Philosophy Chapter 6: Synthetic Statements

A test's ability to predict future behavior or outcomes.

A test's agreement with other established tests measuring the same thing.

Whether a test truly measures the intended concept or trait.

How accurately a study determines if one variable causes change in another, without external influence

How generalizable a study's results are to other situations and people.

External factors like noise, lighting, or distractions that affect study results.

Keeping experimental conditions (independent variables) consistent or unchanged.

Distributing variables equally across groups to avoid bias.

The variable that is changed or manipulated in an experiment to observe its effect on another variable.

The variable that is measured in an experiment to see how it changes in response to the independent variable.

Predicts a relationship between variables, but doesn't manipulate anything to test it.

A clear, specific description of how a variable will be measured in an experiment.

Describes how the researcher changes or manipulates something in the experiment to observe the effect on other variables.

Describes how the researcher measures the results of an experiment, quantifying how a variable changes.

The principle of seeking the simplest explanation possible for observed phenomena.

A proposed explanation for a phenomenon, often presented as a prediction before an experiment.

Different ways of categorizing and quantifying data, including nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.

Categorizing data into distinct groups; no inherent order or numerical value.

Categorizing data with a meaningful order, but differences between categories aren't consistent.

Data with meaningful order and consistent differences between values, but no true zero point.

Data with meaningful order, consistent differences, and a true zero point.

Consistency of a test over time; similar results when taking the same test multiple times.

Consistency of scores across different raters or judges.

Measures the internal consistency of a test; assesses if different parts of the test measure the same construct.

Researcher's expectations influencing experiment or results, potentially skewing outcomes.

Cues in an experiment that tell participants what's expected, leading them to change their behavior.

The variable changed or manipulated by the researcher in an experiment

The variable measured to see the effect of the independent variable.

Different participants assigned to different levels of the independent variable.

Participants matched for characteristics to control for confounding variables, ensuring similarity between groups.

Type of experimenter bias, where researcher expectations affect participant performance.

Neither the researcher nor the participants know who is in which condition, minimizing bias from either party.

A group of participants who do not receive the experimental treatment.

The number of participants in a study.

The probability of finding an effect if one truly exists.

Strength of relationship between tested variables.

Assigning participants to groups randomly.

Testing multiple variables at once to see how they interact.

Effect of one independent variable in a factorial design.

Participants in different groups are similar.

The effect of a single factor on an outcome, independent of other factors.

When two or more factors together have a different effect than when considered alone.

A table showing all possible combinations of factors being tested.

An experiment with two factors, each having two levels (options).

An experiment with two factors, one having three levels and the other having two levels.

A way to quickly write down the number of factors and levels in an experiment, like "2 x 2" or "3 x 2 x 2".

When factors' effects are independent; changing one has no influence on the other's effect.

Presenting experimental data visually to reveal patterns and main effects/interactions.