Psychology Topics 1–3: Psychological Inquiry, Concepts, and Research Methods

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering psychological inquiry, core concepts, research methods, experimental terminology, observation, ethics, validity, reliability, and triangulation based on IB Psychology Topics 1–3.

Psychology

The study of how and why people behave, think and feel, using theories to explain behaviour, thought and emotion.

Opportunity Sampling

A sampling technique that recruits people who are available and willing to take part; convenient, but participants may not represent the wider population.

Bias

A pattern of thinking or an error in research that can distort results and reduce the validity or reliability of findings.

Determinism

The extent to which behaviour is caused or determined by internal or external factors rather than freely chosen.

Soft Determinism

The view that behaviour may be influenced by forces, but people retain some capacity for free choice.

Hard Determinism

The view that behaviour is entirely dictated by internal or external forces.

Biological Determinism

The view that behaviour is governed by internal factors such as genetics, brain chemistry, or hormone levels.

Environmental Determinism

The view that behaviour is determined by external factors such as upbringing, culture, and social influences.

Locus of Control

A person's belief about whether outcomes are mainly influenced by their own actions (internal) or by outside forces (external).

Causality

A cause-and-effect relationship in which a change in one variable produces a change in another.

Correlation

A relationship or association between variables that does not by itself prove that one variable causes the other.

Measurement

How a psychological variable, such as happiness, memory, stress, or engagement, is assessed and recorded.

Operationalisation

Defining a variable in precise, measurable terms so it can be measured consistently and the procedure can be replicated.

Longitudinal Design

A research design that measures the same participants repeatedly over an extended period to track change.

Snapshot Design

A research design that collects data at a single point in time.

Cross-Sectional Design

A research design that compares different groups of participants at the same time.

Retrospective Design

A research design that asks participants to recall and report past events or experiences.

Positivist Perspective

An approach that views psychology as a science, prioritising objectivity, empirical data, controlled experiments, quantitative analysis, and generalisable findings.

Interpretivist Perspective

An approach that emphasises subjective experience, meaning, and context, often linked to qualitative methods such as interviews and case studies.

Responsibility

The duty of psychologists to protect research participants, consider effects on wider society, and maintain ethical standards with clients or patients.

Experiment

A research method that manipulates an independent variable (IV) and measures a dependent variable (DV) to test cause and effect.

True Experiment

An experiment where the researcher directly manipulates the independent variable and can randomly allocate participants to conditions.

Quasi-Experiment

An experiment where the independent variable is a naturally occurring or pre-existing characteristic (such as age or diagnosis) that cannot be manipulated or randomly allocated.

Laboratory Experiment

An experiment conducted in a controlled setting, offering greater control over extraneous variables.

Field Experiment

An experiment that takes place in a real-life setting while the researcher manipulates the independent variable.

Natural Experiment

An experimental study where the independent variable varies naturally and is not manipulated by the researcher.

Survey

The broader process of collecting self-reported information from a sample, which may use questionnaires or other tools such as interviews.

Questionnaire

A specific set of questions completed by a respondent, which may feature open-ended, closed-ended, or demographic questions.

Likert Scale

A rating scale that lets participants express their strength of agreement or feeling, producing numerical responses.

Positive Correlation

A relationship where as one variable increases, the other variable tends to increase.

Negative Correlation

A relationship where as one variable increases, the other variable tends to decrease.

Zero Correlation

The absence of a consistent relationship between two variables.

Structured Interview

An interview in which all questions are pre-planned and standardised, providing consistency and ease of comparison at the cost of flexibility.

Semi-Structured Interview

An interview with planned core questions where the interviewer has the flexibility to ask follow-up questions.

Focus Group Discussion (FGD)

An interview format where a group discusses a topic together, allowing researchers to examine how views are shared, challenged, or developed.

A-Priori Coding

A qualitative coding approach where categories are predetermined before analysis, typically derived from an existing theory or research question.

Emergent Coding

An inductive qualitative coding approach where categories are developed after reading and examining the collected data.

Naturalistic Observation

An observation method where behaviour is recorded in a real-life setting without changing or manipulating the environment or activity.

Controlled Observation

An observation method where the researcher sets up a specific situation or task to observe behaviour under standardised conditions.

Covert Observation

An observational technique where participants are unaware that they are being observed.

Overt Observation

An observational technique where participants know that they are being observed.

Participant Observation

An observation method where the researcher actively joins in with the group or activity being studied.

Non-Participant Observation

An observation method where the researcher watches and records behaviour without joining in the activity.

Time Sampling

An observational recording procedure where behaviour is recorded at predetermined time intervals.

Event Sampling

An observational recording procedure where every single occurrence of a target behaviour is recorded.

Case Study

A detailed, in-depth investigation of a single person or case, often employing multiple methods and extensive qualitative or quantitative data.

Independent Samples Design

An experimental design in which different participants take part in each experimental condition, avoiding order effects.

Repeated Measures Design

An experimental design in which the same participants take part in every condition, controlling participant differences but introducing potential order effects.

Matched Pairs Design

An experimental design where participants are matched on relevant characteristics and then split across separate conditions.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable manipulated or categorised by the researcher in an experiment to test its effect on an outcome.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The outcome measured by the researcher to determine whether it changes as a result of manipulating the independent variable.

Extraneous Variable

Any factor other than the independent variable that could potentially affect the dependent variable.

Confounding Variable

An uncontrolled factor that varies systematically with the independent variable, providing an alternative explanation for the results.

Directional (One-Tailed) Hypothesis

A hypothesis that predicts the specific direction of a difference or relationship between variables.

Non-Directional (Two-Tailed) Hypothesis

A hypothesis that predicts that a difference or relationship exists, but does not specify its direction.

Null Hypothesis

A hypothesis predicting that there will be no significant difference or relationship, attributing any observed difference to chance.

Validity

The extent to which a method or measure actually assesses what it is intended to measure, or whether a research conclusion is justified.

Reliability

The consistency of a measure or research procedure when repeated under similar conditions.

Ecological Validity

The degree to which study tasks, materials, and findings reflect how behaviour occurs in real-life settings.

Generalisability

How far research findings can reasonably apply to people, contexts, or settings beyond the specific sample studied.

Inter-Observer Reliability

The extent to which two or more independent observers record or code behaviour consistently.

Test-Retest Reliability

The consistency of results obtained when the exact same measure is administered to the same participants across different times.

Triangulation

Cross-checking findings using more than one angle, source, researcher, method, or theory rather than relying on a single one.

Data Triangulation

Using multiple sources of data—such as interviews, observations, documents, or different informants—to investigate an issue.

Researcher Triangulation

Using more than one researcher to collect or analyse data and compare interpretations, reducing single-researcher bias.

Methodological Triangulation

Combining different research methods (such as interviews, observations, and questionnaires) to study the same phenomenon.

Theoretical Triangulation

Interpreting and evaluating the same set of research data through more than one theoretical perspective.