Intro to Psych and Research Methods Flashcards
Difference between positive and negative correlation
positive - variables increase together
negative - as one increases the other drops
REMEMBER CORRELATION ≠ CAUSATION
What is the sample
a group chosen from a population, info from sample applied to whole population
What is a population
A group of people, animals, objects that share a common factor
What are the 4 different types of variables
Extraneous – other variable apart from IV that could influence DV
Confounding – other variable that affects DV in systematic way
Independent – what is controlled or changes
Dependent – what is measured or recorded
What is the difference between a directional and non-directional hypothesis
directional predicts direction of relationship between IV on DV (eg what will do better)
non-directional predicts a relationship but you don’t know the difference difference (difference between variables, not what the difference is)
What is the null hypothesis
Prediction that there is no relationship between key vairables, the first prediction, accept alternative hypo if proven false
What are the 2 types of data
Quantitative and Qualitative
What are the 5 types of hypothesis and define them
Null hypothesis - no relation
Alternative - opposite of first hypo that is proven wrong
Directional - predicts a difference and what the difference is
Non-directional - predicts a difference without the difference explained
Operational - directional hypo involving population, method, DV, IV
Mode, Mean, Median and Range?
Mode - features the most
Median - middle
Mean - average
Range - max value-min value
What are the 7 steps of psychological research
- Identify research problem
- Hypothesis
- Design the method
- Collect the data
- Analyse the data
- Interpret your results
- Report findings
What are the 4 types of sampling and describe them
- Random sampling - Everyone has equal chance, increase likelihood of representative sample (names out of a hat)
- Systematic sampling - random sample, with a fixed periodic interval, is selected from a larger population.
- Stratified sampling - Divide population into groups, then select separate sample from each group
- Self-selecting sample - volunteers
What is the difference between validity and reliability
validity - does it measure what its supposed to
reliability - does it consistently measure what its supposed to
what are 6 types of validity
- Face/content – does the test measure what we want it to measure
- Construct – whether scores on a test are consistent with the trait being measured
- Concurrent – how the test correlates with other tests
- Predictive – performance of the test - predicts later performance
- Internal – if the experiment shows that it was the IV that had an effect on the DV and not anything else
- External – findings can be generalised beyond the experiment setting
What are the ethical responsibilities of the experimenter
Protect PP’s - psychological and physiological
Remain objective
What are the participants rights
Informed consent Voluntary participation Privacy Confidentiality Anonymity Withdrawal rights Deception must be approved by ethics committee Debriefing of nature of experiment and must ensure no damage has been done
What is deindivisualisation?
Become so immersed in the norms of the group that you lose your sense of identity and personal responsibility.
Give up individual responsibility for actions and sees behavior as a consequence of group norms and expectations.
Acting less self conscious and inhibited and not think about potential consequences
What was Johnson and Downing 1979 experiment ?
PPs put in KKK uniform or nurses uniform and became deindivisualised. They administered shock to other partner.
Findings- people respond to normative cues associated with social context they find themselves in, thus making it easier to deviate from norms
Factors that influence obedience
- Social proximity- the further away the person having the negative action is from the aggressor obedience is decreased
- Legitmecy of authority - the more legitimate or prestigious the authority figure seems, obedience is increased
- Group pressure- when another person refuses to follow orders obedinde is reduced
Raven and French 1958 and social power
Social power is linked with status and may be literal or implied.
- Legitimate - position/role e.g. teachers in charge
- Reward - ability to give rewards e.g. verbal praise
- Coercive - ability to punish e.g. detention
- Expert - having superior knowledge e.g. already know what you teach
- Referent - perceived as caring e.g. best interest of students
What was Zimbardo’s Standford prison experiment?
24 males from Standford University and randomly allocated as prisoners or guards. Prisoners were collected from homes, sprayed for lice, and stripped of any individuality
Conclusion- staus given to people is internalized
What is the Bystander Effect and what is a famous case?
