Introduction and Research Methods

Question 1

Define the term “Confounds” and give and example

Answer 1

Uncontrolled factors that could alter the results of an experiment

i.e. the temperature of a room when testing anxiety levels

Question 2

Define “random assignment” and why it is used

Answer 2

The randomized placement of individuals in a group for experiments in order to get the most accurate representation of our society as a whole

Question 3

What is a confounding variable that could happen in between-group experiments

Answer 3

A lack random assignment variation could occur

Question 4

What is a confounding variable that could happen in within-group experiments

Answer 4

A failure to use counterbalancing

Question 5

What is counterbalancing

Answer 5

Counterbalancing is the randomization of the order in which participants are tested in the experiment

Question 6

What are casual claims for between-groups

Answer 6

Participants are randomly assigned to conditions of the experiment

Question 7

What are casual claims for within-groups

Answer 7

Participants are randomly assigned an order in which they are exposed to the conditions of the experiment

Question 8

What is a field study

Answer 8

A field study is an experiment that observes the actions of individuals in their natural setting

Question 9

What are the benefits of performing a field observational study

Answer 9

Field studies are useful for understanding how individuals behave in situations without any interference of bias

Question 10

What are the cons of performing a field observational study

Answer 10

It is difficult to observe rare phenomena as you are not manipulating the environment at all

Question 11

What is a field experiment

Answer 11

A field experiment is an experiment that is done in the field and usually has an independent, but sometimes uses subject variables

Question 12

What is a Quasi experiment

Answer 12

A quasi experiment is an experiment that does not follow random assignment, and instead selects individuals for the experiment

Question 13

Why are quasi experiments useful

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Define Subject Variable

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What is operationalization

Answer 15

Carefully defining something in terms of operations used to determine or prove it

Question 16

What is confirmation bias and how can you prevent it

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

What is experiment demand and how can you prevent it

Answer 17

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

Question 18

What is self-selection bias and how can you prevent it

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

What is self-representation bias and how can you prevent it

Answer 19

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.

Question 20

Thorne and Himmelstein Experiment

Answer 20

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.

Question 21

Define Construal

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Define “Gestalt Psychology”

Answer 22

The focus on the way an object is perceived in one’s mine instead of the physical attributes of the object

Question 23

Define Naive Realism

Answer 23

The belief that the way we view things are the right way. Believe that other “sensible” people view things the same way.

Question 24

Define common sense and how it has negative implications

Answer 24

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”

Question 25

What is the difference between sociologists, social psychologists, and personality psychology

Answer 25

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

Question 26

What is the fundamental attribution error

Answer 26

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

Question 27

What are the two most important motives of humans

Answer 27

The need to feel good and the need to feel accurate

Question 28

Explain suffering and self-justification

Answer 28

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.

Question 29

Define social cognition

Answer 29

How people think about themselves and how they view the social world

Question 30

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 30

It is the idea that we behave a certain way in order to meet our expectations of the world.