Chapter 2 - psych
In order to maintain scientific objectivity, psychologists do not work on research that is sponsored by private, for-profit businesses.
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Inferential statistics are statistical procedures that organize and summarize research data.
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Medical placebos usually take the form of pills or injections that contain active ingredients.
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Psychologists measure alternate-forms reliability by giving the same test twice to the same group of people.
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Psychologists measure test-retest reliability by giving different versions of the same test to the same group on two separate occasions.
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Single-blind studies are conducted in order to avoid the powerful influence of experimenter effects on the results of an experiment.
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The American Psychological Association's ethical guidelines require researchers to avoid studies that involve volunteer deception.
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The ability of a test to measure what it is designed to measure is called its reliability.
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The ability of a test to measure what it is designed to measure is called standardization.
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The arithmetic mean is a commonly used measure of variability.
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The principle of falsifiability is the tendency to avoid information that would prove one's belief to be false.
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The standard deviation is an average that is calculated by adding up a set of quantities and dividing the sum by the total number of quantities in the set.
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The value of the independent variable depends on the dependent variable.
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The variable that an experimenter manipulates is called the dependent variable in an experiment.
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Violations of the principle of falsifiability rarely take place in everyday life.
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When a correlation coefficient indicates a strong relationship between two variables, one variable is causing the other.
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When compared to other methods, an advantage of experiments is that the participants are always representative of the larger population.
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Psychologists measure test-retest reliability by giving the same test twice to the same group of people.
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Replication is an essential part of the scientific process.
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Replication occurs when scientists repeat a study in order to verify or challenge its findings.
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Scientists are expected to submit their study's results for peer review before any announcements regarding the study are made to the public.
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The APA's ethical guidelines require researchers to show that any deceptive procedures are justified by a study's potential value.
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The American Psychological Association (APA) has a code of ethics that all of its members are supposed to follow.
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The ability of a test to measure what it is designed to measure is called validity.
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The arithmetic mean is an average that is calculated by adding up a set of quantities and dividing the sum by the total number of quantities in the set.
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The likelihood of lying in surveys is reduced when the respondents are guaranteed anonymity
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The standard deviation is a commonly used measure of variability that indicates the average difference between scores in a distribution.
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The usual procedure for developing norms for a test is to give the test to a large group of people who resemble those for whom the test is intended.
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The variable that an experimenter manipulates is called the independent variable.
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The word "correlation" is often used as a synonym for "relationship."
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To reify means to regard an intangible process, such as a feeling, as if it were a literal object.
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When psychologists say that a test has been standardized, they mean that uniform procedures for giving and scoring the test have been developed.
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When two variables are correlated, one variable may or may not be causing the other.
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A correlation is a numerical measure indicating the cause-and-effect relationship between two variables.
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A disadvantage of experimental research is that it does not permit identification of cause and effect.
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A hypothesis is an organized system of assumptions and principles that purports to explain a specified set of phenomena.
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A laboratory observation is a controlled test of a hypothesis in which the researcher manipulates one variable to discover its effect on another.
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A majority of psychological research studies involve animals.
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A result is considered significant if it would occur by chance 5 or more times in 100 repetitions of the study.
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A study in which subjects of different ages are compared at a given time is called a longitudinal study.
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A theory is a statement that attempts to predict or account for a set of phenomena.
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An advantage of field research is that it allows the use of sophisticated equipment.
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An association between decreases in one variable and decreases in the other variable is called a negative correlation.
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An association between increases in one variable and decreases in the other variable indicates that the two variables are uncorrelated.
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Bayesian statistics involve a formula that takes prior knowledge into consideration when evaluating any finding.
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Descriptive statistics allow researchers to draw inferences about how statistically meaningful a study's results are.
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Experiments yield descriptions of behavior but cannot provide causal explanations.
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Field research refers to descriptive or experimental research that is conducted on agricultural issues.
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Ideally, everything in an experiment except the dependent variable is held constant.
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If a significance test shows that the p value of a result is greater than .05, researchers would have high confidence in the study's result.
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A hypothesis is a statement that attempts to predict or account for a set of phenomena.
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A representative sample is a group of participants that accurately represents the larger population that the researcher is interested in.
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A researcher wants to know whether eating chocolate makes people nervous. Some participants are given two bars of chocolate to eat and some are given no chocolate at all, and then all of the participants are tested for nervousness an hour later. In this experiment, the amount of chocolate eaten is the independent variable.
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A result may be statistically significant, yet be of little consequence in everyday life.
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A shortcoming of laboratory observation is that the presence of researchers may cause participants to behave differently than they would in their usual surroundings.
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A study in which subjects of different ages are compared at a given time is called a cross-sectional study.
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A theory is an organized system of assumptions and principles that purports to explain a specified set of phenomena
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An association between increases in one variable and decreases in the other variable is called a negative correlation.
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An experiment is a controlled test of a hypothesis in which the researcher manipulates one variable to discover its effect on another.
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An experimenter's friendly smile or cold demeanor can affect people's responses in an experiment.
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Case studies are most commonly used by clinicians.
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Case studies are usually sources of hypotheses, rather than tests of hypotheses.
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Computer technology can help reduce lying on surveys because many people feel more anonymous when they answer questions on a computer.
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Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for information that supports one's beliefs.
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Control groups are used in both experimental and non-experimental studies.
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Descriptive methods yield characterizations of behavior but not necessarily causal explanations.
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Descriptive statistics are statistical procedures that organize and summarize research data.
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Ideally, everything in an experiment except the independent variable is held constant.
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If a placebo produces the same results as the real treatment, the reason must be the participants' expectations about the treatment, rather than the treatment itself.
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In a control condition, subjects are not exposed to the same treatment of the independent variable as in an experimental condition.
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In a single-blind experiment, participants do not know if they are in an experimental group or a control group.
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Inferential statistics allow researchers to draw inferences about how statistically meaningful a study's results are.
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Meta-analysis combines data from a number of related studies instead of assessing each study's results separately.
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Observational studies are more useful for describing behavior than for explaining behavior.
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Operational definitions specify how the phenomena in question are to be observed and measured.
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Psychologists measure alternate-forms reliability by giving different versions of the same test to the same group on two separate occasions.
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