| |
| Chapter 2 |
|
|
Anthropomorphizing |
attributing human characteristics or
emotions, such as happiness, to animals |
| Case study
|
the intensive investigation of a
particular instance, or case, of some behavior; does not
allow inferences of cause and effect but is merely
descriptive |
| Cause |
we infer a cause from experimental
results when we see an effect produced by the varied
factor |
| Confounding
|
the simultaneous variation of a
second variable with an independent variable of interest
so that any effect on the dependent variable cannot be
attributed with certainty to the independent variable;
inherent in correlational research |
| Contingency
research |
a relational research design in which
the frequencies of all combinations of two variables are
assessed to determine the relationship between them
|
| Correlation
coefficient |
a number that can vary from -1.00 to
+1.00 and that indicates the degree of relation between
two variables |
|
Correlational research |
allows the experimenter to determine
simultaneously the degree and direction of a
relationship with a single statistic |
|
Cross-lagged-panel correlation procedure
|
involves several correlations that
help determine the direction of possible causality among
variables |
| Delimiting
observations |
especially in naturalistic
observation, the necessity to limit or choose the
classes of behaviors to be observed |
| Deviant-case
analysis |
investigation of similar cases that
differ in outcome in an attempt to specify the reasons
for the different outcomes |
| Empirical
|
relying on or derived from
observation or experiment |
| Ethogram
|
a relatively complete inventory of
species-specific behaviors shown by one species |
| Ethology
|
the study of naturally occurring
behavior |
| Ex post
facto |
literally, "from after the fact";
describes conditions in an experiment that are
determined not prior to the experiment but only after
some manipulation has occurred naturally |
| Factorial
design |
an experimental design in which each
level of every independent variable occurs with all
levels of the other independent variables |
| Mediator
|
a variable that provides the causal
link between two variables; an underlying causal
mechanism |
| Naturalistic
observation |
the description of naturally
occurring events without intervention on the part of the
investigator |
| Negative
correlation |
an observed relationship between two
variables in which a change in one variable is
accompanied by a change in the opposite direction in the
second variable |
| χ2
test for independence
|
a statistical test often used to
determine whether the data in a contingency table are
statistically significant |
| Participant
observation |
an observation technique in which the
observer participates with those being observed; for
example, living with gorillas in the wild
|
| Pearson r
|
a parametric measure of correlation
between two variables
|
| Positive
correlation |
an observed relationship between two
variables in which a change in one variable is
accompanied by a change in the same direction in the
second variable |
| Reactivity
|
a participant's unplanned reaction to
the researcher or research setting that may confound the
results of the research |
| Relational
research |
research that tries to determine how
two or more variables are related |
| Restriction
of range |
when the sample does not represent
the full range of possible values for a given variable
or factor; it reduces the degree of an observed
correlation or relationship between two variables |
| Survey
research |
the technique of obtaining a limited
amount of information from a large number of people,
usually through random sampling |
| Truncated
range |
a problem in interpreting low
correlations; the amount of dispersion (or range) of
scores on one variable may be small, thus leading to the
low correlation found |
| Unobtrusive
measures |
measures taken from the results of
behavior, not from the behavior itself (see
Nonreactive) |
| Unobtrusive
observations |
see Nonreactive |
| Variable
|
something that can be measured or
manipulated |
|
Within-subjects design |
an experimental design in which each
subject is tested under more than one level of the
independent variable |
