Psychology 100: Lecture 1 - Theory and Research Methods

Vocabulary flashcards generated from Psychology 100 Lecture 1 notes covering scientific theories, research methods, reasoning processes, and experimental design principles.

Intuition

A common way to come up with explanations in everyday life that provides spontaneous insights and hunches, though it is subject to numerous biases such as confirmation bias and hindsight bias.

Empirical Approach

An evidence-based approach used by scientific theories and methods to provide explanations of some aspects of the world.

Theory

A story, map, or simplification of descriptions consisting of a set of principles that explain a set of observations and usually specify causation.

Scientific Theory

A theory that is falsifiable (capable of being proven wrong), where the failure to falsify it renders it a valid theory.

Terror Management Theory

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

Hypothesis

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

Induction

A research process that progresses from specific observation to identifying a pattern, formulating a tentative hypothesis, and ultimately establishing a theory.

Deduction

A research process that begins with a theory, derives a testable hypothesis, collects observations, and arrives at confirmation or revision.

Case Study

An in-depth examination of a single individual, event, or phenomenon that sheds light on rare occurrences and generates ideas or hypotheses for larger groups.

Naturalistic Observation

An observational study method where behavior is observed as it occurs naturally in real-world settings without experimenter control, such as Margaret Mead's study in Samoa.

Artificial Observation

An observational study method where behaviors are observed in controlled or laboratory settings, allowing for experimenter control, such as Mary Ainsworth's lab observation of infant attachment.

Correlational Study

A research method that collects data (often through self-report surveys) to examine relationships between variables without applying any manipulation or change.

Correlation Coefficient ($r$)

A statistical index ranging between $-1$ and $+1$, where the sign indicates the direction (positive or negative) and the absolute value indicates the strength of the relationship.

Spurious Correlation

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

Experimental Study

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

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable that the researcher manipulates in an experiment, representing the hypothesized cause.

Control Condition

A comparison condition in an experiment that does not receive the key treatment or manipulation, serving to provide a baseline for the independent variable.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The outcome variable that researchers measure in an experiment to determine if it changes in response to variations in the independent variable.

Random Assignment

The procedure of randomly assigning participants into experimental conditions to eliminate confounding influences and noise from self-selection.

Operational Definition

The precise, explicit definition and standard measurement assigned to a variable within a scientific study.

Confounding Variable

An uncontrolled variable that changes systematically along with the independent variable, introducing alternative explanations for the results.

Placebo

An inert substance or treatment (such as a sugar pill) used in a control condition to separate genuine treatment effects from improvements driven by participant expectations.

Rosenthal Effect

An experimenter effect where a researcher's expectations unintentionally influence their interaction with participants and alter the study's outcome.

Double-Blind Procedure

An experimental procedure in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know which condition the participants have been assigned to, preventing experimenter and participant bias.