May 29 Lecture Flashcards
Explain why the “undergraduate participant” problem may not be a problem
- In some areas of research, the problem might not apply (e.g., perception). → you can’t influence what’s going on visually so it doesn’t matter who you test
- Often, researchers seek to establish a phenomenon at a low cost (or with greater ease).
- Research with undergraduates may sometimes call for replications with other populations, but this does not invalidate the findings per se.
What is comparative psychology?
involves the use of a comparative method, in which similar studies are carried out on animals of different species, and the results interpreted in terms of their different phylogenetic or ecological backgrounds.
What is cross-species generalization?
Does the research conducted with animals generalize to humans?
Explain the probability guessing experiment with humans and rats. Who was better at this? What strategy did humans use and which strategy did rats use? Why (explain with split-brain patients)
Rats
Humans: frequency matching strategy
Rats: maximizing strategy
If the information was presented to the left hemisphere, people behaved like people (matching frequencies)
If the information was presented to the right hemisphere, people behaved like rats (behaving associatively) → part of the brain involved in speaking and interpretation never got the info so it couldn’t provide an answer so it just used a mechanism that’s available to both humans and rats (which would typically be overshadowed by ability to think or speak, but not in this scenario).
Explain the reply to the “But it’s not real life” argument.
Mook (1983): “[…] it is the understanding [of a phenomenon] which has external validity (if it does)—not the findings themselves, much less the setting and the sample” (p. 382)
Research in labs is often _______ research. (trying to understand a phenomenon, not equate you’re trying to solve a concrete immediate problem, but rather to understand how the world works).
basic
What is the particle/neuron that was newly discovered to know how the sun works?
Neutrino
Why do we not care about the external validity for the experiment of how the sun works?
They’re trying to figure out how the sun works (basic research). Unless related to applied research, it’s overrated.
What is basic research?
doing research to gain understanding of phenomena. If you have an understanding of what’s going on, you can make certain predictions and the predictions may happen in artificial or natural conditions which is great.
What is applied research? What is an example?
you have a concrete problem that you’re trying to solve and then you’re trying to see if the solution is working. (anxiety medication example, not research on understanding anxiety and symptoms or brain chemicals, but a combination of all these things). You need to be extremely knowledgeable on the basic research because that tells you where you need to start looking first.
Is there a relation between field research and lab research effects when they target the same constructs?
When the constructs under investigation are identical, field and lab research yield highly similar results.
What is descriptive research?
describes the characteristics and behaviours of individuals or populations.
not necessarily designed to test hypotheses
What are the four types of descriptive research?
- Case studies
- Archival research
- Observational research
- Survey research
What is visual agnosia (under case study)?
The inability to recognize objects, persons, and/or shapes while vision is not defective nor is there any significant memory loss.
What is prosopagnosia (under case study)?
A disorder of face perception (sometimes known as face blindness) where the ability to recognize faces is impaired, while the ability to recognize other objects may be relatively intact.
