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Chapt 1
Chapter 1 Thinking Critically with Psychological Science
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Hindsight bias | the tendency to believe after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it |
Critical thinking | thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions |
Theory | an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events |
Hypothesis | a testable prediction, often implied by a theory. |
Operational definition | a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables |
Replication | repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances |
Case study | an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles |
Survey | a technique for ascertaining the self reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them. |
False consensus effect | the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors |
Population | all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study |
Random sample | a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion |
Naturalistic observation | observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation |
Correlation | a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other |
Scatterplot | a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the two points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables |
Illusory correlation | the perception of a relationship where none exists |
Experiment | a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process |
Double-blind procedure | an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant(blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or placebo |
Placebo effect | experimental results caused by expectations alone |
Experimental conditon | the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment |
Control condition | the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition |
Random assignment | assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences |
Independent Variable | the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied |
Dependent Variable | the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulation of the independent variable |
Mode | the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution |
Mean | the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing the number of scores |
Median | the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it |
Range | the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution |
Standard deviation | a computed measure of how much scores vary around the average |
Statistical significance | a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance |
Culture | the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next |
Scientific Method | set of general procedures that allow us to arrive at a variable truth |