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AP Pysch Ch. 1: Thinking critically with psychological science Flashcards

"Psychology", David G. Myers. 8th edition 2007. 31 vocab

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123563910Hindsight biasthe tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all along phenomenon.)0
123563911Critical thinkingthinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.1
123563912Theoryan explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts observations.2
123563913Hypothesisa testable prediction3
123563914Operational definitionsprecise statements of the procedures (operations) used to define independent and dependent variables.4
123563915Replicationrepeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances5
123563916Case studya descriptive research strategy in which one person is studied in great depth6
123563917Surveya technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them.7
123563918False consensus effectis the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors.8
123563919Populationall the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study.9
123563920Random samplea sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.10
123563921Naturalistic observationinvolves observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation.11
123563922Correlationa statistical measure that indicates the extent to which two factors vary together and thus how well one factor can be predicted from the other. Correlations can be positive or negative.12
123563923Scatterplota depiction of the relationship between two variables by means of a graphed cluster of dots.13
123563924Illusory correlationthe false perception of a relationship between two events when none exists.14
123563925Experimenta research strategy in which a researcher directly manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) in order to observe their effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variables; experiments therefore make it possible to establish cause-and-effect relationships.15
123563926Placeboan inert substance or condition that is administered as a test of whether an experimental subjects who mistakenly thinks a treatment16
123563927Double-blind procedurea control procedure in which neither the experimenter nor the research subjects are aware of which condition is in effect. It is used to prevent experimenters' and subjects' expectations from influencing the results of an experiment.17
123563928Placebo effectexperimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is assumed to be an active agent.18
123563929Experimental conditionthe condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.19
123563930Control conditionthe condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.20
123563931Random assignmentthe procedure of assigning subjects to the experimental and control conditions by chance in order to minimize preexisting differences between the groups.21
123563932Independent variablethe factor being manipulated and tested by the investigator.22
123563933Dependent variablethe factor being measured by the investigator.23
123563934Modethe most frequently occurring score in a distribution; it is the simplest measure of central tendency to determine.24
123563935Meanthe arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores.25
123563936Mediansthe middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it.26
123563937Rangea measure of variation computed as the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.27
123563938Standard deviationthe average amount by which the scores in a distribution deviate around the mean. Because it is based on every score in the distribution28
123563939Statistical significancea statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance.29
123563940Culturethe enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.30

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