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Psych 201 > Chapter 2: Psychological Research > Flashcards

Chapter 2: Psychological Research Flashcards

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1
Q

KT: Cause & Effect Relationship

A
  • Changes in one variable cause the changes in the other variable
  • can be determined only through an experimental research design
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2
Q

KT: Correlation

A
  • relationship between two or more variables

- when two variables are correlated, one variable changes as the other does

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3
Q

-KT: Clinical/ Case Study

A

observational research study focusing on one or a few people

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4
Q

KT: Confirmation Bias

A

tendency to ignore evidence that disproves ideas/ beliefs

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5
Q

KT: Confounding Variable

A

unanticipated outside factor that affects both variables of interest, often giving false impression that changes in one causes changes in the other(…when in actuality, outside factor causes changes in both)

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6
Q

KT: Control Group

A

-serves as a basis for comparison and controls for chance factors that might influence results of the study ( by holding such factors constant across groups so that the experimental manipulation is the only difference between groups)

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7
Q

KT: Experimental Group

A
  • group designed to answer the research question

- the group that receives the manipulation

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8
Q

KT: Correlation Coefficient

A

number from -1 to +1 indicating strength and direction of relationship between variables
- usually represented by ( r )

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9
Q

KT: Independent Variable

A
  • variable that is influenced/controlled by the experimenter in a sound experimental study
  • only important difference between experimental & control groups
  • example: Had Coffee v. Didn’t have Coffee
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10
Q

KT: Dependent Variable

A

variable that the researcher measures to see how much effect the independent variable had
- example: test scores of those who had coffee and those who didn’t

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11
Q

KT: Operational Definition

A

description of what actions & operations will be used to measure dependent variables and manipulate independent variables

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12
Q

KT: Placebo Effect

A

people’s expectations/ beliefs influencing/ determining their experience in a given situation

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13
Q

KT: Double-Blind Study

A

experiment in which both the researchers and the participants are blind to group assignments

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14
Q

KT: Single-Blind Study

A

experiment in which research knows group assignments but participants do not

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15
Q

KT: Empirical Research

A

research that is grounded in objective, tangible evidence that can be observed time and time again regardless of who is observing

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16
Q

KT: Experimenter Bias

A

researcher expectations that skew the results of the study

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17
Q

KT: Falsifiable

A

able to be disproven by experimental results

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18
Q

KT: Illusory Correlation

A

seeing relationships between two things when in reality no such relationship exists

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19
Q

KT: Hypotheseis

A

tentative and testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables

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20
Q

KT: Theory

A

well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena

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21
Q

KT: Informed Consent

A

process of informing a research participant about what to expect during an experiment, any risks involved, and the implications of research and then obtaining the person’s consent to participate

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22
Q

KT: I.R.B.

A

Institutional Review Board
- committee of administrators, scientists and community members that reviews proposals for research involving human participants

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23
Q

KT: Naturalistic Observation

A

observation of behavior in it’s natural setting

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24
Q

KT: Positive Correlation

A

two variables change in the same direction, both becoming either larger or smaller

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25
Q

KT: Negative Correlation

A

two variables change in opposite directions, with one becoming larger and the other smaller or vice e versa
-NEGATIVE CORRELATION DOES NOT MEAN NO CORRELATION

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26
Q

KT: Population

A

overall group of individuals that researchers are interested in

27
Q

KT: Sample

A

subset of individuals selected from larger population

28
Q

KT: Random Assignment

A

method of experimental group assignment in which all participants have an equal chance of being assigned to either group

29
Q

KT: Random Sample

A

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

30
Q

KT: Reliability

A

consistency and reproducibility of a given result

31
Q

KT: Validity

A

accuracy of a given result in measuring what it is designed to measure

32
Q

What is the difference between the Cause & Effect Relationship and Correlation?

A

correlation is simply a way to express the relationship between two variables but is not explicitly stating that one variable causes another.

  • Example: ice cream purchases rise in June along with domestic abuse cases.
  • -Correlation: they both rise at the same time
    • Cause & Effect: buying ice cream causes more domestic abuse (v/v)
33
Q

What is the difference between the Control Group and the Experimental Group?

A
  • Control group receives no manipulation or receives a placebo
  • experimental group receives manipulation
34
Q

What is the difference between the Independent Variable and the Dependent Variable?

A

the independent variable is what is manipulated while the dependent variable is what researches measure to see how much effect the independent variable had
–Example: IV: coffee given to students
DV: test results of students given coffee and those not given coffee

35
Q

What is the difference between a Hypothesis and a Theory?

