Chapter 2: Research Methods

Question 1

system 1 thinking

Answer 1

-intuitive thinking
-quick, reflexive, “gut hunches”
-relies on heuristics

Question 2

heuristics

Answer 2

a mental shortcut or rule of thumb

Question 3

system 2 thinking

Answer 3

analytical thinking, slow + reflective, effortful, override intuitive thinking sometimes

Question 4

when we conduct science, we are mainly using which type of thinking?

Answer 4

system 2 thinking

Question 5

random selection

Answer 5

procedure that ensures every person in a population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate
-crucial for generalizing our results to the broader population
-smaller but more random sample is better

Question 6

evaluating measures

Answer 6

based on reliability + validity
-we want to aim for reliable + valid

Question 7

reliability

Answer 7

consistency of measurement

Question 8

validity

Answer 8

the extent to which a measure assesses what is purports to measure

Question 9

replicability

Answer 9

the ability to duplicate the original findings consistently

Question 10

replicability crisis

Answer 10

failure to confirm a # of high profile findings within the field of psychological science

Question 11

reproductivity

Answer 11

the ability to review + reanalyze the data from a study + find exactly the same results
-repeating the same statistical analysis on already-collected data

Question 12

naturalistic observation

Answer 12

-watching participants’ behavior in real-world settings without trying to manipulate their actions

Question 13

external validity

Answer 13

the extent to which our findings generalize to real-world settings

Question 14

internal validity

Answer 14

the extent to which we can draw cause + effect inferences

Question 15

naturalistic observation is high/low in external validity + high/low in internal validity

Answer 15

high in external validity
low in internal validity

Question 16

case study design

Answer 16

-examining 1 or a small # of people, often over an extended period of time
-typically anecdotal; can’t infer causation

Question 17

case study has low/high internal validity

Answer 17

low internal validity

Question 18

self-report measures

Answer 18

-used to assess a variety of characteristics, such as personality traits, mental illnesses, + interests
-cheap + easy to administer

Question 19

surveys

Answer 19

measure people’s opinions + attitudes

Question 20

disadvantages of self-report measurs

Answer 20

-assume the respondents possess enough insight into their personality characteristics to report on them accurately which is not necessarily the case
-respondents may engage in response sets
-malingering

Question 21

response sets

Answer 21

the tendencies to distort their answers to questions in a way that paint them in positive light

Question 22

malingering

Answer 22

the tendency to make ourselves appear psychologically disturbed to achieve a clear-cut personal goal

Question 23

halo effect

Answer 23

the tendency of ratings of 1 positive characteristics to “spill over” to influence the ratings of other positive characteristic

Question 24

horns effect

Answer 24

opposite of halo effect

Question 25

correlational design

Answer 25

research design that examines the extent to which 2 variables are associated

Question 26

correlation

Answer 26

a measure of the relationship between 2 variables

Question 27

negative correlation

Answer 27

as the value of one variable changes, the other goes in the opposite direction

Question 28

positive correlation

Answer 28

as the value of one variable changes, the other goes in the same direction

Question 29

zero correlation

Answer 29

scattered

Question 30

perfect correlation

Answer 30

close to a linear line

Question 31

describe correlation coefficients

Answer 31

range from -1 to 1 with the absolute value indicating the strength of the relationship

Question 32

scatterplot

Answer 32

grouping of points on a 2 dimensional graph in which each do represents a single person's data

Question 33

illusory correlation

Answer 33

the perception of a statistical association between 2 variables where none exists

Question 34

what forms the basis of many superstitions?

Answer 34

illusory correlation

Question 35

placebo effect

Answer 35

improvement resulting from the mere expectation of imporvement

Question 36

nocebo effect

Answer 36

harm resulting from the mere expectation of harm -the expectation of pain can itself create pain

Question 37

the experimenter expectancy effect

Answer 37

researchers' hypotheses lead them to unintentionally bias the outcome of a study

Question 38

demand characteristics

Answer 38

cues that participants pick up from a study that allow them to generate guesses regarding the researcher’s hypothesis

Question 39

informed consent

Answer 39

a procedure in which researchers must tell subjects what they're getting into before asking them to participate

Question 40

deception

Answer 40

when researchers deliberately mislead participants about the study's design or purpose -participants should be informed of the deveption soon after the deception takes place

Question 41

statistics

Answer 41

application of mathematics to describing + analyzing data

Question 42

central tendency

Answer 42

-mean -median -mode

Question 43

mean

Answer 43

average of all scores

Question 44

median

Answer 44

the middle score after ordering the scores from lowest to highest

Question 45

mode

Answer 45

most frequent score

Question 46

positive skew

Answer 46

mean > mode -thick on left

Question 47

negative skew

Answer 47

mode > mean -thick on right

Question 48

variability

Answer 48

measurs how loosely/tightly bunched the scores are

Question 49

range

Answer 49

difference between the highest/lowest scores

Question 50

standard deviation

Answer 50

considers how far each data point is from the mean

Question 51

statistical significance

Answer 51

the result is believable

Question 52

practical significance

Answer 52

the result has real-world importance

Question 53

meta-analysis

Answer 53

statistical method that analyzes effects across studies to determine consistent patterns of results

Question 54

2 ways statistics can be misused

Answer 54

-reporting measures of central tendency that are non-representative of most participants -creating visual representations that exaggerate effects

Question 55

sharpening

Answer 55

the tendency to exaggerate the gist, or central message, of a study

Question 56

leveling

Answer 56

the tendency to minimize the less central details of a study

Question 57

pseudosymmetry

Answer 57

o the appearance of a scientific controversy where none exists