Explaining much (or all) previous data with few explanatory statements.
What is parsimony?
100
Misleading a research participant during a study by use of omission or a cover story.
What is deception?
100
Critically reading several empirical articles to learn more about a topic of interest.
What is a literature review?
100
A factor thought to be the cause of some sort of behavior which is manipulated by the experimenter.
What is an independent variable?
100
A relationship between two variables in which as one increases, the other decreases (such as number of drinks consumed the day before an exam and subsequent exam score).
What is a negative correlation?
200
Organization and prediction.
What are the main purposes of a theory?
200
A pill or injection that is inert (has no active ingredients).
What is a placebo?
200
A very specific description of what an IV or DV looked like in the context of a given study that allows for easier replication.
What is an operational definition?
200
Behaviors exhibited by research participants who believe they know the purpose of the study and are trying to act favorably.
What are demand characteristics?
200
A method of selecting participants for a study in which each person in a population has the same likelihood of being selected to participate.
What is a random sample?
300
An abstract construct (such as distraction) that connects independent variables (talking on a phone while in a driving simulator) to dependent variables (delayed reaction times).
What is an intervening variable?
300
A specific set of instructions on how measurements are to be taken and how a procedure should progress in an experiment.
What is a protocol?
300
Research aimed at solving a specific problem (such as impulsive behavior or learning disabilities).
What is applied research?
300
An experimental technique in which each participant has the same chance of ending up a given experimental group (used to reduce the effect of individual differences on the DV).
What is a random assignment?
300
A correlation indicating the level of agreement between two observers.
What is inter-rater reliability?
400
Reasoning from specific to general cases.
What is induction?
400
A catalogue of known behaviors of a given species, with each behavior being meticulously described.
What is an ethogram?
400
A false explanation given to a participant so he or she will not know the true purpose of the research.
What is a cover story?
400
This refers to whether an experimenter is actually measuring what he/she thinks he/she is measuring.
What is validity?
400
A statistical test used to assess whether two variables (such as political affiliation and college major) are independent of each other.
What is a chi-square test?
500
Pitting two (or more) theories against each other in an experiment, resulting in only ONE explaining the obtained data.
What is strong inference?
500
A method of understanding in which something is believed without prior empirical testing or investigation.
What is the a priori method?
500
The ability of a study's results to be applied to the general population or natural world.
What is external validity?
500
A group of people tasked with evaluating a research proposal and deciding if it breaches any known ethics.
What is the IRB (Institutional Review Board)?
500
A statistical technique similar to a correlation which uses multiple IVs to predict a DV.