People who see an event, feel less responsible to intervene, and the bigger the group the less likely to intervene.
Kitty Geneve was murdered in a busy apartment complex in Queens 1964 with multiple witnesses
What is diffusion of responsibility and what does it lead to?
The tendency to divide personal responsibility to help by the number of bystanders present.
Less likely to intervene in emergency situations as the size of the group increases, as they feel less personal responsibility. It leads to the Bystander Effect
What was Milgram’s Obedience study (1963) about and what was the key findings?
Learner and PP were placed in a room with a lab-coated man (authority figure) and the teacher had to give shocks to the learner if incorrect. 65% went up to deadly shock.
Key findings- Diffusion of responsibility was found where responsibility was passed on to the authority figure
What is the difference between conformity, obedience, and compliance?
Compliance involves changing behavior at the request of another person, conformity which involves altering your behaviour on order to go along with the group while obedience involves altering your behaviour because a figure of authority told you to
What is obedience?
Obedience is a form of social influence that involves performing an action under the orders of an authority figure
Social explanation on why we conform? (Turner 1991) and (Deutch and Gerard 1955)
Turner 1991 -
Conform to groups we believe we are a part of
Deutsch and Gerard 1955 -
Avoid conflict with the majority
Need for social approval
Avoid being embarrassed and publicly agree with the group but privately disagree
What is Festinger’s (1954) social comparison theory?
We have an innate need to compare ourselves to others
Two ways:
1. Upward comparison: we look at groups better than us and use them to evaluate our skills/worth
2. Downward comparison: we look at people less than us and use them to feel confident about our abilities
Crutchfield (1995) why do we conform?
Believed those who conformed were - less intelligent - less ego strength - less leadership skills - more narrow-minded Widely disproven
What was Asch’s study for the theory of conformity and how can conformity be influenced?
Lines were presented to PPs and asked to state which one matched the length of others
- Provide friend = decrease conformity
- Make task harder = increase conformity
- Written response not oral = decrease conformity
What are the three types of conformity?
Kelman (1958)
- Compliance - change in behavior without changing opinion
- Internalisation - a change in behavior an opinion
- Identification - a change in behavior and opinion and now identifies with influencing group
What is conformity?
Observing group pressure and pressure can be real or implied
What is the theory of Reasoned Action?
Our intention to behave in a certain way is influenced by:
- our social values
- our own personal attitudes towards the behavior – evaluation of cost and benefits of engaging in that behavior
What is a Just world phenomenon and an example?
The tendency to believe that the world is just and that people get what they deserve
E.g. Homeless people put themselves in that situation and they are lazy and hopeless
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
When a stereotype directly or indirectly becomes true of a person due to positive feedback from others on belief or behavior
What three ways do you learn to socially categorize?
- Personal interactions
- Learning from others
- Learning from media
What is Social categorization?
Process of identifying people as a member of a certain group because of a feature they share
What is a stereotype?
Widely fixed but oversimplified categorization of a group of people
Causes of prejudice
- Just world phenomenon
- Social Categorisation
- Social influence
- Group competition
What is prejudice?
Having an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude towards a group or individual
What is diffusion of responsibility and what is a famous case?
What was Zimbardo’s Standford prison experiment?
24 males from Standford University and randomly allocated as prisoners or guards. Prisoners were collected from homes, sprayed for lice, and stripped of any individuality
Conclusion- staus given to people is internalized
Raven and French 1958 and social power
Social power is linked with status and may be literal or implied.
- Legitimate - position/role e.g. teachers in charge
- Reward - ability to give rewards e.g. verbal praise
- Coercive - ability to punish e.g. detention
- Expert - having superior knowledge e.g. already know what you teach
- Referent - perceived as caring e.g. best interest of students
Raven and French 1958 and social power
Social power is linked with status and may be literal or implied.
