PSYCHOLOGY NOTES

DEFINITIONS

 Experiment: an investigation that allows researchers to look for a

causal relationship; an independent variable is manipulated and is
expected to be responsible for changes in the dependent variable.
 Independent variable: the factor under investigation in an experiment
that is manipulated to create two or more conditions and is expected
to be responsible for changes in the dependent variable.
 Dependent variable: the factor in an experiment that is measured and
is expected to change under the influence of the independent
variable.
 Uncontrolled variable: a variable that either acts randomly, affecting
the DV in all levels of the IV, or systematically, i.e. on one level of the
IV so can obscure the effect of the IV, making the results difficult to
interpret, the effects of which have not or cannot be limited or
eliminated.
 Experimental condition: one or more of the situations in an
experiment that represent different levels of the IV and are compared.
 Control condition: a level of the IV in an experiment from which the IV
itself is absent. It is compared to one or more experimental condition.
 Experimental design: the way in which participants are allocated to
levels of the IV.
 Independent measures design: an experimental design in which a
different group of participants is used for each level of the IV.
 Demand characteristics: features of the experimental situation which
give away the aims. They can cause participants to try to change their
behaviour, which reduces the validity of the study.
  Random allocation: a way to reduce the effect of confounding
variables such as indivisual differences. Participants are put in each
level of the IV such that each person has an eaqual chance of being in
any condition.
 Repeated measures design: an experimental design in which each
participant performs in every level of the IV.
 Participant variables: indivisual differences between participants that
could affect their behaviour in a study that would hide or exaggerate
differences between levels of the IV.
 Confounding variable: an uncontrolled variable that acts systematically
on one level of the IV so levels and therefore ‘confound’ or confuse
the results making it difficult to understand the effect of the IV on the
DV.
 Order effects: practice and fatigue effects are the consequences of
participating in a study more than once, for example in a repeated
measures design. They cause changes in performance between
conditions that are not due to the IV so can obscure the effect on the
DV.
 Practice effect: a situation where participant’s performance improves
because they experience the experimental task more than once, for
example due to familiarity or learning the task.
 Fatigue effect: a situation where participant’s performance declines
because they experience the experimental task more than once, e.g.
due to physical tiredness or boredom with the task.
 Randomization: a way to overcome order effects in a repeated
measures design. Each participant is allocated to perform in the
different levels of the IV in a way that ensures they have an equal
chance of participating in the different levels in any order.
 Counterbalancing: a way to overcome order effects in a repeated
measures design. Each possible order of levels of the IV is performed
by a different subgroup of participants. This can be described as an
ABBA design, as half the participants do condition A then B, and half
do B then A.

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  Matched pairs design: an experimental design in which participants
are arranged into pairs. Each pair is similar in ways that are important
to the study and one member of each pair performs in a different
levels of the IV.
 Laboratory experiment: a research method in which there is an IV, a
DV and strict controls. It looks for a casual relationship and is
conducted in a setting that is not in the usual environment for the
participants with regard to the behaviour they are performing.
 Controls: way to keep potential confounding variables constant, for
example between levels of the IV, to ensure measured differences in
the DV are likely to be due to the IV, raising validity.
 Standardisation: keeping the procedure for each participant in a study
exactly the same to ensure that any differences between participants
or conditions are due to the variables under investigation rather than
differences in the way they were treated.
 Reliability: the extent to which a procedure, task or measure is
consistent, for example, that it would produce the same results with
the same people on each occasion.
 Validity: the extent to which the researcher is testing what they claim
to be testing.
 Pilot study: a small-scale test of the procedure of a study before the
main study is conducted. It aims to ensure that the procedure and
materials are valid and reliable, so that they can be adapted if not.
 Replication: keeping the procedure and materials exactly the same
between studies when attempting, for example, to verify results or to
enable other studies to use exactly the same techniques to answer
related questions.
 Operational definition: the clear description of a variable such that it
can be accurately manipulated, measured or quantified, and the study
can be replicated. This includes the way that the IV and DV in
experiments, and the co-variables on correlations, are described.
 Placebo: a pill or procedure given to a patient who believes it to be a
real treatment which in fact has no active ‘ingredient’, i.e. no active

