Ch 2: Research Methods

Question 1

System 1 (Intuitive) Thinking

Answer 1

Tends to be rapid and to rely on gut hunches

Question 2

System 2 (Analytical) Thinking

Answer 2

Tends to be slow and to rely on a thoughtful examination of issues

Question 3

Naturalistic Observation

Answer 3

Involves recording behaviours in real-world settings but is often not carefully controlled

Doesn’t allow for causation

Question 4

Case Studies

Answer 4

Involve examining one or a few individuals over long periods of time; useful in generating hypotheses but are typically limited in testing them rigorously

Doesn’t allow for causation

Question 5

Self-Report Measures and Surveys

Answer 5

Ask people about themselves; can provide a wealth of useful information, but have certain disadvantages

Question 6

Correlational Designs

Answer 6

Allow for us to establish the relations among two or more measures but do not allow for causal conclusions

Question 7

Illusionary Correlation

Answer 7

Occurs when we mistakingly perceive a statistical association in its absence; correlational designs help to compensate for this error

Question 8

The Three Measures of Central Tendency

Answer 8

Mean, median, and mode

Question 9

The Two Measures of Variability

Answer 9

Range and standard deviation

Question 10

Prefrontal Lobotomy

Answer 10

Moniz

Surgical procedure that severs fibres connecting the frontal lobes of the brain from the underlying thalamus

Question 11

Heuristics

Answer 11

Mental shortcuts or rule of thumb that helps us to streamline our thinking and make sense of the world

Question 12

External Validity

Answer 12

The extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world settings

Question 13

Internal Validity

Answer 13

The extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences from a study

Question 14

Existence Proof

Answer 14

A demonstration that a given psychological phenomenon can occur

Question 15

Experimental Designs

Answer 15

Involve random assignment of participants to conditions and manipulation of an independent variable

Allow for causation

Placebo effects and experimenter expectancy are issues

Question 16

Random Selection

Answer 16

A procedure that ensures that every person in a population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate

Question 17

Interrater Reliability

Answer 17

The extent to which different people who conduct an interview, or who make behavioural observations, agree on the characteristics they’re measuring

Question 18

Reliability

Answer 18

Consistency of measurement

Question 19

Validity

Answer 19

The extent to which a measure assesses what it purports (claims) to measure

Question 20

Response Sets

Answer 20

Tendencies to distort their answers to questions, often in a way that paints them in a positive light

Question 21

Malingering

Answer 21

The tendency to make ourselves appear psychologically disturbed with the aim of achieving a clear-cut personal goal

Question 22

Halo Effect

Answer 22

The tendency of ratings of one positive characteristic to “spill over” to influence the ratings of other positive characteristics

Question 23

Horns Effect

Answer 23

The ratings of one negative trait spill over to influence the ratings of other negative traits

Question 24

Placebo Effect

Answer 24

Improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement

Question 25

Nocebo Effect

Answer 25

Harm resulting from the mere expectation of harm

Question 26

Single Blind Study

Answer 26

When only one of the party’s involved in a study are unaware of whether they are in the control or experimental group

Question 27

Double Blind Study

Answer 27

When neither researchers nor participants are aware of who’s in the experimental or control group

Question 28

Within-Subject Design

Answer 28

In an experiment, each participant acts as his or her own control

Question 29

Random Selection vs Random Assignment

Answer 29

Random selection deals with how we initially choose our participants, whereas random assignment deals with how we assign our participants after we’ve already chosen them

Question 30

Independent Variable

Answer 30

Variable that an experimenter manipulates

Question 31

Dependent Variable

Answer 31

Variable that an experimenter measures to see whether the manipulation has an effect

Question 32

Confounding Variable

Answer 32

Any variable that differs between the experimental and control groups other than the independent variable

Question 33

Experimenter Expectancy Effect (Rosenthal Effect)

Answer 33

Phenomenon in which researchers’ hypotheses lead to them to unintentionally bias the outcome of a study

Question 34

Demand Characteristics

Answer 34

Cues that participants pick up from a study that allow them to generate guesses regarding the researcher’s hypothesis

Question 35

Informed Consent

Answer 35

Informing research participants of what is involved in a study before asking them to participate

Question 36

Research Ethics Board (REB)/Tri-Council Policy Statement

Answer 36

Reviews all research carefully with an eye toward protecting participants against abuses

Question 37

Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC)

Answer 37

Research involving animals must first be reviewed by such committees

Question 38

Base Rate

Answer 38

How common a characteristic or behaviour is in the general population

Question 39

Peer Review

Answer 39

Articles submitted to outside reviewers who are experts in the field who screen the articles and check for quality control

Question 40

Sharpening

Answer 40

The tendency to exaggerate the gist, or central message, of a study

Question 41

Levelling

Answer 41

The tendency to minimize the less central details of a study

Question 42

Pseudosymmetry

Answer 42

The appearance of a scientific controversy where none exists

Question 43

Test-Retest Reliability

Answer 43

The consistency of a measurement process over time

Question 44

Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

Answer 44

Precognition: Acquiring knowledge of future events before they occur through paranormal means

Telepathy: Reading other people’s minds

Clairvoyance: Detecting the presence of objects or people who are hidden from view