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Psych 1021 > Chapter 2- Conducting Research in Psychology > Flashcards

Chapter 2- Conducting Research in Psychology Flashcards

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1
Q

Hindsight bias

A

the tendency to overestimate our ability to predict an event

-“i knew it all along”

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2
Q

Logic

A

tells us how, the world should work, not how it actually does
ex- heavier objects should fall faster than light ones

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3
Q

Standford Prison Experiment

A
  • examined to see if normal people might behave in extreme ways when put into situations that have extreme demands
  • students put in a prison, were assigned to either be a guard or prisoner
  • they got way to into it, had to end the study
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4
Q

Science is

A
  • is cumulative
  • a process more than a product
  • is an attitude
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5
Q

Scientific thinking

A

using cognitive skills to test theories

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6
Q

Three attitudes of science

A

1- Question authority
2-Open skepticism
3-Intellectual honesty

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7
Q

The scientific method

A 
OPTIC
Observe- behaviour
Predict- propose a hypothesis
Test- collect data, do experiments
Interpret- confirm or disconfirm a prediction
Communicate- publish your findings
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8
Q

Theory

A

a set of related assumptions from which testable predictions can be made
-explain facts

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9
Q

Hypothesis

A

a specific, informed, testable prediction of an outcome

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10
Q

Peer-review

A

scientists evaluating other scientist’s findings

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11
Q

Replication

A

the repetition of a study to confirm the results

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12
Q

Pseudoscience

A
  • claims to be science, but does not use the scientific method
  • what science IS NOT
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13
Q

Characteristics of pseudoscience

A

-lacks the cumulative progress seen in science
-disregards real world observations and established facts, contradicts what is already known
-lacks the internal skepticism
-only vaguely explains how conclusions are reached
-uses loose and distorted logic
ex- astrology, UFOS, aliens

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14
Q

Research designs

A

plans of action for how to conduct a scientific study

-depends on the questions asked

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15
Q

variable

A

-anything that changes or varies

ex- age, gender, weight, intelligence, anxiety

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16
Q

population

A

entire group of people a researcher is interested in

-all rats, all girls, all uni students, etc

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17
Q

sample

A

a subset of a population

  • cannot collect data from entire population-> too much time and money
  • research is always conducted on samples, not populations
  • valid conclusions need sample that represents the population
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18
Q

Descriptive designs

A
  • study in which researcher defines a problem and variable, but makes no prediction
  • just gathers data, describes it as it is
  • doesnt establish hypothesis
  • looks for patterns
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19
Q

Three types of descriptive designs

A

Case studies, naturalistic observations, interviews/surveys

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20
Q

Case study

A

observation of one person over a long period of time

  • used to study rare phenomena
    limitations:
  • lack of generalizability to other people
  • cannot look at cause and effect
    ex: study of DS, thought his parents were imposters
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21
Q

psychobiography

A

examines the lives of historically important people

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22
Q

Naturalistic observation

A
  • researcher observes and records behaviour in the real world
  • gives researchers a look at real behaviour in the real world, rather than a controlled setting
    limitations: lack of control over variables
  • have to wait for behaviour, time
  • cannot look at cause and effect
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23
Q

ex naturalistic observation, bullying

A

most children report bullying is bad and they won’t join in, naturalistic observation says otherwise
-peers are present most of the time during bullying, barely anyone tries to stop it

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24
Q

archival research

A

research involving the use of already existing information to gain insight to peoples behaviour
-form of naturalistic observation
ex- describing the characteristics of teachers who committed sexual offences by using RCMP database

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25
Q

physical traces

A
  • physical evidence of peoples activities in a particular setting
  • ex: collecting ppl’s garbage to see what they consume vs. what they say they consume
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26
Q

Interview/Survery

A
  • asking people directly or indirectly of what they think, feel, or have done
  • specific questions
  • good for large groups of people
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27
Q

