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chapters 5, 6 &, 9
Research in Psychology: Methods and Design 6/E C. James Goodwin
81
Psychology
Undergraduate 2
04/03/2013

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Term
attrition
Definition
a threat to the internal validity of a study; occurs when participants fail to complete a study, usually but not necessarily in longitudinal studies; those finishing the study may not be equivalent to those who started it
Term
between-subject design
Definition
any experimental design in which different groups of participants serve in the different conditions of the study
Term
bivariate analysis
Definition
any statistical analysis investigating the relationship between two variables
Term
block randomization
Definition
a procedure used to accomplish random assignment and ensure an equal number of participants in each condition; ensure that each condition of the study has a subject randomly assigned to it before any coondition has a sunject assigned to it again; also used in within-subjects design as a counter-balancing procedure to ensure that when participants are tested in each condition more than once, they experience each condition once before experiencing any condition again
Term
carryover effects
Definition
form a sequence of effect in which systematic changes in performance occur as a result of completing one sequence of conditions rather than a different sequence
Term
ceiling effect
Definition
occurs when scores on two or more conditions are at or near the maximun possible for the scale being used, giving the impression that no differences exist between the conditions
Term
coefficient of determination (r^2)
Definition
for two correlated factors, the proportion of variance in one factor than can be atriubuted to the second factor; found by squaring Pearson's r
Term
cohort effects
Definition
a cohort in a group of people born at about the same time; cohort effects can reduce the internal validity of cross-sectional studies because differences between groups could result from the effects of growing up in different historical eras
Term
cohort sequential design
Definition
in developmental psychology research, a design that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal designs; a new cohort is added to a study every few years, and then studied periodically throughout the time course of the study
Term
complete counterbalancing
Definition
occurs when all possible orders of conditions are used in a within-subects design
Term
statistical conclusion validity
Definition
said to exist when the researcher uses statistical asalysis properly and draws the appropriate conclusions from the analysis
Term
confound
Definition
any extraneous variable that covaries with the independent variable and could provide an alternative explanation for the results
Term
construct validity
Definition
in measurement, it occurs when the measure being used accuratley assesses some hypothetical construct; also refers to whether the contruct itself is valid; in research, refers to whether the operational definitions used for independent and dependent variables are valid
Term
control group
Definition
a group not given a treatment that is being evaluated in a study; provides a means of comparison
Term
correlation matrix
Definition
a table that summarizes a series of correlations among several variables
Term
counterbalancing
Definition
for a within-subjects variable, any procedure designed to control for sequence effects
Term
criterion validity
Definition
form of validity in which a psychological measure is able to predict some future behavior or is meaningfully related to some other measure
Term
criterion variable
Definition
in a regression analysis, this is the variable that is being predicted from the predictor varible (e.g., college grades are predicted from SAT scores)
Term
cross-lagged panel correlation
Definition
refers to a type of correlational research designed to deal with the directionality problem; if variables X and Y are measured at two different times and if X precedes Y, then X might cause Y but Y cannot cause X
Term
cross-sectional study
Definition
In developmental psychology, a design in which age is the indepentdent variable and different groups of people are tested; each group is of a different age
Term
demand characteristics
Definition
any feature of the experimental design or procedure that increases the chances that participants will detect the true purpose of the study
Term
dependent variable
Definition
behavior measured as the outcome of an experiment
Term
directionality problem
Definition
In correlational research, this refers to the fact that for a correlation between variables X and Y, it is possible that X is causing Y, but it is also possible that Y is causing X; the correlation alone provides no basis for deciding between the two alternatives
Term
double blind
Definition
a control procedure designed to reduce bias; neither the participant nor the person conducting the experimental session knows which condition of the study is being tested; often used in studies evaluation drug effects
Term
ecological validity
Definition
said to exist when research studies psychological phenomena in everyday situations (e.g., memory for where we put our keys)
Term
equivalent groups
Definition
groups of participants in a between-subjects design that are essentially equal to each other in all ways except for the different levels of the independent variable
Term
evaluation apprehension
Definition
a form of anxiety experienced by participants that leads them to behave so as to be evaluated positively by the experimenter
Term
experiment
Definition
a research procedure in which some factor is varied, all else is held constant, and some result is measured
Term
experimental group
Definition
in a study with an indentified control group, the experimental group is given the treatment being tested
Term
experimenter bias
Definition
occurs when an experimenter's expectations about a study affects its outcome
Term
external validity
Definition
the extent to which the findings of a study generalize to other populations. other settings, and other times
Term
extraneous variable
Definition
any uncontrolled factor that is not of interest to the researcher but could affect the results
Term
factor analysis
Definition
a multivariate analysis in which a large number of variables are intercorrelated; variables that correlate highly with each other form "factors."
