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Understanding human diversity > Lecture 2 - Methods of studying diversity > Flashcards

Lecture 2 - Methods of studying diversity Flashcards

1
Q

3 types of questions to study diversity

A
  1. In a given behaviour, are people systematically different?
    • We need to be able to measure behaviours reliably and validly
  2. How should we understand the individual differences?
    • We need to meaningfully describe the constructs underlying individual difference
  3. What are the origins of the individual differences?
    • We need to explain what causes the individual differences, which presumably could be genetic, neurobiological, and/or sociocultural
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2
Q

common methods of measuring individual differences

A
  • Survey/self-report measures
    • Observational measures
    • Performance measures
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3
Q

what are self-report measures?

A
  • Typically involve presenting a list of statements and asking participants the extent to which they agree/disagree with them
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4
Q

advantages of self-report measures

A

○ Low cost and easy to administer in large scale (even online)

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5
Q

disadvantages of self-report measures

A

○ Respondents’ tendency to give socially desirable answers
○ Respondents’ tendency to agree (acquiescence bias)
○ Only measures thoughts, (explicit) attitudes, and self-perception – Requires respondents’ self-awareness

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6
Q

what is the experience sampling method

A
  • Ask ppts to report their thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviours repeatedly over a certain period of time (e.g. 2 or 3 weeks)
    • Response frequency could be daily (diary studies) up to several times a day
    • Or, ppts could be signalled by a mobile device to fill in a brief questionnaire at a random time
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7
Q

potential problem of experience sampling method

A
  • Potential problem: act of self-monitoring can influence what is being measured
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8
Q

what are observational measures?

A
  • Recording what is done or how often something is done through observation by a third person (tally/videotaping)
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9
Q

advantages of observational measures

A

○ Can be used when impossible or inappropriate to give instructions to. Ppts
○ Can be used in naturalistic settings

  • Computerised scoring (as in eye tracking) can minimise observer biases
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10
Q

disadvantages of observational measures

A

○ Only measure overt behaviours
○ Scoring may be influenced by observer biases

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11
Q

what are performance measures?

A
  • Intelligence, reading/math performance, etc.
    • Typically accuracy measures (in terms of error rates, percentage correct, percentiles, etc.
    • Response times (RT) as additional performance indicator
    • Differences across individuals reflect differing abilities,
    • Differences across tasks reflect differences in information processing mechanisms
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12
Q

advantages of performance measures

A

objective

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13
Q

potential problems of performance measures

A

○ their relationship with real-world behaviours (i.e., ecological validity) is not always clear

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14
Q

what can be used to measure unconscious cognitive processing?

A

Cognitive tasks like implicit association test and priming

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15
Q

what happens in a priming paradigm?

A
  • In a priming paradigm, participants are exposed to a certain stimulus (prime), and their response to a subsequent stimulus (target) is measured
    • The prime is supposed to activate mental representations which could affect processing of the subsequent stimulus
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16
Q

hat happens differently in masked priming and why?

A
  • In masked priming, the prime is presented followed by a junk visual material (mask). This prevents the prime from entering conscious processing
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17
Q

what can be used for data reduction?

A

factor analysis

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18
Q

what is factor analysis?

A
  • Factor analysis is a statistical technique used to reduce a large number of variables into fewer “factors”
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19
Q

rationale behind factor analysis

A
  • The rationale is to analyse the patterns in which variables vary together (covariance); variables indicating the same underlying construct are expected to covary
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20
Q

exploratory factor analysis (EFA)

A
  • Exploratory factor analysis, does not assume a particular factor structure but uses the data to determine:
    ○ To determine the number of factors
    ○ Correlations between a variable (item) and a factor, called factor loadings, are computed and examined
    ○ The higher the factor loading (regardless of sign), the more important the variable is to the factor
  • It is important to note that in EFA the number of factors as well as criteria for including a variable in a factor is the researcher’s decision
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21
Q

confirmatory factor analysis

A
  • In confirmatory factor analysis, the researcher hypothesises a factor structure and tests how well it fits the actual data
    ○ i.e., the number of factors and which measured variable is related to which factor (also called latent variable) is prespecified
    • Then the factor loadings, factor correlation and some fit indexes are estimated
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22
Q

structural imaging techniques

A

CT (computed tomography)
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

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23
Q

what do structural imaging techniques do?

A

measure anatomical details of the brain

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24
Q

how can MRI be used?

A
  • MRI can be used to measure brain volume, grey matter volume, white matter volume, etc., which have been associated with individual differences in behaviour (e.g., intelligence)
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25
Q

what is white matter?

A

○ White matter consists primarily of myelinated axons

26
Q

what is grey matter?

A

○ Gray matter consists primarily of neuronal cell bodies

27
Q

how does MRI work?

A
  • strong magnetic field causes hydrogen atoms to align in the same orientation
    • When radio wave passed through the head, atoms emit electromagnetic energy as they “relax”.
    • MRI scanner detects emitted radiation
    • Different types of tissue produce different signals
    • Computer reconstructs image
28
Q

how can fMRI be used?

A
  • Functional imaging methods such as fMRI measure dynamic physiological changes in the brain in vivo and associate them with different patterns of mental processes/behavior
29
Q

what does/doesn’t fMRI measure?

A
  • fMRI does not measure neuronal activation directly but the downstream consequence of neural activation, i.e., increased blood flow and blood oxygen consumed in a certain brain region
30
Q

another type of scan associated with fMRI

A

PET (position emission tomography)

31
Q

what does CT stand for

A

computed tomography

32
Q

what do MRI and fMRI stand for

A

(functional) magnetic resonance imaging

33
Q

what does PET stand for?

