Introduction Methods (class notes) Flashcards
“Personality” is a Construct, what is a construct?
Its an idea about a psychological attribute that goes beyond what might be assessed through any particular method od assessment
examples: intelligence, motivation, anxiety, fear
What is the difference between a Conceptual definition, and an Operational definition
A conceptual definition is a description of something in terms of what it means and an operational definition is a description of something in terms of the operations it can be measured by
Conceptual: self esteem is the overal evaluation of oneself
operational: a self esteem scale
What is a Behavioroid?
A type of data where participants report what they think they would do under various circumstances
What is reliability
The tendancy of an instrument to privide the same comapratrive imformation on repeated occasions
What is Measurement Error?
the variation of a number around its true mean due to uncontrolled random infleunces (there will always be some error)
How do you improve reliability? (4 things)
1) Care
2) Standardize research protocal
3) Measure something thats important to the particiapnt
4) Aggregating (multiple measurements is more reliable than one)
What is the “Spearman-Brown formula”
A mathematical formula that predicts the degree to which the reliability of a test can be improved by adding more items (helps reduce error)
What is Validity?
The degree to which a measure actually measures what its intended to measure
What is Construct Validity?
Does the measure reflect the intended construct?
What is Criterion Validity?
How acurately a test measures the outcome it was designed to measure (predicting manifestations)
What is Convergent Validity?
Does the measure relate to similar constructs? (does it match with other tests that measures same/simialr things)
What is Discriminant Validity
Does the measure not predict different constructs??
What is Face Validity?
Does the measure appear to refelct the intended construct?
What are some Considerations for Validity?
1) the same measure that has been validated in one culture might not be valid for another, they may vary in meaning
2) response sets (someone responding ina. way that paints a picture of someone they wish to be and not who they really are) destroy validity
What is the difference between reliability and validiity?
Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure (whether the results can be reproduced under the same conditions). Validity refers to the accuracy of a measure (whether the results really do represent what they are supposed to measure).
What is Generalizabiltiy
The degree to which a measurement can be found under diverse circumstances, such as time, context, participant population, etc.
What is a Cohort effect?
The tendancy of a group of people living at a particular time to be different in some way from those who live earlier or later
What are some threats to Generalizability?
Undergraduate samples
Lack of ethnic/cultural diversity
Cohort effects
Shows vs No-shows and response rates
What is a Projective technique/test?
An assessment in which you project from the unconscious onto ambiguous stimuli
What is the “Projective Hypothesis?”
the idea that an individual supplies structure to unstructured stimuli in a manner consistent with the individuals own unique pattern of conscious and unconscious needs, fears, desires, impulses, etc
What type of data are projective tests?
B-data
What is the diffference between ‘Single-trait’ and omnibus personality assessment
Single trait: interested in a particular trait eg.neuroticism
omnibus: interested in many or all types of personality
What is the difference between Statistical significance and Practical significance
While statistical significance shows that an effect exists in a study, practical significance shows that the effect is large enough to be meaningful in the real world.
What is Correlational research?
A form of research that establishes the relationship between two or more variables. Variables are measured, not manipulated (nothing can be manipulated)
What are the two variables used in Correlational research?
Predictor Variable (x) = the variable one is using to predict the other
Criterion Variable (y) = the variable being predicted by another in a correltion
What are Correlation coefficients?
They express the strangth and direction of the relationship (between -1 and +1, and depicted by r)
What are some advantages of correlational research?
It establishes a relationship and can make predictions
Can be quick and easy
May be the only way to study a relationship in the real world
What is a disadvantage of correlational research?
We cant determine causation from correlational data
What is Experimental Research?
Where one variable (or more) is manipulated to test for casual influence on another variable, variables are independant or dependant
Whats the difference between independant and dependant variables?
Independant variable: the cause, manipulated, comes before the dv
Dependant variable: the effect, measured, comes after the iv
Experiments can make casual claims, what are the 3 criteria for casuality?
1) Covariation
2) Temporal precedence
3) Internal validity
What are some advantages of experimental research?
controls for extraneous factors and can make casual claims
What are some disadvantages of experimental research?
Confounding variables
May not generalize to real life
Placaboo effects
Experimenter/observer expectancies may bias results
What are Multifactor Studies?
A study with two or more predictor/independant variables. it helps examine the complexity of life
What does Experimental personality research examine?
It examines the relationship between a personality factor and an experimental manipulation on a dependant variable
What is a “main effects” finding?
A finding where the effect of one predictor variable has an effect on the dependant variable, independant variable, or other variables
What is an “interactions” finding?
A finding where the effect of one predictor variable differs depending on the level of another predictor variable
