Psychology Vocab Terms

Screw you effect

- participants act in a way that might sabotage the researcher's aims -the participant attempts to discern the experimenter's hypotheses, but only in order to destroy the credibility of the study

Social desirability effect

-A tendency for research participants to provide answers that they think will make them look good to the researchers. -This is when the participant answers in a way that makes him/her look good to the researcher. This is done to avoid embarrassment or judgement.

cohort-sequential study

A research method in which a cross section of the population is chosen and then each cohort is followed for a short period of time.

Which of the following is not essential for a study to be a "true" experiment?

All ethical considerations must be met.

double-blind study

An experiment in which neither the participant nor the researcher knows whether the participant has received the treatment or the placebo

What is the key difference between a quasi-experiment and a "true experiment?"

In a quasi experiment, participants have a trait that determines which condition they are in; in a true experiment, they are randomly allocated.

You read in the newspaper that a study of the amount of time people spend on Facebook and one's level of depression showed a strong correlation, but that issues of bidirectional ambiguity could not be resolved. What does this mean?

Researchers don't know if using facebook causes depression or whether people who are depressed use Facebook more.

A researcher carries out a study where the participants were asked to give electric shocks to a student in a study of learning. After the experiment, the researcher asks the participant why he thinks that he was willing to shock the student. He says that he "knew all along that this was fake." This is an example of

Social desirability effect

Which of the following is the best explanation of the difference between a quasi-experiment and a natural experiment?

The IV in both is not manipulated - but in a quasi experiment the IV is a trait of the individual and in a natural experiment it is an environmental factor.

Dependant variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

Which of the following is a null hypothesis for a study of the role of aerobic exercise on one's mood?

There will be no significant difference in the scores of on a test for depressive symptoms among 16-year-old female participants who run on a treadmill for 30 minutes and those that do not exercise.

Which of the following is not an advantage of field experiments?

They are easily replicated.

correlational study

a descriptive study that looks for a consistent relationship between two variables

postive correlation

a relationship between two variables in which both variables either increase or decrease together

cross-sectional study

a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

researcher bias

a tendency for researchers to engage in behaviors and selectively notice evidence that supports their hypotheses or expectations

expectancy bias

affects observations when observers expect- and look for- certain outcomes

field experiment

an experiment conducted in the participants' natural environment

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

confounding variable or Extraneous variable

in an experiment, a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect

personal bias

involves an individual's beliefs, preferences, assumptions, or prejudices

zero correlation

no relationship between variables

quasi-experiment

participants are grouped based on trait or behaviour

longitudinal study

research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period

null hypothesis

states that the IV will have no effect on the DV, or that any change in the DV will be due to chance.

Participant variability

the extent to which the participants may share a common set of traits that can bias the outcome of the study

Expectancy effect

the participant attempts to discern the experimenter's hypotheses with the goal of "helping" the researcher. This may result in acting in a certain way or giving the "right answer."

negative correlation

the relationship between two variables in which one variable increases as the other variable decreases

why would a researcher want to reject a null hypothesis?

to show that the predicted cause-and-effect relationship between the IV and the DV actually exists

natural experiment

usually refers to an independent variable that is environmental in nature and outside of the control of the researcher

naturalistic observation

watching behavior in real-world settings without trying to manipulate the situation

ex post facto

we choose subjects on the basis of a preexisting condition