Introduction and Research Methods

Question 1

Define contemporary psychology

Answer 1

Scientific study of

Question 2

Define psychology

Answer 2

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Question 3

What did Plato and Socrates believe?

Answer 3

They believed

• in the existence of “innate forms”
• we have inborn knowledge, we understand beauty, we are just naturally born with knowledge

Question 4

What did Aristotle believe?

Answer 4

We learn things through experience

Question 5

Who discovered the scientific method?

Answer 5

Newton in 1600s

Question 6

Sir Francis Bacon believed what?

Answer 6

Knowledge is power

- he paid people to learn science

Question 7

Descartes believed what?

Answer 7

I think, therefore I am.

Question 8

What did John Locke believe?

Answer 8

Human nature allowed people to be selfish

“Tabula Rasa”

Question 9

What is empiricism?

Answer 9

An idea by John Locke which states that the only source of knowledge comes through our senses (sight, sound etc.)

Question 11

When was the birth year of psychology as a science?

Answer 11

1879

Question 12

Who brought Wundt’s psychology to America?

Answer 12

G. Stanley Hall

Question 13

How is the concept of “Nature vs Nurture” currently viewed?

Answer 13

They work together in shaping who we are

Question 14

Summarize the scientific method

Answer 14

Observation
- observe something and ask a question

Hypothesis
- make an assumption about the cause and effect of the observation

Prediction
- predict the outcome if you were to enforce the cause

Experiment
- test out your hypothesis

Analysis
- was your prediction correct?

Repeat
- if not, try again

Question 15

What is a theory?

Answer 15

A conceptual framework that explains existing observations and predicts new ones

Question 16

To be scientific, theories and hypotheses must be ____________.

Answer 16

falsifiable

Question 17

What is observer bias?

Answer 17

Consistent difference between the true state of universe and an observers perception.

• often unconscious and based upon assumptions.

Question 18

What is confirmation bias?

Answer 18

People gather evidence that only supports their theory and they ignore/refuse evidence that refutes them.

Question 19

Describe experiments

Answer 19

• conditions are carefully controlled to compare psychological variables (including behaviors, attitudes, conditions etc.)

Question 20

Describe correlational studies

Answer 20

When relationships among psychological variables are established by observing (measuring) phenomena

• have less control than experiments, meaning cause and effect can’t be learnt from correlational studies

Question 21

What is random sampling?

Answer 21

When participants are randomly selected from the population that you wish to generalize to

Question 22

What is random assignment?

Answer 22

When everyone in the study has an equal change of being assigned to any group

Question 23

What is an operational definition?

Answer 23

A definition of behavior or a quality in terms of the procedures used to measure or produce them

Question 24

What are the 4 ways of collecting data?

Answer 24

Case study
Naturalistic observation
Surveys
Experiment

Question 25

What does a case study do?

Answer 25

Offers great depth and rich data, but sample is small so generalization is limited.

Question 26

What does naturalistic observation do?

Answer 26

Watch and record real behavior, but this only describes what’s going on.

Question 27

What do surveys do?

Answer 27

Offers less depth, but very easy to collect so samples can be large.

Question 28

What do experiments do?

Answer 28

Factors of interest are manipulated and other factors are held constant.

• must have random selection and random assignment

Question 29

What does positive correlation indicate?

Answer 29

An increase in one variable is associated with an increase in another variable

Question 30

What does a negative correlation indicate?

Answer 30

An increase in one variable is associated with a decrease in another variable

Question 31

What does a curvilinear relationship indicate?

Answer 31

An increase in one variable is associated with an increase AND a decrease in another variable

Question 32

What does no correlation indicate?

Answer 32

There is no evidence of a relationship between the two variables

Question 33

Correlation does not equal ___________.

Answer 33

causation

E.g., it always rains when I wash my car.
- neither one of these is indicated to be a cause or effect

Question 34

What is the third variable problem?

Answer 34

When there’s no cause and effect between two variables, but they seem to be related. There may be a 3rd variable affecting both variables.

Question 35

Who gave birth to Psychology and what experiment did they do?

Answer 35

Wilhelm Wundt established the first scientific lab to test how long it takes to react to a sound