Kinsley

A

first person to survey ppl about their sexual behaviour

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28
Q

representative sample

A

research sample that accurately reflects the population the researcher is studying
-obtained through random sampling

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29
Q

random sample

A

a sample in which every member in the population has an equal chance of being selected

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30
Q

social desirability bias

A

the tendency towards favourable self-presentation

  • ex: not answering questions completely honest in an interview because you are thinking about what the interviewer is thinking/maybe that they would judge you
  • leads to inaccuracies
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31
Q

Limitations of Interview/ Survery

A
  • if not random sample, results are not generalized, biased responses
  • if topics are controversial, some people might not answer honestly
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32
Q

Correlational Designs

A

studies that measures 2 or more variables and their relationship to each other
- is X related to Y
-does not show causation
advantages:
-useful when variables cannot be manipulated
ex- unethical to raise kids two diff ways to study parenting behaviour

33
Q

Limitations of correlational designs

A
  • does not estabilish whether one variable actually causes the other and vice versa
  • correlation is not causation
  • if two variables are correlated, there are at least 3 possible explanations/causes
34
Q

Correlation coefficient

A

-tells us the strength and direction of relationship between two variables
-1 to +1
+1- perfect positive relationship (as x goes up, y goes up)
-1 perfect negative relationship (as x increases, y decreases)
0 tells us there is no correlation or relationship between the two variables
*positive relationships are not better than negative ones, just tells us the direction

ex- -0.78 is a stronger relationship than a coefficient of 0.33 (since it is closer to -1 than 0.33 is to 1)

35
Q

Scatterplot

A

graph that depicts correlation

36
Q

Experimental studies

A

allows the researcher the most control over the experimental situation
-golden design
best use is to infer cause

37
Q

Two crucial characteristics of an experiment

A

1- Manipulation of the predicted cause (independent variable) and measurement of the response (dependent variable)
2-Random assignment of participants to control and experimental groups, each participant has an equal chance of being in a control or experimental group

38
Q

Independent variable

A

“the cause”
what did you change
usually on X axis

39
Q

Dependent variable

A

“the effect”
the outcome/response to experimental manipulation
the thing you are measuring
usually on Y axis

40
Q

Experimental group

A

participants who receive treatment or whatever is thought to change behaviour
-ex, in sugar experiment, the EG will receive real sugar

41
Q

Control group

A

participants who don’t receive treatment

  • treated exactly the same as EG
  • sometimes get a placebo, in the sugar example they would get artificial sweetener
42
Q

placebo

A

a substance that appears identical to actual treatment, but lacks the active ingredient

43
Q

Confounding variable

A

BAD
additional variable whose influence cannot be separated from the independent variable
ex- in sugar experiment, would be the unequal # of boys and girls, gender is the confounding variable

44
Q

Issues in Experimental studies

A

Participant expectancy effects

Experimenter expectancy effects

45
Q

Participant expectancy effects

A
  • occur when participants know what group they’re placed in (either experimental or control) and it affects their behaviour
  • ex: kids might act more hyper if they knew they were given the sugar substance
46
Q

Participant expectancy effects solution

A

Single blind studies- studies in which the participant do not know which group they’re in

47
Q

Experimenter expectancy effects

A
  • occur when the behaviour is influenced by the experimenter’s knowledge of who is in the control and experimental group
    ex: experimenter might treat the kids who have the sugar substance differently -> could affect the results
48
Q

Experimenter expectancy effects solution

A

-double blind studies: where the participant and researcher both don’t know who’s in what group

49
Q

GROUND BREAKING RESEARCH- Experimenter Expectancy effects

A
  • rosenthal hypothesized that people who believed they were successful would be more likely to see success in others
  • told one group they did well on test, told other group they did shitty
  • asked them to rate people in pictures on how successful they were
  • he unintentionally created behaviours that favoured his hypothesis
50
Q

Self-fulfilling prophecy

A
  • predicting/expecting something -> because you believe that prediction/expectation will happen, it comes true
  • *due to behaviours that fulfill this prediction/expectation

ex: teacher believes a student is special, gives them harder questions, give more feedback, could create a higher performing student/ a smarter student

