The Power of the Situation/ Research Methods (Lecture 2&3)

An explanation for a behavior or an event, either internal (disposition/personality) or external (situational).

Attributing behavior to a person’s personality traits or disposition.

Attributing behavior to situational or external factors.

The tendency to overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the influence of the situation when explaining others' behavior.

The tendency to attribute others' actions to internal causes but our own actions to external causes because we notice our own situations more.

The belief that we see the world objectively as it really is, underestimating how much our perceptions are influenced by interpretation.

The way individuals perceive, comprehend, and interpret the social world; a subjective interpretation of reality.

Construal is overall perception and interpretation; Attribution is a specific explanation for behavior.

Clear, unambiguous situations that guide behavior.

Ambiguous situations without clear behavioral guidelines.

The process of constructing, testing, and refining theories through systematic empirical observation.

A set of principles explaining social behavior, tested through research.

A specific, testable prediction about the relationship between events, derived from theory or observation.

Research based on observable, measurable evidence to make inferences about psychological processes.

Abstract ideas or concepts that researchers are interested in, like aggression or prejudice.

Specific ways conceptual variables are measured or manipulated in a study.

The process of turning conceptual variables into measurable observations or experimental manipulations.

The consistency of a measurement across time or different observers.

The accuracy of a measurement; whether it truly measures what it is intended to measure.

When participants know they are being observed.

When participants are unaware they are being observed.

Measurements taken so participants do not alter their behavior because they know they are being watched.

A test that measures the strength of automatic associations between concepts and evaluations.

A task where people judge unrelated symbols as pleasant or unpleasant, influenced by preceding emotional stimuli.

Measurements of brain or body responses like heart rate or brain scans to infer psychological states.

Observational, Correlational, Experimental.

A method of observing people and systematically recording measurements or impressions of their behavior.

A technique where two or more variables are systematically measured to assess the relationship between them.

A method where researchers randomly assign participants to conditions to examine causal effects of independent variables on dependent variables.

Case Studies, Archives, Surveys, Naturalistic Observations.

Observing behavior in its natural setting without interference.

An extensive study of a single person or group.

Examining public records to gather data.

Asking people about their beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes.

Ensuring each member of a population has an equal chance of being selected for a sample.

How researchers phrase or structure survey questions, which can influence responses.

As one variable increases, the other variable also increases.

As one variable increases, the other variable decreases.

There is no relationship between two variables.

A statistic that measures the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.

Because the relationship could be caused by a third variable (confound) or by reverse causality.

The variable that is manipulated by the researcher.

The variable that is measured to see if it is affected by the independent variable.

Each participant has an equal chance of being placed into any condition of an experiment.

An experiment with random assignment to conditions.

An experiment that lacks random assignment.

An experiment conducted in a real-world setting with manipulation but less control over variables.

A highly controlled experiment conducted in a lab setting.

Confidence that the independent variable caused the dependent variable, often seen in lab experiments.

The ability to generalize research findings to real-world settings, often seen in field experiments.

Intentionally misleading participants about the true purpose of a study.

When necessary for the research, not objectionable to participants, and followed by debriefing.

Explaining the true purpose of a study to participants after their involvement has ended.

A movement encouraging transparency and replication in research.

Repeating a study to verify its results and improve reliability.