Term
field experiment
Definition
an experiment that is conducted outside the laboratory; a narrower term than field research
Term
field research
Definition
research that occurs in any location other than a scientific laboratory
Term
floor effect
Definition
occurs when scores on two of more conditions are at or near the mininum possible for the scale being used, giving the impression that no differences exist between the conditions
Term
good subject role
Definition
a form of participants bias in which participants try to guess the experimenter's hypothesis and then behave in such a way as to confirm it
Term
Hawthorne effect
Definition
name often given to a form of participant bias in which behavior is influenced by the mere knowledge that the participant is in an experiment and is therefore of some importance to the experimenter
Term
history
Definition
a threat to internal validity of a study; occurs when some historical event that could addect participants happens between the beginning of a study and its end
Term
independent variable
Definition
the factor of interest to the researcher; it can be directly manipulated by the experimenter, or participants can be selected by virtue of their possesing certain attributes
Term
instructional variables
Definition
type of independent variable in which participants are given different sets of instructions about how to perform (e.g. given a list of stimuli, various groups might be told to process them in different ways)
Term
internal validity
Definition
the extent to which a study is free from methodological flaws, especially confounding factors
Term
intraclass correlation
Definition
a form of correlation used when pairs of scores do not come from the same individual, as when correlations are calculated for pairs of twins
Term
latin square
Definition
form of partial counterbalancing in which each condition of the study occurs equally often in each sequential position and each condition procedes and follows each other condition exactly one time
Term
longitudinal study
Definition
in developmental psychology, a design in which age is the independent variable and the same group of people are teted repeatedly at different ages
Term
manipulation check
Definition
in debriefing, a procedure to determine if subjects were aware of a deception experiment's true purpose; also refers to any procedure that determines if systematic manipulations have intedned effect on participants
Term
matching
Definition
a procedure for creating equivalent groups in which participants are measured on some factor (a "matching variable") expected to correlate with the dependent variale; groups are then formed by taking participants who score at the same level on the matching variable and randomly assigning them to groups
Term
matching variable
Definition
any variable selected for matching participants in a matched groups study
Term
maturation
Definition
a threat to the internal validity of a study; occurs when participants change from the beginning to the end of the study simply as a result of maturational changes within them and not as a resultof some independent variable
Term
multiple regression
Definition
a multivariate analysis that includes a criterion variable and two or more predictor variables; the predictors will have different weights
Term
multivariate analysis
Definition
any statistical analysis investigating the relationship among more than two variables
Term
negative correlation
Definition
a relationship between varuales X and Y such that a high score for X is associated with a low score for Y and a low score for X is associated with a high score for Y
Term
partial correlation
Definition
a multivariate statistical procedure for evaluating the effects of third varibles; if the correlation between X and Y remains high, even after some third factor Z has been "partialed out," then Z can be eliminated as a third variable
Term
partial counterbalancing
Definition
occurs when a subset of all possible orders of conditions is used in a within-subjects design (e.g., a random sample of the population of all possible orders could be selected).
