10/22/2024 12:14 PM
Research Methods in Psychology (Exam 1)
Study Guide.
Scientific Thinking - answer✔Involves the cognitive skills required to generate, test, and revise
theories
Scientific Method - answer✔How scientists conduct research; consists of five basic processes:
observe, predict, test, interpret, and communicate
Theory - answer✔A set of related assumptions from which testable predictions can be made
Hypothesis - answer✔A specific, informed, and testable prediction of what kind of outcome
should occur under a particular condition
Replication - answer✔The repetition of a study to confirm the results; it is essential to the
scientific process
Pseudoscience - answer✔Claims presented as scientific that are not supported by evidence
obtained with the scientific method
Research Designs - answer✔Plans of action for how to conduct a scientific study
Variable - answer✔A characteristic that changes or "varies", such as age, gender, weight,
intelligence, anxiety, and extraversion
Population - answer✔The entire group a researcher is interested in
Samples - answer✔Subsets of the population studied in a research project
Descriptive Designs - answer✔Study designs in which the researcher defines a problem and
variable of interest but makes no prediction and does not control or manipulate anything
Case Study - answer✔A study design in which a psychologist, often a therapist, observes one
person over a long period of time
Naturalistic Observation - answer✔A study in which the researcher unobtrusively observes and
records behavior in the real world