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+PSY 120 > 2 - Methods in Psychology > Flashcards

2 - Methods in Psychology Flashcards

1
Q

Dogmatists

A

Thought the best way to understand illness was to develop theories about the body’s functions

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2
Q

Empiricists

A

Thought the best way to understand illness was to observe sick people

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3
Q

Empiricism

A

The belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation

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4
Q

Scientific Method

A

Procedure for finding truth by using empirical evidence

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5
Q

Theory

A

Hypothetical explanation of natural phenomenon

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6
Q

Rule of Parsimony

A

The simplest theory that explains all the evidence is the best one.

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7
Q

Hypothesis

A

Falsifiable prediction made by a theory (ex: God created the earth is not a hypothesis because it is impossible to prove wrong)

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8
Q

Why can theories be proven wrong but not right?

A

Hypothesis: bats never fly upside down
You can see one bat fly upside down and prove that theory wrong, but you can never see all the bats that have ever existed and will ever exist.

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9
Q

Empirical Method

A

A set of rules and techniques for observation

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10
Q

What makes humans so difficult to study?

A

Complexity, variability, reactivity

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11
Q

What methods have scientists developed to meet challenges of studying humans?

A

Methods of observation: allow them to determine what people do
Methods of explanation: allow them to determine why people do it

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12
Q

Operational Definition

A

A description of a property in concrete, measurable terms

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13
Q

Instrument

A

anything that can detect the condition to which an operational definition refers

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14
Q

Validity

A

The goodness with which a concrete event defines a property

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15
Q

Reliability

A

Tendency for an instrument to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the same thing.

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16
Q

Power

A

An instrument’s ability to detect small magnitudes of the property

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17
Q

Demand Characteristics

A

Those aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think someone else wants or expects

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18
Q

Naturalistic Observation

A

A technique for gathering scientific information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments

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19
Q

Ways to avoid demand characteristics

A
  1. Allow people to respond privately or anonymously
  2. Measure behaviours that cannot be easily influenced under a person’s voluntary control
  3. Keep people from knowing the true purpose of the observation
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20
Q

Observer Bias

A

Expectations can influence observations and expectations can influence reality

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21
Q

Double Blind

A

An observation whose true purpose is hidden from both the observer and the person being observed

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22
Q

Frequency Distribution

A

A graphic representation of measurements that can be arranged by the number of times each measurement was made

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23
Q

Normal Distribution

A

(aka Gaussian distribution) Mathematically defined distribution in which the frequency of measurements is highest in the middle and decreases symmetrically in both directions

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24
Q

Central Tendency

A

Central value or typical value

25
Q

Three Descriptors of Central Tendency

A

Mode, mean, media

26
Q

Mode

A

The value of the most frequently observed measurement

27
Q

Mean

A

the average value of all measurements

28
Q

Median

A

the value that is in the middle, ie: greater than or equal to half of the measurements and vice versa

29
Q

Range

A

the value of the largest measurement in a frequency distribution minus the value of the smallest measurement

30
Q

Standard Deviation

A

A statistic that describes the average difference between the measurements in a frequency distribution and the mean of that distribution (in other words, on average, how far are the measurements from the center of the distribution?)

31
Q

Correlation

A

Pattern of covariation; comparing the patterns of variation in a series of measurements

32
Q

Correlation Coefficient

A

A mathematical measure of both the direction and strength of a correlation, symbolized by r (as in “relationship”). The closer to 1 it is, the stronger the correlation

33
Q

Natural Correlations

A

The correlations observed in the world around us

34
Q

Third-Variable Correlation

A

Two variables are correlated only because each is casually related to a third variable. The possibility of a third variable can never be eliminated

35
Q

Matched Samples Technique

A

A technique whereby the participants in two groups are identical in terms of a third variable

36
Q

Matched Pairs Technique

A

A technique whereby each participant is identical to one other participant in terms of a third variable

37
Q

Third-Variable Problem

A

A causal relationship between two variables cannot be inferred from the naturally occurring correlation between them because of the ever-present possibility of a third-variable correlation.

38
Q

Experiment

A

A technique for establishing the causal relationship between variables

39
Q

Manipulation

A

Changing a variable in order to determine its causal power

40
Q

Three main steps in doing an experiment

A
  1. Perform a manipulation (called a variable)
  2. Measure another variable
  3. We see whether our manipulation of the third variable produced changes in the dependent variable
41
Q

Independent variable

A

The variable that is manipulated in an experiment

42
Q

Experimental Group

A

The group of people who are exposed to a particular manipulation, as compared to the control group, in an experiment

43
Q

Control Group

A

The group of people who are not exposed to the particular manipulation, as compared to the experimental group, in an experiment

44
Q

Dependent Variable

A

The variable that is measured in a study

45
Q

Self-selection

A

The problem that occurs when anything about a person determines whether he or she will be included in the experimental or control group

46
Q

Random Assignment

A

A procedure that lets chance assign people to the experimental group or the control group

47
Q

Statistically Significant

A

p < .05, or 5% that the result would’ve occurred because random assignment had failed

48
Q

Internal Validity

A

An attribute of an experiment that allows it to establish causal relationships

49
Q

External Validity

A

An attribute of an experiment in which variables have been defined in a normal, typical, or realistic way (it isn’t necessary!)

50
Q

Population

A

A complete collection of participants who might possibly be measured

51
Q

Sample

A

A partial collection of people drawn from a population

0 < n < N when n = sample and N = population

52
Q

Case Method

A

A procedure for gathering scientific information by studying a single individual

53
Q

Random Sampling

A

A technique for choosing participants that ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample

54
Q

Why is nonrandom sampling a nonfatal flaw?

A
  1. Sometimes the similarity of a sample and a population doesn’t matter (ex: 1 pig flew, proves that one did, and that’s all that matters)
  2. Psychologists perform new experiments that use the same procedures but on different samples. If results match, can be more confident that the results describe basic human tendency, but if they don’t, we learn something about the influence of culture, age, etc
  3. The similarity of the sample and the population is simply a reasonable starting assumption. (If a medicine was tested on mice and the mice died, even though we don’t have whiskers and fur, most of us would not take the medicine)
55
Q

Sir Francis Bacon

A

Developed the scientific method in book called Novum Orangum

56
Q

Critical Thinking

A

Asking ourselves tough questions about whether we have interpreted the evidence in an unbiased way, and whether the evidence tells us the entire truth

57
Q

We consider what we see and ignore what we don’t

A

Series of three letter words like SYX, GTR, BCG, etc
Within about 34 words, participants could identify that the “special” words contained a T
They never figured out that the the “special” words didn’t contain a T

58
Q

Nuremberg Code of 1947 and Declaration of Helsinki in 1964

A

After WWII, the international community developed Nuremberg Code, then the Declaration of Helsinki, that spelled out the rules of ethical treatment of human subjects

59
Q

What are psychologists expected to do when they report the results of their research?

A
  1. Write reports of their studies and publish them in scientific journals. Report truthfully on what they did and what they found. Can’t fabricate results, change records, or mislead by omission
  2. Obligated to share credit fairly
  3. Obligated to share their data with other competent professionals who seek to verify the substantive claims through reanalysis

+PSY 120 (9 decks)

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