Introduction & Research Methods Flashcards
What is psychology?
the scientific study
of BEHAVIOR (what we do) and MIND (inner
thoughts and feelings), which depend on
processing in the brain.
what does the mind consist of
made up of all the mental activity lets us
PERCEIVE the world; we use our Senses to get information
what does behavior consist of
all of our actions that result from sensing and interpreting information
What is the nature-nurture debate?
Both nature and nurture influence our
psychological development
What are the major subfields and
perspectives in psychology?
biological, evolutionary, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and humanistic,
How does psychology use the scientific method?
A systematic procedure of
observing and measuring phenomena to answer questions about WHAT happens,
WHEN it happens, what CAUSE it, and WHY
what does the scientific method consist of
theories, hypothesis and research methods
ethical guidelines
Privacy, Confidentiality, Informed consent, deception, risks
what is privacy
researchers must respect participants privacy
what is confidentiality
participants info must be kept secret
what is informed consent
informed consent means that people must be told about the research and can choose whether to participate
what is deception
knowing a study’s specific goals can sometimes alter participants BEHAVIOR, so deception may be PERMISSBLE but must be revealed at the study’s end
what is the risk
researchers CANNOT ask participants to endure unreasonable pain or discomfort
what are ethical guidelines for human research participants
informed consent, voluntary participation, restricted use of deception, debriefing, confidentiality, alternative activities
what are the rights of nonhuman participants
ADVOCATE believe nonhuman research offer significant scientific benefits. OPPONENTS question these benefits and suggest nonhuman animals cannot give informed consent
general guidelines
psychologist must maintain high standard for both human and nonhuman animal research
cycle of scientific method
- literature review
- testable hypothesis
- research design
- statistical analysis
- peer-review scientific journal
steps in scientific method
- theory
- hypothesis
- testing hypothesis
- analyze
- report
theory
a model of interconnect ideas or concepts that explain what is observed and makes predictions abt future events
hypothesis
a specific prediction of what should be observed if a theory is correct
testing the hypothesis
three main types of research methos to test your research question: descriptive, correlational and experimental
analyze
the DATA to see whether your hypothesis is supported: summarize the raw data using descriptive STATISTCS, then use inferential statistics to determine DIFFERENCE EXIST