retrospective research

observational, nonexperimental research that tries to explain the present in terms of past events; that is, research that starts with the present and follows participants backward in time. For example, an investigator may select a group of individuals who exhibit a particular problematic symptom and then study them to determine if they had been exposed to a risk factor of interest. Also called retrospective study. Compare prospective research.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

weapons effect

increased hostility or a heightened inclination to aggression produced by the mere sight of a weapon. If provoked, individuals who have previously been shown a weapon will behave more aggressively than will those who have not. Subsequent research has indicated that this aggressive behavior is primed by the sight or suggestion of weapons (see priming) and that any other object associated with aggression can have the same effect. [identified in 1967 by U.S. psychologists Leonard Berkowitz (1926– ) and Anthony LePage]