history effect

the influence of events or circumstances outside an experiment on an outcome variable of interest. Quasi-experimental research often attempts to take history effects into account in order to rule out potential confounds to a posited or apparent link between two variables. An example would be the occurrence of an actual earthquake during a field study of the effects of training in earthquake preparedness; this would likely increase news coverage of earthquakes, thereby resulting in greater knowledge dissemination outside of the training program.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

peptide

n. a short chain of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Peptides are usually identified by the number of amino acids in the chain. For example, dipeptides have two amino acids, tripeptides three, tetrapeptides four, and so on. See also polypeptide; protein.