Midterm 1 Flashcards
Research evidence makes conclusions _____________
More or less likely, not guaranteed.
Formulated explanations as to how things work
Theories
Testable/falsifiable prediction
Hypothesis
2 characteristics of a good theory
- Falsifiable
- Parsimonious
When something is able to be proven wrong
Falsifiable
When something says a lot with few words
Parsimonious
Difference between research question and hypothesis
research question = question your study will answer
hypothesis = what you expect to find
Method or procedure since 17th century, characterized by systematic observation, measurement, experiment, and formulation, testing, modification of hypotheses
The Scientific Method (or Galilean Method)
2 main objectives of scientific research
- Theory building (induction)
- Theory testing (deduction)
Suggesting an explanation for the way people behave
Induction
Collecting evidence to show whether a theory is a good or bad explanation for the way people behave
Deduction
Theories > hypthesis > Research
Deductive reasoning
Research (observation) > hypothesis > theories
Inductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning is ____ driven
theory driven
Inductive reasoning is ____ driven
Data driven
Something that varies
Variable
Measures within a given variable are _____
Mutually exclusive
4 levels of measurement
- Nominal
- Ordinal
- Interval
- Ratio
Variables where data is only classified
Nominal variable
Categorical variables
Nominal and ordinal
Continuous variables
Interval and ratio
Variable data is ranked
Ordinal
Variables with meaningful difference between values, can contain negative, arbitrary 0
Interval variable
Variables with meaningful 0 point, no negative numbers
Ratio variable
Examples of nominal variables (4)
-Jersey Numbers
-Birth month
-Make of car
-Gender
Examples of ordinal variables (4)
-Rank in class
-education level (“high school”,”BS”,”MS”,”PhD”)
-satisfaction rating (“extremely dislike”, “dislike”, “neutral”, “like”, “extremely like”)
-Ability (beginner, intermediate, advanced)
Examples of interval variables (4)
-Temperature
-Shoe size
-Blood Pressure
-IQ score
Examples of ratio variables (4)
-Number of patients seen
-Distance to class
-temperature in Kelvin (0.0 Kelvin really does mean “no heat”)
-Weight
Ethical balance in psychology
Costs (risk to participants in a study) vs benefits (advances to knowledge).
3 types of descriptive research
- Case Studies
- Survey Research
- Naturalistic Observation
2 Types of Correlational research
- Cross-sectional
- Longitudinal
2 Types of Correlational research
- Cross-sectional
- Longitudinal
2 types of experimental research
- Experimental
- Quasi-experimental.
Study in a rare population on one or a small group of individuals, involving rich data
Case study
Limitations of a case study
-Individ. subject can’t be replicated
-Might generalize wrong
Observing behaviour in its natural habitat, without intervening
Naturalistic observation
Research on trends in public opinion or knowledge
Survey research
“gold standard” research design
Experiment
Cross-sectional or longitudinal research, tests for relationships between variables
Correlational design
3 questions a correlational design answers
- Significant association between variables.
- Direction (+/-) of association
- Size of association
Positive correlation graph
/
Negative correlation graph
\
If the association is a horizontal line on the graph, what is the relationship?
r = 0, no linear relationship
Another name for Correlation (r)
Pearson’s r
What does ‘r’ show
Direction + strength of association
Range of association for ‘r’
+1 = perfect positive linear relationship
0 = no relationship
-1 = perfect negative linear relationship
Can ‘r’ be used for non-linear relationships?
No, it has to be linear
When there is an association between 2 variables, what are the 3 causal options?
- A causes changs in B.
- B causes changes in A.
- C (unmeasured 3rd variable) causes changes in A and B.
the phenomenon that occurs when individuals believe that personality descriptions apply specifically to them (more so than to other people), despite the fact that the description is actually filled with information that applies to everyone.
The Forer effect
How to operationalize a variable
A specific definition/measure of the variable that the study will recognize.
Why is a linear relationship NOT good evidence of causation? (2)
- Directionality
- 3rd variable
Which research design is the ONLY way to begin to establish cause and effect?
Experiment
Participants are randomly assigned to the conditions to control for extraneous variables.
True experiment
Participants are randomly assigned conditions (experimental vs control)
Random assignment
Key features of experiments (2)
- Manipulation of a single variable
- Random assignment.
Why do we only manipulate the IV in an experiment
to avoid confounds
When is random assignment more effective at eliminating confounds?
When the number of participants increases
Participants are randomly selected to be part of the sample
Random selection
What does random selection impact?
Generalizability
What does random assignment impact?
Internal validity
The effect of IV on DV
causal link
Extraneous variable that varies with levels of the IV
Confounding variable
Can all confounding variables be controlled?
