prospective sampling

a sampling method in which cases are selected for inclusion in experiments or other research on the basis of their exposure to a risk factor. Participants are then followed to see if the condition of interest develops. For example, young children who were exposed to lead in their drinking water and those who were not exposed to this risk factor could be included in a study and then followed through time to assess health problems that emerge when they are adolescents. Compare retrospective sampling.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

cognitive ethology

the study of mental experiences, including consciousness and intentionality, in nonhuman animals and of the influence of these experiences on the animals’ behavior as they interact with their natural environment. Whether, and which, animals actually possess consciousness and intentionality remains a subject of controversy. [proposed in 1978 by U.S. zoologist Donald Redfield Griffin (1915–2003)]