SACE Stage 2 Psychology flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

School assessment weighting

In SACE Stage 2 Psychology, school assessment comprises Skills and Application Tasks at 40% and the Investigations Folio at 30%, together making 70% of the final subject grade.

External assessment weighting

The external examination contributes 30% of the Stage 2 Psychology grade and samples knowledge, application and evaluation across the studied topics.

Operationalised hypothesis

A testable prediction that defines the independent and dependent variables in measurable terms and states the expected direction or difference between conditions.

Independent variable

The variable the researcher manipulates or selects to create different conditions, whose effect on the measured outcome is being investigated.

Dependent variable

The variable that is measured to assess the effect of the independent variable; it must be defined operationally so results can be recorded objectively.

Random allocation

Assigning participants to experimental conditions by chance so that participant characteristics are distributed across groups, reducing systematic bias and supporting internal validity.

Random selection

Choosing participants from a population by chance so the sample is more likely to be representative, which supports the generalisability of findings.

Validity

The extent to which a task, measure or study assesses or demonstrates what it claims to, including construct, internal and external forms.

Reliability

The consistency of a measure or procedure, such that repeated administration or independent raters produce similar results under the same conditions.

Informed consent

Participants agree to take part after being told the purpose, procedures, risks and right to withdraw, without coercion or withheld information that would affect their decision.

Confidentiality

The ethical obligation to protect participants' identities and data from unauthorised access, usually by de-identifying records and securing storage.

Right to withdraw

Participants may leave a study at any time, and may request removal of their data, without penalty or loss of entitlements.

Deception in research

Deliberately misleading participants about a study's purpose or procedures; acceptable only when necessary, justified, and followed by full debriefing.

Debriefing

A post-study explanation of the true purpose, procedures and results, used to correct misconceptions, reduce harm and restore participants' wellbeing.

Protection from harm

The ethical requirement that foreseeable physical or psychological risk is minimised and does not exceed what participants accept or what the study's value justifies.

Investigations Folio

The school assessment type worth 30% in which students design, conduct and report investigations, including ethical considerations, data analysis and evaluation of the design.

Performance standards

Grade descriptors applied across assessment types, addressing knowledge and understanding, application and analysis, and evaluation, used to judge the quality of student evidence.

Command word: explain

An instruction requiring a reason or mechanism, linking a cause to an outcome rather than merely naming a term or stating a fact.

Command word: evaluate

An instruction requiring a judgement about strengths and limitations, supported by specific evidence, and often concluding with an overall assessment.

Command word: analyse

An instruction requiring the breakdown of information or a scenario into components and the explanation of how those components relate to one another.

Multiple-choice scoring

Each multiple-choice item has one correct option and is scored as correct or incorrect, with no partial credit for partially accurate reasoning.

Partial credit marking

Short-answer questions are marked against criteria, awarding marks for each required element such as identification, explanation, application and evaluation.

Statistical significance

A result is significant when the probability of obtaining it under the null hypothesis is below the chosen threshold, commonly p less than 0.05.

Null hypothesis

The statement that no real difference or relationship exists between the variables in the population, against which observed sample results are tested.

Mean

The arithmetic average of a data set, calculated by summing all scores and dividing by the number of scores; sensitive to extreme values.

Median

The middle score when data are ordered by magnitude; it divides the distribution in half and is resistant to the influence of outliers.

Standard deviation

A measure of the average spread of scores around the mean, indicating how dispersed the data are in the same units as the scores.

Correlation coefficient

A value between minus one and plus one describing the direction and strength of a linear relationship between two variables, without implying causation.

Confounding variable

An uncontrolled factor that varies systematically with the independent variable and independently affects the dependent variable, providing an alternative explanation for results.

Demand characteristics

Cues in a study that suggest the expected response, leading participants to alter behaviour and threatening the validity of the findings.

Experimenter bias

The influence of a researcher's expectations on procedures, observations or data recording, which can be reduced by standardised protocols and blind procedures.

Generalisability

The extent to which findings from a sample and setting can reasonably be extended to other populations, contexts and times, supported by representative sampling.