hypothesis

(noun)

A tentative conjecture explaining an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further observation and/or experimentation.

Related Terms

(noun)

A tentative conjecture explaining an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further observation, investigation, and/or experimentation.

Related Terms

Examples of hypothesis in the following topics:

  • Psychology and the Scientific Method: From Theory to Conclusion

    • Future testing may disprove the hypothesis.
    • To determine whether a hypothesis is supported or not supported, psychological researchers must conduct hypothesis testing using statistics.
    • Hypothesis testing is a type of statistics that determines the probability of a hypothesis being true or false.
    • If the hypothesis is false, create a new hypothesis or try again
    • After making a hypothesis, the researcher will then design an experiment to test his or her hypothesis and evaluate the data gathered.

  • Descriptive Research

    • In the early stages of research it might be difficult to form a hypothesis, especially when there is not any existing literature in the area.
    • In these situations designing an experiment would be premature, as the question of interest is not yet clearly defined as a hypothesis.
    • Often a researcher will begin with a non-experimental approach, such as a descriptive study, to gather more information about the topic before designing an experiment or correlational study to address a specific hypothesis.
    • Experimental research goes a step further beyond descriptive and correlational research and randomly assigns people to different conditions, using hypothesis testing to make inferences about how these conditions affect behavior.
    • Correlational and experimental research both typically use hypothesis testing, whereas descriptive research does not.

  • The Facial Feedback Hypothesis

    • The facial feedback hypothesis asserts that facial expressions are capable of influencing our emotions.
    • The facial feedback hypothesis asserts facial expressions are not only the results of our emotions but are also capable of influencing our emotions.
    • In an attempt to objectively assess the facial feedback hypothesis, Strack, Martin, and Stepper (1988) devised an experiment that would hide their true goals from the participants.
    • This outcome supported   the facial feedback hypothesis.
    • According to the facial feedback hypothesis, facial expressions aren't simply caused by emotions—they can influence our emotions as well.

  • The Value of Social Support in Managing Stress

    • The two main models of social support are the buffering hypothesis and the direct-effects hypothesis, both of which describe a positive relationship between social support and stress management.
    • The two dominant models of social support are the direct-effects hypothesis and the buffering hypothesis.
    • According to the direct-effects hypothesis, social support provides better health and wellness benefits all the time, regardless of whether the person being supported is currently experiencing stress
    • According to the buffering hypothesis, in contrast, social support provides such benefits most strongly when someone is supported while experiencing stress.
    • Proponents of this hypothesis theorize that support serves as a protective layer, creating psychological distance between a person and stressful events.

  • Experimental Research

    • The purpose of an experiment is to investigate the relationship between two variables to test a hypothesis.
    • You find support for your hypothesis that red stimuli are processed more quickly than green stimuli.
    • The conclusion will either support the hypothesis or refute it.
    • The scientist will then either reformulate the hypothesis or build upon the original hypothesis.
    • The scientific method cannot prove a hypothesis, only support or refute it.

  • Psychology and the Scientific Method

    • Two key concepts in the scientific approach are theory and hypothesis.
    • A hypothesis is a testable prediction that is arrived at logically from a theory.
    • The goal behind the scientific method is to prove or disprove a hypothesis.
    • A hypothesis is a prediction about the relationship between two specific variables.
    • The data collected during a research study would aim to prove or disprove this hypothesis.

  • Linguistic Relativity

    • The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that the grammatical structure of a person's language influences the way he or she perceives the world.
    • The hypothesis has been largely abandoned by linguists as it has found at best very limited experimental support, and it does not hold much merit in psychology.

  • Altruism: Helping

    • The empathy-altruism hypothesis states that psychological altruism does exist and is evoked by the empathic desire to help someone who is suffering.
    • Distinguish among the social-exchange theory, the reciprocity norm, and the empathy-altruism hypothesis of altruism

  • Human Language Development

    • In language acquisition, there is a hypothesis that a "critical period," or a time when it is optimal to learn a language, exists in children.
    • Part of this hypothesis is that if a child is not exposed to a language in the early years of life, he or she will never have full intuitive command of a first language.
    • One of the canonical case studies that supporters of the critical-period hypothesis turn to is Genie the "feral child," a young girl born in 1957 who, due to horrible abuse and neglect, never learned a language.

  • Heuristics and Cognitive Biases

    • If a researcher has a particular hypothesis in mind, he or she may look for patterns in the data that support that hypothesis, while ignoring other important patterns that oppose it.
    • Researchers make this mistake when they obtain mostly null results (results that do not support their hypothesis), and compensate by exaggerating or magnifying any pattern they do find.