Frequency Distributions in Behavioral Science

This set of flashcards covers key vocabulary related to frequency distributions and statistical representation from the lecture notes.

Frequency Table

A visual depiction of data that shows how often each value occurred.

Values are listed in one column, and the numbers of individuals with scores at that value are listed in the second column.

Grouped Frequency Table

A visual depiction of data that reports frequencies within a given interval rather than for a specific value.

Raw Score

A data point that has not yet been transformed or analyzed.

Histogram

A graph that looks like a bar graph but it just depicts one variable, showing the values of the variable on the x-axis and the frequencies on the y-axis.

Frequency Polygon

A line graph with the x-axis representing values and the y-axis representing frequencies; dots are connected to show the distribution.

Normal Distribution

A specific frequency distribution that is bell-shaped, symmetric, and unimodal.

Skewed Distribution

A distribution in which one of the tails is pulled away from the center.

Floor Effect

A situation in which a constraint prevents a variable from taking values below a certain point.

Ceiling Effect

A situation in which a constraint prevents a variable from taking values above a certain number.

Stem-and-Leaf Plot

A graph that displays all data points of a variable both numerically and visually.

positively skewed

the distribution's tail extends to the right, in a positive direction

negatively skewed

a distribution with a tail that extends to the left, in a negative direction