No
Comparing different participants in different conditions
Between-group designs
Neither the subject nor the experimenter knows the conditions that the subject is in
Randomised Double Blind Trial (RDBT) or Randomised Control Trial (RCT).
Control condition that is inactive/has no external influence
Placebo
Researcher unconsciously manipupulates experiment to find expected result.
Experimenter expectancy effect
Any feature of an experiment that might inform participants of purpose of the study, and influence participants behaviour to help/hurt the study
Demand characteristics
4 measurement types of psych variables (spheres of psychological inquiry)
- Cognition
- Affect
- Behaviour
- Physiology
Defining a variable + how you will measure it.
Operational definition
Measures of psychological constructs (3)
- Self report
- Physiological response.
- Behaviour/performance
Asking participants to rate their opinions on a scale of least to most
Likert scale
How can we verify results of a psych experiment?
Reproduce the same results using different measures
2 things that make a good measure
- Validity
- Reliability
Measuring what you hope/think you’re measuring (accuracy)
Validity
Measuring the same results consistently (stability)
Reliability
the extent to which you can generalize the findings of a study to other situations, people, settings, and measures.
External validity
the degree of confidence that the causal relationship being tested is trustworthy and not influenced by other factors or variables.
Internal validity
Whether the environment of the study mirrors a real-world setting
ecological validity
What can descriptive statistics show us (2)
- Central tendency
- Variability
Measures of central tendency (3)
Mean
Median
Mode
Arithmetic average, add all scores and divide by number of scores
Mean
Score that divides group in half, 50% of values fall above and 50% fall below
Median
Most frequently occurring score
Mode
Which measure of central tendency is most useful in psych?
Mean
Why can mean sometimes be misleading?
It is very sensitive to outliers/extreme values
in a normal distribution, how many results fall within 1 SD of the mean
68%
in a normal distribution, how many results fall within 2 SD of the mean
95%
in a normal distribution, how many results fall within 3 SD of the mean
99.7%
Negative skew on a graph
/
Positive skew on a graph
\
When skewed, where do the central tendency measures fall (in direction of skew)
Mode, median, mean
The spread of a distribution of scores
Variability
Max - min scores =
Range
What is typical of that variable, with no unit
Standard Deviation
Subjective conscious experience of psychophysiological expressions, biological reactions, mental states
Emotion
Difference between emotion and mood
Emotions influence how we act, moods influence how we perceive
characteristics of emotions (2)
- Positive or negative
- Pattern of physiological activity
characteristics of emotions (2)
- Positive or negative
- Pattern of physiological activity
Dimensions of emotions (2)
- Arousal
- Valence
How positive/negative an emotion is
Valence
How active/passive an experience is (level of physiological reactivity)
Arousal
Essential feature of all emotion
Experience
Emotions are responses to
Our interpretation of events (appraisals)
Emotions lead to
Action tendencies
Our readiness to engage in relevant behaviours
Action tendencies
Theory that stimulus triggers activity in autonomic nervous system, produces emotional experience
James-Lange Theory
Problems with James-Lange theory (4+)
- Emotional experiences happen faster than bodily responses.
- More emotions than physiological patterns.
- Body responds to non-emotional cues.
- Internal organs can’t make distinctions about emotional experience
emotional theory:
Stimulus > general state of bodily arousal > mind interprets as specific emotion
Two-factor theory
Problems with two-factor emotion theory (3)
-People don’t just have one bodily reaction to all stimuli
-Emotions aren’t just inferences about the causes of physiological arousal
-Involves a cognitive appraisal
Current emotional theories say
-Each emotion has some unique aspects
-Interpretation plays a vital role
Part of brain that plays role in fear/threat detector
Amygdala
Appraisal of emotion-relevant aspects of a stimulus is done by the
Amygdala
first part of brian that fear stimulus triggers
Thalamus
Quick fear response
stimulus > thalamus > amygdala > fear response
Slow fear response
stimulus > thalamus > sensory cortex > prefrontal cortex > amygdala > fear response
Strategies people use to influence their own emotions/expression
Emotion regulation
Emotional expression suppression
Conscious inhibition
Behavioural emotional regulation
Emotional expression suppression
Cognitive emotional regulation
distraction, imagination, reappraisal
Changing the way one thinks about/meaning of stimulus
Reappraisal
Which emotional regulation is used in CBT
reappraisal
Observable sign of an emotional state
Emotional expression
How is emotional expression adaptive
-it promotes the organism’s ability to thrive
-helps to guide behaviors that promote safety.
