Chapter 2 Flashcards
Psychology
Scientific study of behaviour and the mind.
Social psychology
The scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context.
ABCs
Affect (feelings)
Behaviour (actions)
Cognition (thoughts)
Theory
an organized set of principles used to explain observed phenomena.
Hypothesis
a testable prediction about the conditions under which an event will occur.
Steps of Psychology Research
1) theory
2) create a hypotheses based on theory
3) test the hypothesis
4) refine the theory
Signs of a good theory
1) assumes cause and effect relationships.
2) is coherent (organizes observations).
3) offers a simple explanation.
4) is testable and can be falsified.
5) generates new questions.
6) solves problems (has practical value).
Correlational Research
research designed to measure the association between variables that are not manipulated by the researcher.
Experimental Research
a form of research that can demonstrate causal relationships because (1) the experimenter has control over the events that occur and (2) participants are randomly assigned to conditions.
Independent Variable
the factor that experimenters manipulate
Dependent Variable
the factor that experimenters measure
Random Assignment
a method of assigning participants so that each participant in the experiment has an equal chance of being in any of the conditions.
Ego depletion
people have a common source of controlled resources/willpower from which they draw. each time we try to control our will, we reduce this pool of resources.
Operational Definition
a concise and detailed definition of a measure.
Construct Validity
the confidence you can have that the operational definition faithfully represents the abstract construct it is supposed to.
Descriptive Research
to record how typically people think, feel, or behave in particular ways.
Methods of Descriptive Research
1) observational studies
2) archival studies: examining existing records of past events and behaviours.
3) surveys: asking people questions about their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours.
Meta-analysis
a set of statistical procedures used to review a body of evidence by combining the results of individual studies to measure the overall reliability and strength of particular effects.
What do Social Psychologists Care about?
- how to stop being negatively affected by others.
- how to fight prejudice/stereotypes.
- how to have good relationships.
- how to achieve goals.
- why do people reject science.
Replication Crisis
- researchers attempted to replicate 100 studies that had been published in three prominent psychology journals.
- just 39 of the studies were successfully replicated.
Meta-analysis
a set of statistical procedures used to review a body of evidence by combining the results of individual studies to measure the overall reliability and strength of particular effects.
Confound
any variable other than the independent variable that may have an unwanted effect on the dependent variable.
Subject Variable
a variable that characterizes preexisting differences among the participants in a study.
Ego depletion experiment
- participants watched a sad movie and either 1) told not show emotions (2) given no instructions (3) shown no movie and no instructions.
- participants were then told to hold hand in cold water for as long as possible.
- those given no instructions could hold hand in water the longest.
- theory has been debunked.
