Ch. 2.1 - Scientific Research Designs

Question 1

placebo effect (4)

Answer 1

-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

Question 2

techniques to reduce bias (5)

Answer 2

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

Question 3

academic journal (2)

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

anecdotal evidence (2)

Answer 4

-an individual’s story or testimony about an observation or event that is used to make a claim as evidence
>weight loss commercials

Question 5

appeal to authority (3)

Answer 5

-belief in an “expert’s” claim even when no supporting data or scientific evidence is present
>corresponding data?
>biased expert?

Question 6

appeal to common sense

Answer 6

tradition or novelty

Question 7

descriptive data (3)

Answer 7

• from observations
• no attempt to explain the ‘why’
• generalized from: case studies, naturalistic observation, surveys and questionnaires

Question 8

case studies (3)

Answer 8

-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

Question 9

naturalistic observation

Answer 9

when psychologists unobtrusively observe ad record behaviour as it occurs in the subject’s natural environment

Question 10

surveys and questionnaires

Answer 10

participant makes the observations

Question 11

correlational research

Answer 11

involves measuring the degree of association between two or more variables

Question 12

correlations have: (3)

Answer 12

-direction: positive vs. negative
-magnitude: correlation coefficient (-1 to 1)
>closer to -1 -> stronger negative relationship (same but with positive)

Question 13

illusory correlations (2)

Answer 13

• 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

Question 14

random assignment

Answer 14

technique for dividing samples into two or more groups

Question 15

experimenter control

Answer 15

variables are manipulated

Question 16

confounding variables (2)

Answer 16

• variables outside of the researchers control that might affect the results
• ex) mood or personality of participant

Question 17

between-subjects design

Answer 17

participants who are in different groups are compared

Question 18

within-subjects design (2)

Answer 18

• all participants respond to all types of stimuli or experience all experimental conditions
• order effects: separating measurements in time, counterbalancing

Question 19

quasi-experimental research (2)

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

ethics in psych (4)

Answer 20

• risks vs. beliefs
• consent
• participant rights
• oversight

Question 21

example of when ethical issues aren’t addressed before a study begins

Answer 21

Tuskgee Syphilis Study

Question 22

research ethics board

Answer 22

committee if researchers ad officials at an institution charged with the protection of human research participants

Question 23

potential stress to participants (3)

Answer 23

• physical stress
• cognitive and emotional stress (mortality salience, writing about upsetting or traumatic experiences)
• stress usually minor; benefits need to outweigh risks

Question 24

informed consent (2)

Answer 24

• 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

Question 25

deception (2)

Answer 25

- misleading or only partially informing participants of the true topic or hypothesis under investigation - given enough information to consent

Question 26

full consent (4)

Answer 26

- not participate without penalty - given equal opportunities - opt out anytime - withhold responses

Question 27

debriefing

Answer 27

researchers should explain the true nature of the study, and especially the nature of and the reason for the deception

Question 28

animals used when (3)

Answer 28

- treatments cannot be applied to humans - heritability studies require species with short lifespans - examining evolutionary origins of behaviour and cognition

Question 29

committees oversee ethical treatment (2)

Answer 29

- given appropriate housing, feeding, and sanitation | - risk and discomfort needs to be justified and managed humanely

Question 30

data kept for 3-5 years

Answer 30

replication

Question 31

honesty with data (3)

Answer 31

- acknowledge conflicts of interest - scientific misconduct - vaccines and autism

Question 32

descriptive statistics (2)

Answer 32

- a set of techniques used to organize, summarize, and interpret data - frequency, central tendency, variability

Question 33

frequency

Answer 33

number of observations that fall within a certain category or range of scores

Question 34

central tendency

Answer 34

measure of the central point of a distribution (mean, median, mode)

Question 35

variability

Answer 35

degree to which scores are dispersed in a distribution

Question 36

standard deviation

Answer 36

measure if variability around the mean

Question 37

hypothesis test

Answer 37

statistical method of evaluating whether differences among groups are meaningful, or could have been arrived at by change alone

Question 38

statistical significance

Answer 38

implies that the mean of the groups are farther apart than you would expect them to be by random chance alone