Ch. 2.1 - Scientific Research Designs Flashcards
placebo effect (4)
-measurable and experienced improvement in health or behaviour that cannot be attributable to a medication or treatment
>”all in their head” or actual physiological response?
>some evidence of physiological pain relief
>changes in brain activation
techniques to reduce bias (5)
1) anonymity: each individuals responses are recorded without any name or personal information that could link particular individual to specific results
2) confidentiality: the results will only be seen by researcher
3) inform participants: reduces participants anxiety and social desirability bias
4) single-blind study: participants don’t know what the true purpose of the study, or else don’t know what type of treatment they’re receiving (ex. placebo or treatment drug)
5) double-blind study: neither participant nor the experimenter knows the exact treatment for any individual
academic journal (2)
- peer reviews: process in which papers attributed for publication in scholarly journals are read and critiqued by experts in the specific field of study
- replication: process of repeating a study and finding a similar outcome each time
anecdotal evidence (2)
-an individual’s story or testimony about an observation or event that is used to make a claim as evidence
>weight loss commercials
appeal to authority (3)
-belief in an “expert’s” claim even when no supporting data or scientific evidence is present
>corresponding data?
>biased expert?
appeal to common sense
tradition or novelty
descriptive data (3)
- from observations
- no attempt to explain the ‘why’
- generalized from: case studies, naturalistic observation, surveys and questionnaires
case studies (3)
-are in depth reports about the details of a specific case
-difficult to generalize findings
>Phones Gage->tampering rod shot through front lobes and had drastic personality changes
naturalistic observation
when psychologists unobtrusively observe ad record behaviour as it occurs in the subject’s natural environment
surveys and questionnaires
participant makes the observations
correlational research
involves measuring the degree of association between two or more variables
correlations have: (3)
-direction: positive vs. negative
-magnitude: correlation coefficient (-1 to 1)
>closer to -1 -> stronger negative relationship (same but with positive)
illusory correlations (2)
- relationships that really exist only in the mind rather than in reality
- ex) crime increases when moon is full, opposites attract, gamblers/athletes on a “hot streak”, stereotypes
random assignment
technique for dividing samples into two or more groups
experimenter control
variables are manipulated
confounding variables (2)
- variables outside of the researchers control that might affect the results
- ex) mood or personality of participant
between-subjects design
participants who are in different groups are compared
within-subjects design (2)
- all participants respond to all types of stimuli or experience all experimental conditions
- order effects: separating measurements in time, counterbalancing
quasi-experimental research (2)
- research technique in which two or more groups that are compared are selected based on predetermined characteristics, rather than random assignment
- ex) comparing men and women -> cannot determine cause and effect
ethics in psych (4)
- risks vs. beliefs
- consent
- participant rights
- oversight
example of when ethical issues aren’t addressed before a study begins
Tuskgee Syphilis Study
research ethics board
committee if researchers ad officials at an institution charged with the protection of human research participants
potential stress to participants (3)
- physical stress
- cognitive and emotional stress (mortality salience, writing about upsetting or traumatic experiences)
- stress usually minor; benefits need to outweigh risks
informed consent (2)
- potential volunteer must be informed (know the purpose, tasks, and risks involved in the study) and give consent (agree to participate on the information provided)
- topic, nature of stimuli, nature of tasks, duration, risks, steps taken to minimize risks
deception (2)
- misleading or only partially informing participants of the true topic or hypothesis under investigation
- given enough information to consent
full consent (4)
- not participate without penalty
- given equal opportunities
- opt out anytime
- withhold responses
debriefing
researchers should explain the true nature of the study, and especially the nature of and the reason for the deception
animals used when (3)
- treatments cannot be applied to humans
- heritability studies require species with short lifespans
- examining evolutionary origins of behaviour and cognition
committees oversee ethical treatment (2)
- given appropriate housing, feeding, and sanitation
- risk and discomfort needs to be justified and managed humanely
data kept for 3-5 years
replication
honesty with data (3)
- acknowledge conflicts of interest
- scientific misconduct
- vaccines and autism
descriptive statistics (2)
- a set of techniques used to organize, summarize, and interpret data
- frequency, central tendency, variability
frequency
number of observations that fall within a certain category or range of scores
central tendency
measure of the central point of a distribution (mean, median, mode)
variability
degree to which scores are dispersed in a distribution
standard deviation
measure if variability around the mean
hypothesis test
statistical method of evaluating whether differences among groups are meaningful, or could have been arrived at by change alone
statistical significance
implies that the mean of the groups are farther apart than you would expect them to be by random chance alone
