Ch 2: Research Methods Flashcards
System 1 (Intuitive) Thinking
Tends to be rapid and to rely on gut hunches
System 2 (Analytical) Thinking
Tends to be slow and to rely on a thoughtful examination of issues
Naturalistic Observation
Involves recording behaviours in real-world settings but is often not carefully controlled
Doesn’t allow for causation
Case Studies
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
Self-Report Measures and Surveys
Ask people about themselves; can provide a wealth of useful information, but have certain disadvantages
Correlational Designs
Allow for us to establish the relations among two or more measures but do not allow for causal conclusions
Illusionary Correlation
Occurs when we mistakingly perceive a statistical association in its absence; correlational designs help to compensate for this error
The Three Measures of Central Tendency
Mean, median, and mode
The Two Measures of Variability
Range and standard deviation
Prefrontal Lobotomy
Moniz
Surgical procedure that severs fibres connecting the frontal lobes of the brain from the underlying thalamus
Heuristics
Mental shortcuts or rule of thumb that helps us to streamline our thinking and make sense of the world
External Validity
The extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world settings
Internal Validity
The extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences from a study
Existence Proof
A demonstration that a given psychological phenomenon can occur
Experimental Designs
Involve random assignment of participants to conditions and manipulation of an independent variable
Allow for causation
Placebo effects and experimenter expectancy are issues
Random Selection
A procedure that ensures that every person in a population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate
Interrater Reliability
The extent to which different people who conduct an interview, or who make behavioural observations, agree on the characteristics they’re measuring
Reliability
Consistency of measurement
Validity
The extent to which a measure assesses what it purports (claims) to measure
Response Sets
Tendencies to distort their answers to questions, often in a way that paints them in a positive light
Malingering
The tendency to make ourselves appear psychologically disturbed with the aim of achieving a clear-cut personal goal
Halo Effect
The tendency of ratings of one positive characteristic to “spill over” to influence the ratings of other positive characteristics
Horns Effect
The ratings of one negative trait spill over to influence the ratings of other negative traits
Placebo Effect
Improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement
Nocebo Effect
Harm resulting from the mere expectation of harm
Single Blind Study
When only one of the party’s involved in a study are unaware of whether they are in the control or experimental group
Double Blind Study
When neither researchers nor participants are aware of who’s in the experimental or control group
Within-Subject Design
In an experiment, each participant acts as his or her own control
Random Selection vs Random Assignment
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
Independent Variable
Variable that an experimenter manipulates
Dependent Variable
Variable that an experimenter measures to see whether the manipulation has an effect
Confounding Variable
Any variable that differs between the experimental and control groups other than the independent variable
Experimenter Expectancy Effect (Rosenthal Effect)
Phenomenon in which researchers’ hypotheses lead to them to unintentionally bias the outcome of a study
Demand Characteristics
Cues that participants pick up from a study that allow them to generate guesses regarding the researcher’s hypothesis
Informed Consent
Informing research participants of what is involved in a study before asking them to participate
Research Ethics Board (REB)/Tri-Council Policy Statement
Reviews all research carefully with an eye toward protecting participants against abuses
Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC)
Research involving animals must first be reviewed by such committees
Base Rate
How common a characteristic or behaviour is in the general population
Peer Review
Articles submitted to outside reviewers who are experts in the field who screen the articles and check for quality control
Sharpening
The tendency to exaggerate the gist, or central message, of a study
Levelling
The tendency to minimize the less central details of a study
Pseudosymmetry
The appearance of a scientific controversy where none exists
Test-Retest Reliability
The consistency of a measurement process over time
Extrasensory Perception (ESP)
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
