CH 2

Question 1

What is a hypothesis?

Answer 1

A tentative explanation or prediction about some phenomenon.
Often in the form of an “if-then” statement.

Question 2

What is a theory?

Answer 2

A set of formal statements that explains HOW and WHY certain events are related to one another.

(Typically specify lawful relationships between certain behaviours and their causes.)

Broader than hypotheses.

Question 3

What is the approach to understanding behaviour that has a major drawback?

Answer 3

Hindsight. Explanations are subject to variabilities: creative, reasonable or contradictory.

Question 4

What is a variable?

Answer 4

Any characteristic or factor that can vary.

Question 5

What is an Operational Definition?

Answer 5

Defining a concept or variable in terms of the specific procedures used to produce or measure it.

Question 6

Explain social desirability bias.

Answer 6

The tendency to respond in a socially acceptable manner rather than according to how one truly feels or behaves.

Question 7

In psychological testing, what is reliability?

Answer 7

The consistency with which a measure assesses a given characteristic, or different observers agree on a given score; the degree to which clinicians show high levels of agreement and their diagnostician decisions.

Question 8

What is unobtrusive measurement?

Answer 8

Recording behaviour in a way that keeps participants unaware that they are being observed.

Question 9

What are archival measures?

Answer 9

Records or documents that already exist.

Question 10

How do you psychologists measure behavior?

Answer 10

Self reports and reports from others, directly observable behaviour using unobtrusive measures, analyze archival data, administer psychological tests, and record physiological responses.

Question 11

What is the five step scientific process?

Answer 11

1. Identify question of interest.
2. Gather information and form testable hypothesis.
3. Test hypothesis by conducting research.
4. Analyze data, draw tentative conclusions, and report findings.
5. Build a body of knowledge by asking further questions, conduct more research, develop and test theories.

Question 12

Describe characteristics of a good theory.

Answer 12

It organizes existing information.
It is testable and generates new hypotheses and predictions which can be tested.
Predictions are supported by the findings of new research.
It conforms to the law of parsimony. (Simpler theory is preferred)

Question 13

What are three key scientific attitudes?

Answer 13

Curiosity
Skepticism
Open-mindedness (prepared to challenge and discard cherished beliefs)

Question 14

What is the scientific approach to understanding behaviour?

Answer 14

Prediction, control, and theory building.

Question 15

What is the aim of descriptive research?

Answer 15

It seeks to identify behaviour, particularly in natural settings. May suggest potential cause-effect relations to be tested experimentally.

Question 16

What is a case study?

Answer 16

An in-depth analysis of an individual, a group or an event, typically with the hope of discovering generalizable principles of behaviour.

Question 17

Identify advantages of case studies.

Answer 17

1)Enable scientist to study rare phenomenon closely.
2)May challenge the validity of a theory or widely held scientific belief.
3)Can be a vibrant source of new ideas and hypotheses that may be further examined through controlled research methods.

Question 18

What are the major limitation of case studies?

Answer 18

1) poor method for determining cause-effect relations
2) case study finding may not generalize to other people/situations
3) observers may not be objective in gathering evidence and interpreting the data

Question 19

What is naturalistic observation?

Answer 19

A method in which the researcher observes behaviour in a natural setting and tries to avoid influencing the participants being observed.

Question 20

Compare population to sample in surveys?

Answer 20

Population consist of all the individuals about whom are interested in drawing a conclusion.
Sample is a subset of individuals drawn from the larger population.

Question 21

What’s a representative sample?

Answer 21

A sample that accurately reflects the important characteristics of the population. Typically using random sample.

Question 22

What is Random Sampling?

Answer 22

A method of choosing a sample in which each member of the population has an equal opportunity to be included in the sample.

Question 23

What are the advantages of survey research?

Answer 23

Findings can closely portray the population as a whole with representative sampling.
Are an efficient method for collecting a large amount of information about peoples opinions, experiences, lifestyles and changes in beliefs and habits over many years.

Question 24

What are disadvantages of survey research?

