PSY 121 Chapter 2: Psych 121-textbook-chapter 2
Document Summary
Theory: organized system of assumptions and principles that purpots to explain specifid set of phenomena and interrelationships. Hypothesis: statement that attempts to predict or account for set of phenomena; specify relationships among events of variables and are empirically tested. Operational definition: precise definition of term in a hypothesis, which specifies the operations for observing and measuring process or phenomenon being defined. Principle of falsifiability: scientific theory must make predictions that are specific enough to expose theory to possibility of disconfirmation; predict not only what will happen, but what will not. Confirmation bias: tendency to look for or pay attention to information that confirms one"s own belief. Representative sample: group of individuals, selected from population for study, matches the population on important characteristics (age, sex) Descriptive methods: methods that yield descriptions of behavior, not necessarily causal explanations. Case study: detailed description of particular individual being studied or treated. Standardize: test construction, to develop uniform procedures for giving and scoring a test.