Term
participant bias
Definition
can occur when the behavior of participants is influenced by their beliefs about how they are supposed to behave in a study
Term
Pearson's r
Definition
measure of the size of a correlation between two variables; ranges from a perfect postitive correlation of +1.00 to a perfect negative correlation of -1.00; if r=0l, then no relationship exists between the variables
Term
positive correlation
Definition
a relationship between variables X and Y such that a high score for X is associated with a high score for Y and a low score for X is associated with a low score for Y
Term
posttest
Definition
a measurement given to participants at the conclusion of a study after they have experienced a treatment or been in a control group; comparisons are made with pretest scores to determine if change occured
Term
predictor variable
Definition
in a regression analysis, the variable used to predict the criterion variable (e.g., SAT scores are used to predict college grades).
Term
pretest
Definition
a measurement given to participants at the outset of a study, prior to their being given a treatment (or not treated, when particiants are in a control group)
Term
progressive effects
Definition
in a within-sujects design, any sequence effect in which the accumulated effects are assumed to be the same from trial to trial (e.g., fatigue)
Term
protocols
Definition
a detailed description of the sequence of events in a research session; used by an experimenter to ensure uniformity of treatment of research participants
Term
psychophysics
Definition
one of experimental psychology's original areas of research; investigatesthe relationshop between physical stimuli and the perception of those stimuli; studies threshold
Term
regression analysis
Definition
in correlational research, knowing the size of the correlation and a value for variable X, it is possible to predict a value for variable Y; this process occurs through a regression analysis
Term
regression line
Definition
summarizes the points of a scatterplot and provides the means for making predictions
Term
regression to the mean
Definition
if a score on a test is extremely high or low, a second score taken will be closer to the mean score; can be a threat to the internal validity of a study if a pretest score is extreme and the posttest score changes in the direction of the mean
Term
repeated-measures design
Definition
another name for a within-subjects design; participants are tested in each of the experiments conditions
Term
restricting the range
Definition
occurs in a correlational study when on a limited range of scores for one or both of the variables is usedl range restrictions tend to lower correlations
Term
reverse counterbalancing
Definition
occurs in a within-subjects design when participants are tested more than once per condition; subjects experience one sequence, and then a second with the order reversed from the first (e.g., A-B-C-C-B-A)
Term
scatterplot
Definition
a graph depicting the relationship shown by a correlation
Term
sequence or order effects
Definition
can occur in a within-subjects design when the experience of participating in one of the conditions of the study influences performance in subsequence conditions (see progressive effect and carryover effect)
Term
situational variables
Definition
type of independent variable in which subjects encounter different environmental circumstances (e.g., large vs. small rooms in a crowding study).
Term
split-half reliability
Definition
a form of reliability in which one-half of the items (e.g., the even numbered items) on a test are correlated with the remaining items
Term
subject pool
Definition
group of students asked to participate in research, typically as part of an introductory psychology course requirement; sometimes called a "participant pool."
Term
subject selection effects
Definition
a threat to the internal validity of a study; occurs when those participating in a study cannot be assigned randomly to groups; hence the groups are nonequivalent
Term
subject variables
Definition
a type of independent variable that is selected rather than manipulated by the experimenter; refers to an already existing attribute of the individuals chosen for the study (e.g., gender)
Term
task variables
Definition
type of independent variable in which participants are given different types of tasks to perform (e.g., mazes that differ in level of difficulty)
Term
test-retest reliability
Definition
a form of reliability in whcih a test is administered on two seperate occasions and the correlation between them is calculated
Term
testing
Definition
a threat to the internal validity of a study; occurs when the factof taking a pretest influences posttest scores, perhaps by sensitizing participants to the purpose of a study
Term
third variable problem
Definition
refers to the problem of drawing causal conclusions in correlational research; third variables are any uncontrolled factors that cound underline a correlation between variables X and Y.
Term
within-subjects design
Definition
any experimental design in which the same participants serve in each of the different conditions of the study; also called a "repeated-measures design"
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