Answer 24

1)Survey data cannot be used to draw conclusions about cause-and-effect.
2)Surveys rely on participants, which can be distorted by social desirability bias, interviewer bias, peoples perceptions of their own behaviour and misinterpretation of survey questions.
3)Unrepresentative samples can lead to faulty generalizations about how many entire population.
4)Sometimes by chance, a sample randomly chosen will not be representative of the larger population.

Question 25

Define correlational research.

Answer 25

Research that measures two or more in actually occurring variables and examines whether they are statistically related.

Question 26

Why are we unable to draw causal conclusions from correlational findings?

Answer 26

1) direction of causality could be opposite.
2) bidirectionality problem - both variables may have influenced the other
3) third variable problem - a different variable may be the cause of both

Question 27

What is a correlation coefficient?

Answer 27

A statistic that indicates the direction and strength of a relation between two variables

Question 28

Difference between positive and negative correlations?

Answer 28

Positive - as scores on one variable change, second variable scores change in same direction.
Negative - scores of one variable change in the opposite direction of the other variable

Question 29

What are the benefits to correlational research?

Answer 29

1) can help establish whether relations found in laboratories generalize to the outside world
2) can discover associations that are subsequently studied under controlled lab conditions
3) to examine questions that cannot be studied with experiments for practical/ethical reasons
4) allow researchers to make predictions

Question 30

What is an experiment?

Answer 30

A research method in the which the researcher manipulates an independent variable under controlled conditions and measures whether this produces changes in the dependant variable

Question 31

What are three essential characteristics of experiments?

Answer 31

1) researcher manipulates/controls one or more variables
2) measures whether the manipulation influences other variables
3) attempts to control extraneous factors that may influence the outcome of experiment

Question 32

Describe the logic of experimentation?

Answer 32

• Start with equivalent groups of participants
• Treat them equally in all respects except the variable of interest
• Isolate this variable and manipulate it
• Measure how the groups respond

Question 33

What are independent and dependant variables?

Answer 33

Independent variable is the factor controlled/manipulated by experimenter. (Cause)
Dependant variable is the factor that is measured for influence by the independent variable. (Effect)

Question 34

What is a between subjects experimental design?

Answer 34

A common experimental design in which each experimental group is composed of a different set of participants

Question 35

What is random assignment?

Answer 35

A procedure in which each participant has an equal likelihood of being assigned to anyone group within an experiment.

Question 36

What is a repeated measures design?

Answer 36

Each participant in an experiment is exposed to all the conditions of an independent variable.

Question 37

What is counterbalancing in experimentation?

Answer 37

A procedure in which participants in an experiment are exposed to all the conditions; the order of conditions as varied so that no condition has an advantage relative to the others.

Question 38

Why do researchers manipulate the independent variables in the same experiment?

Answer 38

To analyze the interaction of causal factors, the influence that the presents or strength of one factor can have on other causal factors.

Question 39

What is validity in research?

Answer 39

The extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to; the degree to which a diagnostic system’s categories contain the core features of the behaviour disorders and permit differentiation among the disorders.

Question 40

What is internal validity?

Answer 40

The degree to which an experiment produces clear casual conclusions; internal validity is high when there’s no confounding variables.

Question 41

What is the term experimenter expectancy?

Answer 41

The subtle and unintentional ways in which an experimenter influences participants to behave in a way that will confirm the hypothesis

Question 42

How do researchers, minimize experimenter expectancy effects?

Answer 42

Using a double blind procedure, in which both the participant an experimenter are kept unaware of the research condition to which the participants have been assigned.

Question 43

How does external validity of differ from internal validity?

Answer 43

External validity is the degree to which the results of a study can be generalized to other people, settings and conditions compared to the conclusions just clearly causal within the experiment.

Question 44

How is external validity determined?

Answer 44

By replication of an experiment - the process of repeating a study to determine whether the original findings can be duplicated.

Question 45

What is a meta-analysis?

Answer 45

A statistical procedure for combining the results of different studies that examine the same topic.

Question 46

What is cross cultural replication?

Answer 46

The process of repeating a study to determine whether their original findings generalize across different cultures.

Question 47

What is the principle of informed consent?

Answer 47

Prior to agreeing to participate in research, a person should be fully informed about the procedures, risks involved, and the right to withdraw at any time without penalty.