Asking Empirical Questions

Question 1

what’s an empirical question

Answer 1

can be answered with data and define as clearly as possible what your studying.
they may evolve out of everyday observations of behaviour, the need to solve a practical problem, attempts to support or refute a theory or unanswered questions from a study just completed.

Question 2

ways of doing psychology

Answer 2

basic research
quantitative
qualitative
applied research

Question 3

goals and values of psychological research

Answer 3

research
practice
policy

Question 4

goals of psychological research

Answer 4

explanation - psychological research explains events in terms of causal relations between variables - want certainty about causality

description - psychological research identifies regularly occurring sequences of psychological events (behaviour, thoughts, emotions etc) -lays foundation for prediction and describes phenomenon

prediction - can we predict what a variable will do. psychological events follow patterns that are regular and therefore predictable. lays foundation for explanation

application - psychological research informs actions and decisions for future events. say what it meant to others and what future steps are needed.

Question 5

empiricism

Answer 5

• Empiricism is the process of learning things through direct observation or experience and reflection on those experiences. - observe in a broad term eg collecting data online
• Empirical questions can be answered by making observations. - are people good or bad? = not empirical , can babies distinguish between good and bad behaviour? = empirical can collect data
  Psychologists place a higher value on empirical questions that can be addressed with objective and systematic observations.

Question 6

determinism

Answer 6

• Determinism is the assumption that all events have causes.
  Identifying causality involves covariation, temporal order, and control of other factors.

Question 7

constructs

Answer 7

an absolute idea a thing we think about something - we want to measure.

existence claim = a claim a construct is real
validity claim =when we measure the construct - claim measurement tool is accurate for construct

Question 8

introspection

Answer 8

Introspection is one of the oldest forms of psychological research.
Introspection is a way of observing yourself.
At the beginning of the 20th century, researchers used introspection to describe the construct of attention.

Question 9

attention

Answer 9

“In a 1913 study by Dallenbach… participants were asked to divide their attention between counting metronome beats and adding numbers out loud. As you can imagine, this was a difficult task. Unlike a modern study on attention that would record accuracy, however, Dallenbach was interested in the conscious experience of the task. On each trial, his participants attempted the task for a few minutes and then described their experience.”

goal to understand what attention is

“The sounds of the metronomes, as a series of discontinuous clicks, were clear in consciousness only four or five times during the experiment, and they were especially bothersome at first. They were accompanied by strain sensations and unpleasantness. The rest of the experiment my attention was on the adding, which was composed of… visual images of the numbers, sometimes on a dark gray scale which was directly ahead and about three feet in front of me”
Dallenbach (1913, p. 467)

Question 10

introspective method

Answer 10

• Researchers using the introspective method had rigorous training to eliminate bias in self-observations
• But introspection is fundamentally subjective: I cannot verify your introspections and you cannot verify mine
• Introspection therefore violates the principle of objectivity (core to empiricism) – the idea that science produces public knowledge
• The shift away from the introspective method led to the development of a specific criterion for measuring behaviour – that it can be verified by two or more observers
  Psychologists have developed many other ways of describing, predicting and explaining attention in the years since.

Question 11

manipulated variables

Answer 11

• Experimental research always involves a manipulated variable
• Determined by the research question and design choices
  Also called experimental factor or independent variable

Question 12

subject variables

Answer 12

• they are whatever people bring into the room with them - can be variable from day to day or stable over many years
• Correlational research focuses on subject variables that vary across individuals and situations.
• Attributes that pre-exist the study or attributes that occur naturally during the study
• Subject variables can be studied with a range of methods.
  Photo of something that illustrates subject variables?

Question 13

learning styles

Answer 13

some people are
- visual
- auditory
- kinesthetic
- reading and writing
study found if people take in info one way doesn’t mean they can’t take info in another way. some are better at learning than others - not tied to modality.
are learning styles a construct.

Question 14

subjectivity and objectivity

Answer 14

Dallenbach and other researchers used the introspective method because they were interested in the conscious experience of a situation or task.
* Introspection is fundamentally subjective: I cannot verify your introspections and you cannot verify mine
* Researchers using the introspective method wanted to eliminate bias in self-observations, but they did not want to eliminate subjectivity
* During the 20th century, psychology increasingly emphasised objectivity as a criterion for scientific research
Over the past 20 years, psychology has again become interested in the subjective experiences of people - esp due to importance of subjective experiences - in policy and practice - like effects of brain injury

approaches to measurement - experience, behaviour and performance

Question 15

Case study of IDT

Answer 15

standardised tests and other quantitative approaches can help us identify the behavioural characteristics and cognitive capacities of someone with a brain lesion, but they tell us less about what if feels like.

IDT could copy some figures closely but if more abstract harder

images in notes

Question 16

descriptive and inferential statistics

Answer 16

about understanding what’s in our data.
* Descriptive statistics provide a summary of the main features of a set of data collected from a sample of participants.
Inferential statistics are used to draw conclusions or hypothesis about the broader population on the basis of quantitative data from a sample of that population. looks at if its a valid claim.

Question 17

validity and reliability

Answer 17

key issues for measurement -
validity is the extent to which a method measure what it is intended to measure.
reliability is the extent to which a measure is consistent and repeatable.

there are standard procedures for evaluating validity and reliability.

