Psychology Basics
The scientific study of mental processes and behavior.
What is Psychology?
A step-by-step method for conducting research.
What is the Scientific Method?
The variable manipulated by the researcher.
What is the Independent Variable?
The average of a set of numbers.
What is the Mean?
Keeping participant information private.
What is Confidentiality?
The tendency to favor information that supports existing beliefs.
What is Confirmation Bias?
A detailed examination of one person or group.
What is a Case Study?
The variable measured in an experiment.
What is the Dependent Variable?
The middle score in an ordered set of numbers.
What is the Median?
Permission given after learning the risks and benefits of participation.
What is Informed Consent?
The feeling after an event that you "knew it all along."
What is Hindsight Bias?
Research that examines relationships between variables.
What is Correlational Research?
Assigning participants to groups by chance.
What is Random Assignment?
A measure of how spread out scores are around the mean.
What is Standard Deviation?
Groups responsible for reviewing research proposals for ethical concerns.
What are Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)?
Information gathered through observation and experimentation.
What is Empirical Evidence?
Observing behavior without interfering.
What is Naturalistic Observation?
When neither participants nor researchers know who receives treatment.
What is a Double-Blind Study?
A method that combines data from many different studies.
What is a Meta-Analysis?
Misleading participants about the true purpose of a study.
What is Deception?
The process of repeating a study to verify results.
What is Replication?
A hidden factor that may explain a correlation.
What is the Third Variable Problem?
An unaccounted-for factor that affects experimental results.
What is a Confounding Variable?
The likelihood that a result is not due to chance.
What is Statistical Significance?
The perspective that combines biological, psychological, and sociocultural influences on behavior.
What is the Biopsychosocial Perspective?