PSYC 111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Critical Thinking, Operational Definition, Central Tendency

• School: Binghamton University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 111
• Professor: Lanora Duell

Document Summary

Case study: a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studies in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles. Correlation coefficient: a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1. 00 to +1. 00) Critical thinking: thinking that those not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Hindsight bias: the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. Hypothesis: a testable prediction, often implied by a theory. Intuition: an effortless, immediately, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning. Naturalistic observation: a descriptive technique of observing or recording behavior in naturally occurring situations. Operational definition: a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study (for example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures) Population: all those in a group being studied. Random sample: a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.