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 drug in the case of a pill or no therapeutic value in the case of an
intervention.
 Field experiment: an investigation looking for a causal relationship in
which an IV is manipulated and is expected to be responsible for
changes in the DV. It is conducted in the normal environment for the
participants for the behavior being investigated and some control of
variables if possible.
 Generalize: to apply the findings of a study more widely, for example,
to other settings and populations.
 Ecological validity: the extent to which the findings of research
conducted in one situation would generalize to other situations. This is
influenced by whether the situation represents the real world
effectively and whether the task is relevant to real life.
 Hypothesis: a testable statement based on the aims of an
investigation.
 Alternative hypothesis: the testable statement predicting a difference
in the DV between levels of the IV in an experiment.
 Non-directional (two-tailed) hypothesis: a statement predicting only
that one variable will be related to another, for example that there will
be a difference in the DV between levels of the IV in an experiment.
 Directional (one tailed) hypothesis: a statement predicting the
direction of a relationship between variables, for example in an
experiment whether the levels of the IV will produce an increase or an
decrease in the DV.
 Null hypothesis: a testable statement saying that any difference or
correlation in the results is due to chance, that is, that no pattern in
the results has arisen because of the variables being studied.
 Informed consent: knowing enough about a study to decide whether
you want to agree to participate.
 Right to withdraw: a participant should know they can remove
themselves, and their data, from a study at any time.

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  Protection from harm: participants should not be exposed to ant
greater physical or psychological risk than they would expect in their
day-to-day life.
 Deception: participants should not be deliberately misinformed about
the aim or procedure of the study. If this is unavoidable, the study
should be planned to minimize the risk of distress, and participants
should be thoroughly debriefed. It may be done to reduce the effects
of demand characteristics but should be avoided.
 Privacy: participant’s emotions and physical space should not be
invaded, for example they should not be observed in situations or
places where they would not expect to be seen.
 Confidentiality: participant’s results and personal information should
be kept safely and not released to anyone outside the study.
 Self-report: a research method, such as a questionnaire or interview,
which obtains data by asking participants to provide information
about themselves.
 Questionnaire: a self-report research method that uses written
questions through a ‘paper and pencil’ or online technique.
 Inter-rater reliability: the extent to which two researchers interpreting
qualitative responses in a questionnaire will produce the same records
from the same raw data.
 Generalizability: how widely findings apply e.g. to other settings and
populations.
 Social desirability bias: trying to present oneself in the best light by
determining how to respond to the task in a way that would be most
acceptable to other people, rather than to the researcher.
 Filler questions: items put into a questionnaire, interview or test to
disguise the aim of the study by hiding the important questions among
irrelevant ones so that participants are less likely to work out the aims
and then alter their behavior.
 Interview: a research method using verbal questions asked directly,
using techniques such as face to face or telephone.

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  Structured interview: an interview format using questions in a fixed
order that may be scripted. Consistency might also be required for the
interviewer’s posture, voice, etc. so they are standardized.
 Unstructured questions: an interview format in which most questions
depend on the respondent’s answers. A list of topics may be given to
the interviewer.
 Semi-structured questions: an interview format using a fixed list of
open and closed questions. The interview can add more questions if
necessary.
 Subjectivity: the effect of an indivisual’s personal viewpoint on, for
example, how they interpret data. Interpretation can differ between
individual researchers as a viewpoint may be biased by one’s feelings,
beliefs or experiences, so is not independent of the situation.
 Objectivity: the impact of an unbiased external viewpoint on, for
example, how data is interpreted. Interpretation is not affected by
individual’s feelings, beliefs or experiences, so should be consistent
between different researchers.
 Case study: a research method in which a single instance, e.g. one
person, family or institution, is studied in detail.
 Triangulation: is when different techniques, e.g. observations,
interviews and tests, are used to study the same phenomenon. If they
produce similar results, this suggests the findings are valid.
 Naturalistic observation: a study conducted by watching the
participant’s behaviour in their normal environment without
interference from the researchers in either the social or physical
environment.
 Controlled observation: a study conducted by watching the
participant’s behaviour in a situation in which the social or physical
environment has been manipulated by the researchers. It can be
conducted in either the participants’ normal environment or in an
artificial situation.
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