- Legitimate - position/role e.g. teachers in charge
- Reward - ability to give rewards e.g. verbal praise
- Coercive - ability to punish e.g. detention
- Expert - having superior knowledge e.g. already know what you teach
- Referent - perceived as caring e.g. best interest of students
What was Johnson and Downing 1979 experiment ?
PPs put in KKK unofrom or nurses uniform and became deindivisualised. They administered shock to other partner.
Findings- people respond to normative cues associated with social context they find themselves in, thus making it easier to deviate from norms
What are the two types of confounding variables?
Situational - found in experimental setting e.g. temp, light and background
Participant - variables associated with PPS themselves 2 types
What are the two types of participant confounding variables?
Participant expectancy
Demand characteristics
What is internal validity and what are some threats to it?
If an experiment shows that results were caused by manipulation of IV and not something else it has internal validity
Threats to internal validity
1. Existence of confounding factors
2. Use of unreliable or inconsistent measures
3. Investigator effects (due to their expectation)
4. Demand characteristics
If internal validity high = replication is higher
If internal validity is low = replication is lower/harder
What is external validity?
Can findings be generalized beyond the experimental setting?
2 types
What are the two types of external validity?
Population validity - the extent which the results from the research can be generalised to other groups of people
Ecological validity - the extent which the researcher’s findings can be generalised to situations outside the research setting
What is reliability and what are the two types?
Does it consistently measure what it’s supposed to measure (same results over and over again)
Internal reliability
External reliability
What is internal reliability?
Internal reliability assesses the consistency of results across items within a test.
Use the split-half technique where test is split into two and if PPs get same score then test has internal reliability
What is external reliability?
The extent to which a measure is consistent when assessed over time or across different individuals.
Difference between reliability and validity?
Reliability = consistency
Internal validity = truth
External validity = generalisability
Again, what is reliability?
The extent to which the outcomes are consistent when the test is done more than once
Again, what is validity?
The extent to which the instruments that are used in the experiment measure exactly what you want them to measure
Types of data
Numerical - made of number (age, weight and number of children) 2 types
Categorical - made of words (eye colour, gender and blood type) 2 types
2 types of numerical data
Continous - infinite options (age, weight and blood pressure)
Discrete - finite option (shoe, size or number of children) You cannot have 1.5 children
2 types of categorical data
Ordinal - data has a hierarchy (pain severity, satisfaction rating, and mood)
Nominal - data has no hierarchy (eye colour, dog breed and blood type)
What are the two common graphs used in psychology
Bar graphs - used for categorical or discrete data
Histograms - used for continuous or numerical data
Evaluating experimental method
Good:
holds all variables constant (researcher can establish cause and effect)
can force pace of research (don’t have to wait for natural event to occur)
generates qualitative data
data can be generalised
Bad:
PPs know they are in study (demand characteristics)
may be unethical
What is lab experiment?
Type of experimental method where you research cause and effect
Researcher directly intervenes by manipulating at least one variable
Evaluating lab experiment (type of experimental method)
Good:
Highlest level of control over variables, good for studying memory and high applicability
Bad
Artificical conditions may produce unnatural behaviour meaning research lack ecological validity
Results may be biased due to sampling, demand characteristics and experimentor bias
Ethical issues
What is field experiment?
Carried out in natural enviroment and researcher manipulates an IV to produce change in DV
Evaluating field experiment (type of expeirmental method)
Good:
Greater ecological validity (surroundings are natural)
Less demand characteristics
Bad:
More possibility of influence from extraneous variables
Difficult to replicate
Time consuming
Ethical issues (consent, deception and invasion of privacy)
What is natural experiment?
Type of experimental method where researcher makes use of natural occurring differences in IV (they do not directly control IV)
Evaluating natural experiment
Good:
Greater ecological validity
Increased validity of findings due to lack of experimentor manipulation
Less demand characteristics as subjects are unaware they are being studied
Bad:
Difficult to replicate
Ethical issues
Difficult to infer cause and effect due to lack of control over extraneous variables and no manipulation of IV
What is Quasi experiment ?