Question 18

summary

Answer 18

Psychological research can have various goals.
Observations are the heart of psychological research.
We use statistics to summarise & evaluate those observations.
Different types of observations help us identify valid & reliable constructs.

Question 19

basic vs applied research

Answer 19

basic research - goals of describing, predicting and explaining the fundamental principles of behaviour and mental processes eg perception, learning and cognition
applied research - has direct and immediate relevance to the solution of real - world problems.

eg a basic research study may investigate the ability of people to simultaneously complete two different information-processing tasks in a lab. in an applied study on attention they may examine the limits of attention for a real-world task with important practical implications.

its sometimes believed that applied research is more valuable than basic research because an applied study seems to concern more relevant problems and to tackle them directly however it could be argued a major advantage of of basic research Is that the principles and procedures developed through basic research can potentially be used in a wide range of applied research. but politicians target basic research and bluster about the misuse of tax dollars to fund research that doesn’t seem ‘useful’.

another disadvantage for basic research is IRBs sometimes favour applied research over basic research as they often fail to see the relevance of basic lab procedures.

in some cases what is learned from basic research can be useful in an applied project from a completely different topic area.

basic research can lead to applications. applied outcomes frequently have relevance for basic research providing evidence that either supports or refutes theories.

Question 20

lab versus field research

Answer 20

laboratory research - allows the researcher to have greater control - conditions of the study can be specified more precisely and ptps can be selected and placed in the different conditions of the study more systematically. its sometimes criticised for being artificial and far removed from everyday life. but it has yielded important knowledge about behaviour. easier to get informed consent and privacy and easier to stick to the ethics code. however in a field it is difficult and usually impossible to provide informed consent and debriefing.

field research - the environment more closely matches the situations we encounter in daily living. its often applied research and lab is often basic research but some basic research takes place in a field and some applied research takes place in a lab. one strength is the proximity they have to everyday life. but can face a greater challenge from IRBs and field researchers must show the importance of their study justifies the risks involved.

field strengths - conditions in the field often can’t be duplicated in a lab. field research can be done to confirm the findings of laboratory studies and perhaps to correct misconceptions or oversimplifications that might be derived from the safe confines of a lab. also to make discoveries that could result in an immediate difference in the lives of the people being studied. although field research is ordinarily associated with applied research it is also a good setting in which to do basic research.

Question 21

mundane realism (Aronson 2007)

Answer 21

refers to how closely a study mirrors real-life experiences

Question 22

experimental realism (Aronson 2007)

Answer 22

concerns the extent to which a research study (whether in a lab or field) ‘has an impact on the subjects, forces them to take the matter seriously, and involves them in the procedures’ if ptps are involved in the study and taking it seriously then the researcher can draw valid conclusions about behaviour

Question 23

combining field and lab studies

Answer 23

bushman and Anderson 2009 - wanted to discover if exposing people to violent media would desensitise them to violence and make them less likely to be helpful to others. to do so they completed both a laboratory study and a field study.

Question 24

confederate

Answer 24

someone who appears to be part of the normal environment but is actually part of the study

Question 25

manipulation check

Answer 25

this procedure is often used to be sure the intended manipulations in a study have the desired effect.

Question 26

pilot study

Answer 26

often used to test aspects of the procedure to be sure the methodology is sound.

Question 27

quantitative vs qualitative research

Answer 27

most research in psychology is quantitative in nature

quantitative research - the data are collected and presented in the form of numbers eg average scores for different groups on some task. focuses on numerical data and statistical analysis.

qualitative research - not easily classified but it often includes studies that collect interview information either from individuals or groups - it sometimes involves detailed case studies or it might involve carefully designed observational studies. results are presented as analytical narratives that summarise the projects main outcomes. results often take longer to describe and include quotes said to represent typical responses.

Question 28

operational definitions

Answer 28

operationism - Bridgman argued that the terminology of science must be totally objective and precise and that all concepts should be defined in terms of a set of ‘operations’ or procedures to be performed. a researcher defines how the concepts to be studied ‘operate’ in an experiment. these types of definitions came to be called operational definitions.

for psychologists the problem of operationism came down how to accomplish it in practice when dealing with such complex psychological phenomena as aggression, creativity, depression, and so on.

the concept has been of value to psychology by forcing researchers to clearly define the terms of their studies. this is especially important when you consider that most research in psychology concerns concepts that are open to numerous definitions.

one important outcome of the precision resulting from operational definitions is that is allows experiments to be repeated.

Question 29

converging operations

Answer 29

the idea that our understanding of some behavioural phenomenon is increased when a series of investigations all using slightly different operational definitions and experimental procedures nonetheless converge on a common conclusion.

Question 30

developing research from observations of behaviour and serendipity

Answer 30

all of us have had the experience of observing behaviour and wondering what caused it - the same questions occur to experimental psychologists and are often a starting point for developing empirical questions.

serendipitous observations can also lead to research. serendipity or discovering something while looking for something else entirely has been a source of numerous important events in the history of science. can happen when a scientist is wrestling with a difficult research problem and a chance event accidentally provides the key or it might occur when something goes wrong in an experiment such as an apparatus failure eg skinners experience of extinction curves following an apparatus breakdown.