Theories

statements about the mechanisms underlying a particular behavior

constructs

hypothetical attributes or mechanisms that help explain and predict behavior in a theory

operational definition

a procedure for measuring and defining a construct

validity

the degree to which the study accurately answers the questions it was intended to answer

face validity

unscientific form of validity that concerns whether a measure superficially appears to measure what it claims to measure

concurrent validity

the type of validity demonstrated when scores obtained from a new measure are directly related to scores obtained from an established measure of the same variable

predictive validity

the type of validity demonstrated when scores obtained from a measure accurately predict behavior according to theory

construct validity

the type of validity demonstrated when scores obtained from a measurement behave exactly the same as the variable itself

Divergent validity

the type of validity demonstrated by using 2 different methods to measure 2 different contructs

retest reliability or successive measurements

established by comparing the scores obtained from 2 successive measurements of the same individuals and calculating a correlation between the 2 sets of scores

inter-rater reliability or simultaneous measurements

the degree of agreement between two observers who simultaneously record measurements of behaviors

split-half reliability or internal consistency

obtained by splitting the items on a questionnaire or test in half, computing a separate score for each half, and then calculating the degree of consistency between the 2 scores for a group of participants

nominal scale

qualitative differences in the variable measured

ordinal scale

have different names and are organized sequentially

interval scale

organized by sequentially and all categories are the same size

ratio scale

sequentially organized, all categories are the same size, and zero point is absolute or non-arbitrary

nominal scale

can only tell that a difference exist

ordinal scale

tells us about direction of the difference  (more or less)

interval scale

determines the direction and the magnitude of the difference

ratio scale

can determine the direction and the magnitude of the difference
starts at a zero

ceiling effect

the clustering of the scores at the high end of the measurement scale, allowing little to no possibility of increases in value

Experimental bias

occurs when the measurements obtained in a study are influenced by the experimenter's expectations or personal beliefs regarding the outcome of the study

convergent validity

the type of validity demonstrated by a strong relationship between the scores obtained from 2 different methods of measuring the same construct