51
Q

Measures

A

tools and techniques used to asses thought or behaviour

52
Q

operational definitions

A

describe the way variables are measured or manipulated

ex- researcher studying self esteem, rate it on a 10 point scale

53
Q

A good measure is

A

Reliable- produces the same results every time

Valid- accurate

54
Q

reliability

A

the precision

55
Q

validity

A

the accuracy

-how close it is to the true value

56
Q

Self reports

A

people’s written or oral accounts of their thoughts, feelings, or actions

57
Q

two kinds of self-report measures

A

Interview and questionnaires

58
Q

interview

A
  • researcher asks a question, participant answer in any way they want
  • very open ended
59
Q

questionnaires

A
  • taken without interviewer
  • answers are limited to the responses provided
  • pros: inexpensive, can collect a large amount of data
60
Q

Cons of self reports

A
  • people are not always the best sources of information about themselves
  • social desirability, people don’t want to reveal what they think/feel for fear of looking bad
  • we have to assume that people are accurate witnesses to their own experiences
61
Q

Behavioural measures

A

based on the systemic observations of actions, either in normal environment or lab setting

PROS:

  • reduces social desirability bias
  • provides more objective and direct measurements

CONS:

  • people may modify their behaviour if they know they are being watched, way to combat this is to measure behaviours that ppl can’t control (assess eye movements when performing a mental task)
  • time consuming

-ex: researcher interested in aggression, bring ppl into a lab, place them in a situation that elicits aggressive behaviour, videotape the response

62
Q

Physiological measures

A

measures of bodily responses
ex- blood pressure, heart rate,
sweating, respiration
brain imaging technologies

63
Q

Multiple measurement

A

the use of several measures to acquire data on one aspect of behaviour

  • offsets limitations of any single measurement
  • calls for it when studying complex phenomena
64
Q

Statistics

A

the collection, analysis, interpretation and presentation of numerical data
-used to make sense of numbers

65
Q

Descriptive statistics

A

summarizing and organizing data, ex plotting numbers in a table or graph

66
Q

Operational definition

A

assigning a definition to something you can’t define-> necessary
-abstract concepts

67
Q

Frequency distribution

A

-a graph of the scores on a variable

arranged by the number of times each score was obtained

68
Q

Central tendency

A
  • single values that represent a whole set

- do not show how variable the data may be

69
Q

Three ways to calculate central tendency

A

Mean- average
Median- middle number, if even take the average of two middle numbers
Mode- number that occurs the most

70
Q

Measures of variability

A

numbers that are calculated to summarize the extend to which a sample of scores differs from one another
-info about the spread of scores

71
Q

Examples of Measures of variability

A

Range: the difference between the highest/lowest
-fails to take into account all other scores in distribution

Standard deviation: quantifies the amount of variation/spread around the mean
-higher SD = more spread, lower SD= less spread

Variance- average deviation from the mean

72
Q

Inferential Statistics

A

used to draw conclusions

-predictions about a population based on observations of a sample (size of sample is important!!!)

73
Q

t test

A

type of inferential statistic that tests the differences between the two means

74
Q

Ethics

A

are the rules governing the conduct of a person or group

  • the standards of right and wrong
  • essential to conducting research on humans and animals
75
Q

Ethical research with humans requirements

A
  • informed consent
  • respect for persons
  • beneficence( minimize costs, maximize benefits)
  • privacy and confidentiality
  • justice (equal everything)
76
Q

Debriefing

A

the process of informing participants the exact purposes of the study
-used to minimize deception

77
Q

Research Ethic Boards (REBS)

A

organizations that evaluate research proposals to ensure the research regarding humans doesn’t cause harm or distress

78
Q

differences between science and pseudoscience strategy

A

science- disconfirmational

pseudoscience- confirmational

Psych 1021 (5 decks)

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