A

a theory is the starting point of interest that proposes an explanation for observed phenomena but because it’s usually too complex to test at once, researchers create a hypothesis to test a specific aspect of the theory:
The hypothesis is a testable prediction of how the world would behave if our theory is correct

36
Q

What is the difference between a Population and a Sample?

A

the population is the overall group of individuals that researchers are interested in whereas a sample is a subset of individuals selected from the population

37
Q

What is the difference between a Random Assignment and a Random Sample?

A

a random sample is selected as participants of an experiment then the random sample is given a random assignment into either a control group or an experimental group

38
Q

What is the difference between Reliability and Validity?

A

Validity is the extent of which a given instrument/tool accurately measures what it is supposed to whereas reliability is how consistently and reproducibly the instruments/tools collect data / it’s ability to consistently produce a given result

39
Q

How does scientific research address questions about behavior?

A

empirically, by grounding itself in objective, tangible evidence that can be observed repeatedly regardless of the observer; basing statements on only observable realities (facts) vs. personal judgments, conclusions/attitudes that may/may not be accurate (opinions)

40
Q

Describe the Theory-Data Cycle (aka Scientific Method)

A
  1. Have an idea —> theorize —> hypothesis
  2. Hypothesis is tested against real world (empirical observations; experiments)
  3. More ideas that are either tested again or “published”
41
Q

What are the strengths of case studies?

A
  • focuses on one or few subjects

- allows for very deep understanding of subjects and phenomena studied

42
Q

What are the weaknesses of case studies?

A

difficult to generalize observations to larger population

43
Q

What are the strengths of naturalistic observations?

A
  • best way to gain information because you’re observing behavior in a natural setting
  • high level of accuracy / validity of info collected unobtrusively
  • not limited to humans
44
Q

What are the weaknesses of naturalistic observations?

A
  • difficult to set up “natural” feeling environment (may require “structured observation”)
  • hard to control
  • requires significant time, money and most of the time luck
  • potential for observer bias
45
Q

What are the strengths of Surveys?

A
  • easy to collect data from large number of people

- allows for larger samples than other methods

46
Q

What are the weaknesses of surveys?

A
  • less depth of information collected per subject

- potential for inaccurate responses

47
Q

How does Correlation and Causation compare?

A

both describe a relationship between A & B

48
Q

How do Correlation and Causation contrast?

A

Correlation just states that when A changes, so does B whereas Causation explicitly states that A causes B

49
Q

What does a correlation coefficient tell you about the relationship between variables?

A

it tells you the strength of the relationship and the direction of the relationship

50
Q

How can you distinguish a positive correlation from a negative correlation?

A

positive correlation: variables move in same direction ( when A rises, so does B; v/v)
negative correlation: variables move in opposite directions (when A rises, B drops; When A drops, B rises )

51
Q

Does Correlation indicate a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables? Why or Why not?

A

NO. due to confounding variables

52
Q

What is a peer-reviewed journal article?

A

an article of psychological research that has been peer reviewed for:
- strong rationale, clear description of how research was conducted, evidence that research was conducted in ethical manner, free of flaws in study’s design/methods/statistical analyses, conclusions drawn by authors are reasonable given observations made, that the research is valuable in advancing discipline’s knowledge

53
Q

What is the importance of Replication?

A

to allow for updates due to new ages/occurances

- to keep research up to date

54
Q

How is research involving human participants regulated?

A
  • regulated by the Institution Review Board

- held to requirements for studies (ethically done, provided informed consent )

55
Q

What is an I.R.B?

A

Institution Review Board
- committee of individuals often made up of members of the institutions administration, scientists and community members— that review proposals for research that involve human participants

56
Q

KT: Epistemology

A

ways of knowing

57
Q

What are the three ways of knowing?

A

Experience (observation)
Intuition ( What seems right )
Authority ( What is trusted to be right)

58
Q

What are the limitations to experience/observation?

A
  • no comparison group
  • Confounds ( alternative explanations)
  • Bias (cherry-picking)
59
Q

What are the limitations to intuition?

A

heavily bias!

  • easily persuaded by what comes to mind (Availability Heuristic)
  • focuses on evidence we like best/ we know is most applicable in our favor (confirmation bias)
60
Q

What are the three research methods?

A

Descriptive, Correlational, Experimental

61
Q

Describe Descriptive Research

A

research that simply frames the problem but does little else

62
Q

Describe Correlational Research

A

helps to understand which variables are related (NOT WHY!),

  • allows for prediction
  • however independent variable is not manipulated
63
Q

Describe Experimental Research

A

research in which the independent variable is manipulated, alternative explanations are eliminated and you know the cause and effect

Psych 201 (5 decks)

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