Introduction and Research Methods Flashcards
Define the term “Confounds” and give and example
Uncontrolled factors that could alter the results of an experiment
i.e. the temperature of a room when testing anxiety levels
Define “random assignment” and why it is used
The randomized placement of individuals in a group for experiments in order to get the most accurate representation of our society as a whole
What is a confounding variable that could happen in between-group experiments
A lack random assignment variation could occur
What is a confounding variable that could happen in within-group experiments
A failure to use counterbalancing
What is counterbalancing
Counterbalancing is the randomization of the order in which participants are tested in the experiment
What are casual claims for between-groups
Participants are randomly assigned to conditions of the experiment
What are casual claims for within-groups
Participants are randomly assigned an order in which they are exposed to the conditions of the experiment
What is a field study
A field study is an experiment that observes the actions of individuals in their natural setting
What are the benefits of performing a field observational study
Field studies are useful for understanding how individuals behave in situations without any interference of bias
What are the cons of performing a field observational study
It is difficult to observe rare phenomena as you are not manipulating the environment at all
What is a field experiment
A field experiment is an experiment that is done in the field and usually has an independent, but sometimes uses subject variables
What is a Quasi experiment
A quasi experiment is an experiment that does not follow random assignment, and instead selects individuals for the experiment
Why are quasi experiments useful
They are useful for experiments that are testing a specific characteristic that only a few people have. If the experimenter used random assignment then there would be no implications about the “subject variable” that he/she is trying to assess
Define Subject Variable
A subject variable is a common characteristic among individuals that the experimenter has selected and is looking for correlation between the results and that characteristic
What is operationalization
Carefully defining something in terms of operations used to determine or prove it
What is confirmation bias and how can you prevent it
Confirmation bias is when the experimenter only sees the results or behaviours that support their hypothesis and discount the ones that don’t. A good way of preventing this is by blinding the experimenter from the purpose of the experiment.
What is experiment demand and how can you prevent it
Experiment demand is when the participant behaves the way they believe the experimenter wants them to behave. You can prevent this by blinding the participant from the purpose of the experiment
What is self-selection bias and how can you prevent it
When the subject group is bias not because you failed to perform random assignment, but because the people who were attracted by the experiment and volunteered all share a similar characteristic. You can prevent this by properly advertising your experiment.
What is self-representation bias and how can you prevent it
When a person doesn’t answer or behave completely truthful because they are worried about answering or doing something they might not consider socially acceptable. You can prevent this by making the experiment anonymous.
Thorne and Himmelstein Experiment
They decided to see if they could bias the participants, and in turn prove experiment demand and confirmation bias. They did this by “priming” some participants by telling them that they would be listening to a song backwards and asking them to make out any demonic words. The “non-primed” group was asked the same thing, but they were asked to make out words they heard, not demonic words. The primed participants heard lots of demonic words while the non-primed participants heard very few.
Define Construal
Construal is the way we interpret a situation. People who witness the exact same situation can construe the situation differenly, and this can have major implications world-wide.
i.e. jury on a trial construes evidence differently
Define “Gestalt Psychology”
The focus on the way an object is perceived in one’s mine instead of the physical attributes of the object
Define Naive Realism
The belief that the way we view things are the right way. Believe that other “sensible” people view things the same way.
Define common sense and how it has negative implications
Common sense is what we believe as common knowledge. Common sense is often oversimplified and inaccurate to specific situations, but people are unaware of the origins of why they behave a certain way so we use “common sense”
What is the difference between sociologists, social psychologists, and personality psychology
Sociologists are usually focused on societal factors that influence events in a society. Social psychologists focus on societal factors that influence individuals. Personality psychologists focus on individual differences that make someone different from others
What is the fundamental attribution error
The FAE is the belief that individuals behave a certain way because of their personality and not because of the influence of that situation. Although one makes this error, they do not apply this to themselves and are aware of the situation and use that to explain why they are behaving a certain way
What are the two most important motives of humans
The need to feel good and the need to feel accurate
Explain suffering and self-justification
This is the idea that people are attracted to groups that cause them pain and suffering. The fact that the group caused them suffering makes them feel the need to justify why they went through that suffering and therefore love the group even more.
Define social cognition
How people think about themselves and how they view the social world
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy
It is the idea that we behave a certain way in order to meet our expectations of the world.