A

position emission tomography

34
Q

what happens in PET?

A
  • In PET (positron emission tomography), a radioactive tracer is injected to the bloodstream and the amount of radioactivity in each voxel of the brain is measured
35
Q

what happens in fMRI?

A
  • In fMRI studies, a magnetic resonance signal that is affected by the amount of deoxyhaemoglobin in the blood, called BOLD signal (Blood Oxygen-Level Dependent), is measured
    • The rationale is that when neurons consume oxygen they convert oxyhaemoglobin to deoxyhaemoglobin, which has strong paramagnetic properties and distorts the local magnetic field
    • Therefore, BOLD signals indicate oxygen consumed (implying neural activities) in the voxel of the brain
  • comparison against another (baseline) condition is necessary
36
Q

fMRI’s spatial and temporal resolution

A
  • fMRI’s spatial resolution is around 1 mm and temporal resolution is several seconds
37
Q

ways to determine what activation is functionally related to specific processes in brain imaging

A
  • Subtraction method (difference in activation for tasks)
    • Conjunction method (joint activation for tasks)
38
Q
  • Subtraction method
A

(difference in activation for tasks)

39
Q

Conjunction method

A

(joint activation for tasks)

40
Q

2 approaches to understand the brain and its functions

A

functional specialisation
functional integration

41
Q

functional specialisation

A

question of where

42
Q

functional integration

A

a question of how

43
Q

how is network analysis used with imaging data?

A
  • Network analysis is based on covariations between the BOLD signal in different brain regions, called functional connectivity
    • No causality can be inferred, nor whether the connectivity is direct or indirect via some third region(s)
44
Q

structural networks can be studied by using what techniques?

A

diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)
electrophysiological measures

45
Q

what does DTI stand for?

A

diffusion tensor imaging

46
Q

what does DTI do?

A
  • Aims at specifying tracts fibre tracts with white matter connecting cortex / subcortical areas
  • Important to investigate network architecture of the brain
  • Not just activated grey matter areas!
    ➢ Diffusion of water molecules along neural tracts

isotropic voxel
anisotropic voxel

47
Q

what electrophysiological measures are there?

A

EEG
ERPs

48
Q

what does EEG stand for?

A

electroencephalography

49
Q

what does ERP’s stand for?

A

Event-related potentials

50
Q

use of EEGs

A
  • Electroencephalography (EEG) – records electrical signals generated by the brain through electrodes placed at different points on the scalp
    ○ A common usage of EEG is the electrophysiological changes elicited by particular stimuli and cognitive tasks, referred to as event-related potentials (ERPs)
51
Q

use of ERPs

A

○ A common usage of EEG is the electrophysiological changes elicited by particular stimuli and cognitive tasks, referred to as event-related potentials (ERPs)
○ Certain ERP has been identified to be linked to a certain cognitive process, and hence reveals the happening of the process

52
Q

association vs causation when it comes to explaining individual differences

A
  • Research attempting to explain individual differences usually starts with identifying factors associated (correlate) with the traits of concern
    • However, correlation does not necessarily imply causation
    • Causal relationship needs to be tested by experiments, which is unfeasible in some circumstances
53
Q

different levels of explanation

A

genetic explanations
neurobiological explanations
socio-cultural explanations

54
Q

genes

A
  • Genes are made up of DNA, and DNA contains the instructions for building proteins. These proteins control the structure and function of all body cells.
  • A gene is the basic physical and functional unit of inheritance
  • Genes can be turned on and off by the environment (of the cell)
55
Q

genotype

A
  • The genotype is the internal genetic code or blueprint for constructing and maintaining a living individual, is inherited and is found within all the cells, tissues and organs of the individual
56
Q

phenotype

A
  • The phenotype is the outward manifestation of the individual, including physical appearance, intelligence, and personality
57
Q

behavioural genetics

A
  • Behavioural genetics looks at the relationships between genes, environment and behaviour
58
Q

conventionally, how is heritability estimated?

A

by studying similarities and differences between individuals who share their genes to varying degrees:

– family studies – between parent and child, siblings, or between other family members
– twin studies – between identical (monozygotic) twins and non-identical (dizygotic) twins
– adoption studies – between adopted children & biological/adoptive parent

59
Q

link between genotype and phenotype

A
  • The genotype-first approach of genetic studies focus on a single gene that is known to exist in multiple variants (polymorphisms) and that may be linked to the phenotype of concern
    ○ E.g., a genetic variant may be known to encode the mu-opioid receptor which is related to susceptibility to physical pain
    • Then the extent to which this variant explains variations in a phenotype (e.g., susceptibility to social pain) is examined
    • In contrast, the phenotype-first approach starts with a given trait (e.g. novelty seeking) and determine which gene(s) among the genome contribute most to variations in that trait
  • Genome-wide association studies(GWAS)
60
Q

cross-cultural research on individual differences

A
  • Cross-cultural research commonly involves comparison of traits (or relationships between traits) across two or more cultures
    ○ i.e., culture is the unit of analysis
    • A fundamental issue is that measurements developed in a certain culture may not be applicable to a different culture
    • Cross-cultural differences need to be “unpackaged” to identify individual-level variables that explain the cultural differences
      ○ e.g., differences in mathematics attainment due to differences in number word formation (i.e., 32 → “three ten two” in Japanese vs. “two and thirty” in German)
61
Q

unpacking studies:

A
  • The purpose is to find the underlying (individual-level) variable(s) that lead to the observed cultural differences
    • identify processes linking cultural-level differences to individual-level differences

Understanding human diversity (11 decks)

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