AASP_Ch1_Terms

the prediction that there will be an effect (i.e. that your experimental manipulation will have an effect)

another name for independent design

another name for independent design

a description of a distribution of observations that has two modes

a categorical variable that has only two mutually exclusive categories (e.g. dead or alive)

refers to the possibility that performance in tasks may be influenced by boredom/lack of concentration if there are many tasks, or the task goes on for a long period.

any variable made up of categories of objects or entities

a generic term describing the center of a frequency distribution of observations as measured by the mean, median, and mode

a variable (that may or may not have measured) other than the predictor variables in which we're interested than potentially affects an outcome variable

evidence that the content of a test corresponds to the content of the construct it was designed to cover

a variable that can be measured to any level of precision (values can exist within any two adjacent values)

a form of research in which you observe what naturally goes on in the world without directly interfering with it. This term implies that data will be analyzed to look at relationships between naturally occurring variables rather than making statements about cause and effect. Compared with cross-sectional and experimental research.

a process of systematically varying the order in which experimental conditions are conducted. The aim is to remove systematic bias caused by practice effects or boredom effects.

evidence that scores from an instrument correspond with or predict concurrent external measures conceptually related to the measured construct

a form of research in which you observe what naturally goes on in the world without directly interfering with it. Implies that the data come from people at different age points with different people representation each age point.

another name for outcome variable. This is associated with experimental methodology and is called because it is the variable that is not manipulated by the experimenter and so its value depends on the variables that have been manipulated.

• a variable that can only take on certain values (whole numbers) on the scale
• (very poor definition)

evidence that the results of a study, experiment or test can be applied, and allow inferences in real-world conditions

synonym with alternative hypothesis

the act of disproving a hypothesis or theory

a graph plotting values of observations on the horizontal axis, and the frequency with which each value occurs in the data set of the vertical axis

a frequency distribution (terrible definition)

a prediction about the state of the world

an experimental design in which different treatment conditions utilize different organisms and so the resulting data are independent (between-subjects)

another name for a predictor variable. This name is associated with experimental methodology because it is the variable that is manipulated by the experimenter and so its value does not depend on any other values.

the limits within which the middle 50% of an ordered set of observation falls, It is the difference between the value of the upper quartile and lower quartile

data measured on a scale along the whole of which intervals are equal.

measurement of the degree to which scores cluster in the tails of a frequency distribution. A distribution with positive Kurtosis (leptokurtic) has too many scores in the tails and is too peaked, whereas a distribution with negative kurtosis (platykurtic) has too few scores in the tails and is quite flat.

positive Kurtosis. Too many scores in the tails and is too peaked.

the relationship between what is being measured and the numbers obtained on a scale.

the value that cuts off the lowest 25% of the data. If the data are ordered and then divided into two halves at the median, then the lower quartile is the median of the lower half of the scores.

a measurement of central tendency. A typical score (terrible definition)

the discrepancy between the numbers used to represent the thing that we are measuring and the actual value of the thing we are measuring

the middle score of a set of ordered observations.

the most frequently occurring score in a data set.

a description of a distribution of observations that has more than two modes

when a majority of the scores pile up on the right side of the distribution

variable where numbers merely represent names. Type of variable where the categories are by name only.

a probability distribution of a random variable that is known to have certain properties: perfectly symmetrical (skew of 0) and a kurtosis of 0.

reverse of the experimental hypothesis. States that your prediction is wrong and the predicted effect does not exist.

data that tell us not only those things have occurred, but also the order in which they occurred. Does not provide information about the differences between values.

a variable whose values we are trying to predict from one or more predictor variables

Has too few scores in the tails and is quite flat.

a majority of the scores pile up on the left side of the distribution.

refers to the possibility that participants' performance in a task may be influenced if they repeat the task because of familiarity with the experimental situation and/or the measures being used.

a variable that is used to try to predict values of another variable known as an outcome variable

a curve describing an idealized frequency distribution of a particular variable from which it is possible to ascertain the probability with which specific values of that variable will occur

extrapolating evidence for a theory from what people say or write (or direct observation)

inferring evidence for a theory through measurement of variables that produce numeric outcomes

generic term for the tree values that cut an ordered data set into for equal parts: lower quartile, the second quartile (median), and the upper quartile

the process of doing things in an unsystematic or random way. In experimental research, refers to random assignment of participants to different treatment conditions.

the range of scores is value of the smallest score subtracted from the highest score. It is a measure of the dispersion of a set of scores.

an interval variable but with the additional property that ratios are meaningful.

the ability of a measure to produce consistent results when the same entities are measured under different conditions.

an experimental design in which different treatment conditions utilize the same organisms and so the resulting data are related (haha organisms)

another name for the median

a measure of symmetry of a frequency distribution. Symmetrical distributions have a skew of 0. There are also negative and positive skews.

variation due to some genuine effect, either because of an experimenter doing something or natural variation between sets of variables.

the possibility that an apparent relationship between two variables is actually caused by the effect of a third variable on them both (called the third-variable problem)

the ability of a measure to produce consistent results when the same entities are tested at two different points in time

although it can be defined more formally, a theory is a hypothesized general principle or set of principles that explain known findings about a topic and from which new hypotheses can be generated.

variation that is not due to the effect in which we are interested but is due to natural differences between people. Variation that cannot be explained by whatever model we have fitted to the data.

evidence that a study allows correct inferences about the question it was aimed to answer or that a test measures what it set out to measure conceptually

anything that can be measured and can differ across entities across time

another name for a repeated-measures design

a value of an observation expressed in standard deviation units. Z-scores distribution has mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1.