Chapter 2 Flashcards
1
Q
Intuitive thinking
A
- quick and reflexive
- output consists mostly of “gut hunches”
- doesn’t require much mental effort
- our brains are largely on autopilot
- ie. first impressions, snap decisions
2
Q
Analytical thinking
A
- slow and reflective
- takes mental effort
- used when trying to reason through a problem, figure out complex concepts
- allows us to override intuitive thinking and reject our gut hunches when they seem to be wrong
3
Q
Heuristic
A
- a mental shortcut or rule of thumb that helps us to streamline our thinking and make sense of our world
4
Q
List 3 main types of research designs
A
- Descriptive methods: observing and describing behaviour
- Correlational designs: examines relationships between variables
- Experimental designs: examines cause and effect
5
Q
List 3 descriptive methods for research designs
A
- Naturalistic observation
- Case study
- Questionnaires/surveys
6
Q
Naturalistic observation
A
- watching behaviour in real-world settings
- observe behaviour without interfering or trying to change it/the environment
- high on external validity
- low on internal validity
- can’t infer causation
- observing may influence people’s behaviour
7
Q
Case study
A
- examine one person or a small number of people, often over a long period of time; in-depth
- useful for studying rare phenomena
- can give researchers ideas to follow up on with larger investigations
- you can learn a lot about one individual
- difficult to generalize to the whole population
- can’t infer causation
- provide existence proofs (demonstrations that a given psychological phenomenon can occur)
8
Q
Questionnaires/survey
A
Two types: Self report and ratings
- Self-report: asking people to report on their own characteristics/knowledge/experience
- Useful for getting a lot of information; easy to use
- Need random selection
- People may not be truthful - Ratings
- May be more truthful than reporting on self
- Subject to halo/horns effect
9
Q
Correlational design
A
- Examines if two variables are associated (related)
- Correlation → can be positive, negative, or zero
- Can help us to predict behaviour
10
Q
Experimental design
A
- Researchers manipulate variables to see whether these manipulations produce differences in participants’ behaviour
- Allows us to infer causation
- High in internal validity
- Sometimes low in external validity
11
Q
Reliability
A
- consistency of measurement
- first concern with any measurement
12
Q
Validity
A
- extent to which a measurement assesses what it claims to measure
- accuracy
13
Q
External validity
A
- the extent to which we can generalize our findings to real-world settings
14
Q
Internal validity
A
- the extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences
15
Q
Random selection
A
- every person in the population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate
16
Q
Random assignment
A
- the experimenter randomly sorts participants into the groups (ie. experimental group, control group)
17
Q
Halo effect
A
- the tendency of ratings of one positive characteristic to “spill over” to influence the rating of other positive characteristics
18
Q
Horns effect
A
- the tendency for the ratings of one negative trait to spill over to influence the ratings of other negative traits
19
Q
Illusory correlation
A
- the perception of a statistical association between two variables where none exists
- form the basis of many superstitions
- tendency to forget non-events; only remember the times when our superstition is correct
20
Q
Experimental group
A
- the group that receives the manipulation