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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 |