Type of experimental method that can be in lab or field
Iv cannot be directly manipulated as it is already pre determined e.g. gender
What are three types of non-experimental methods?
Correlation studies
Self report techniques
Case studies
Evaluating case studies
Good: Rich and interesting data May challenge existing theory Bad: Low reliability Findings may be subjective (researcher bias) Cannot be generalised
What are the five main types of psychological approaches
Cognitive Behaviourist Biological Humanist Psychodynamic
What is cognitive psych?
Internal processes to understand behaviour
Compare mind to computer to understand thinking
Brain is processor
Uses lab studies
Evaluate cognitive pysch
Good
helps children with reading difficulties
Bad
Lacks validity in real world
How does cognitive approach explain human behaviour?
Make sense of world by imposing order and meaning in things around us Atypical behaviour (phobias) explained through faulty processing of info about threats
What is behaviourist psych?
Role of enviroment factors in influencing behviour
Main theory - Conditioning
Key theorist - Watson, Pavlov and Skinner
Evaluate behaviourist psych
Good
Contributes a lot to behaviourist modification therapy and understanding learning, conditioning and use of reward and punishment
What is biological psych?
The biological approach believes behavior to be as a consequence of our genetics and physiology. It is the only approach in psychology that examines thoughts, feelings, and behaviors from a biological and thus physical point of view.
Evaluate Bio psych
Good
Good for nuture vs nature debate
Bad
Tend to be reductionist (simplify the complex structures and environmental factors)
What is humanist psych?
Emphasizes looking at the whole individual
Stresses concepts i.e., free will, self-efficacy, and self-actualization.
Believes everyone is unique
Maslow Humanist theorist
People have needs and those who satisfy needs might become self actualisers
If needs are not satisfied for long period of time results in fixation
Hierachy of needs
Maslow Hierachy of needs
Physilogical needs: Air, food, shelter, sleep and clothing
Safety needs: personal security, employment, resources and health
Love and belonging: friendships, intimacy, family and sense of connection
Esteem: respect, self esteem status, recognition and strength
Self actualisation: desire to become the most that one can be
Self actualization:
Rogers Humanist Theorist
We only reach our potential if we see ourselves positively (positively self regard)
Positive self regard only happens when we are valued by others unconditionally
Rogers Conditon of worth
We think we are only valued if we meet conditions of worth
Conditions of worth create incongruity within real self (how we are) and ideal sense (how we think we should be) and results in people having self esteem
Large degree of incongruence may cause anxiety disorders
We try and close this gap by distorting our view of ourselves
Evaluating Humanist pysch
Good:
Can be used in therapy,
optimistic,
recognises importance of consciousness
sees people as responsible for their own behaviour
Bad:
Lack of objectivity (seen as unscientific),
ignores mental processes,
concepts are culture bound
no analysis of personality characteristics
Social learning theory
Observational learning
For behaviour to be imitated it must reinforced
Key theorist: Bandura
What are the three Factors of modelling (Bandura)
Characteristics of a model: simpler the behaviour the more likelihood we will imitate
Attributes of observer: less confident and lower self esteem individual more likely to imitate
Consequences of imitating behaviour: if we believe imitating will bring positive response we’re more likely to imitate
Self regulating - Bandura
Our goal achievemnt ability depends on internal self regulating process (self-efficency, evaluation of personal standards and self persuasion) Self efficiency (most important self regualting process) - persons belief in their ability to affectively achieve their goals
Likert scale - Good and bad
Good - Cheap to administer - Quantitative data can be statistically analysed - Quick to collect Bad - PP's may not be completely honest - Can take long type to analyse data
Qualitative - Good and Bad
Good - RIch detailed reasons behind the answer - answers for complex social issues Bad - Not easy to compare - Observer may be biased in interpreting - Time consuming - Expensive