What do people notice to observe our emotions
-Vocal cues
-Direction of eye gaze
-How you move/walk/stand
-Facial expressions
5 emotional expressions have the same meaning for all people
Universality hypothesis (Darwin)
What are the 5 universal emotions
- Anger
- Disgust
- Fear
- Happiness
- Sadness
Are humans better at reading facial expressions or body language, to detect emotions?
Better at reading body language
What is usually needed to understand the emotion of facial expressions?
Context
Why do people have different languages but not different facial language?
-Words are symbols (arbitrary), facial expressions are signals (not arbitrary)
How do facial expressions/body language become strongly associated with emotional states overtime
Classical conditioning
Theory that emotional expressions can cause the emotional states that they signify
Facial feedback hypothesis
How much does the power pose lower stress hormones
20%
How does botox affect facial mirroring
authentic facial expressions become harder to replicate, and therefore harder to empathize with
What does facial mirroring help with?
Empathy
What does body language mirroring help with?
Building rapport
Can we control our display of emotions?
Yes, to a degree
What are the 4 display rules?
- Intensification
- Deintensification
- Masking
- Neutralizing
Norms for the control of appropriate emotional expression
Display rules
Exaggerated emotional expression
Intensification
Muting emotional expression
Deintensification
Expressing one emotion while feeling another
Masking
No expression of emotion
Neutralizing
Different cultures have different ____ about emotions
Display rules
Sincere expressions that leak out
Micro-expressions
4 components of sincere emotions:
- Morphology
- Symmetry
- Duration
- Temporal patterning
Use of reliable muscles in the fact that are hard to control
Morphology
Are sincere emotions more/less symmetrical
more symmetrical
How long do sincere expressions last
Between 0.5-5 seconds
How long do fake expressions last
Usually longer than 5 seconds
What is the temporal pattern of sincere emotions
Emotions appear and disappear smoothly
Duchenne smile
sincere expression / facial morphology
Are humans good at telling lies
no
Characteristics of liars (4)
- Speak slower/take longer to respond.
- Are less fluent/detailed/engaging
- More tense/uncertain
- Missing in odd details, spontaneous correction, expressions of self-doubt
People are generally ____ lie detectors
poor/bad
What is somewhat better at detecting lies than humans, but still not very reliable/valid
Polygraph machines
Why are polygraph tests not always reliable
People can be trained to fool them.
How do polygraph tests work
Measure various physiological responses associated with stress.
Need or desire that energizes/directs behaviour
Motivation
What is the common linguistic route of emotion and motivation?
“to move”
2 ways emotions move human beings
- Provide helpful info
- Objectives towards which people strive (goals)
Sufferers of ____ have sustained damage to the connections between the temporal lobe and limbic system
Capgras syndrome
What does capgras syndrome lead to?
Thinking family members/friends are imposters
People are motivated to experience pleasure and avoid pain
Hedonic principle (Plato/Aristotle)
According to the hedonic principle, we weigh ___ when becoming motivated
short term vs. long term gains
The innate natural tendency to seek a particular goal (William James)
Instinct
Internal state generated by physiological needs/departures from physiological optimality
Drive
Tendency to maintain a balanced/constant internal state, in regulating body chemistry/physiology
Homeostasis
Theory that physiological need creates an aroused tension state (drive) that motivates to satisfy a need
Drive-reduction theory.
Who said people are motivated to fulfill a hierarchy of needs?
Abraham Maslow
What are the 5 levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Top to bottom
- Self-actualization
- Esteem
- Love/Belonging
- Safety
- Physiologica needs
Maslow’s self-actualization needs
-Morality
-Creativity
-Problem solving
-Acceptance of fact
-Spontaneity
Maslow’s esteem needs
-Self-esteem
-Confidence
-Achievement
-Respect
Maslow’s love/belonging needs
-Friendship
-Family
-Sexual intimacy
Maslow’s safety needs
-Security of body, employment, resources, family, health, property, prosperity
Maslow’s physiological needs
-Breathing
-Food
-Water
-Sex
-Sleep
-Homeostatis
-Excretion
What does autonomy have to do with life satisfaction
Autonomy only leads to life satisfaction of basic needs are met
Which part of the brain receives hunger signals
Hypothalamus
Recurrent uncontrolled episodes of eating a large number of calories in a short time
Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating followed by purging
Bulimia Nervosa
Intense fear of being overweight resulting in severe food restriction
Anorexia nervosa
Motivations for anorexia nervosa
Need for control/attractiveness/cultural norms/gender norms
Most pervasive eating problem worldwide
Obesity
When weight is gained fat cells are ____
added
When weight is lost fat cells
shrink, but don’t decrease in number
dieting ___ metabolism
Decreases
Rate at which energy is used by the body
Metabolism
Wansink experiment on portion sizes revealed
Those who wait from a bottomless bowl consumed 73% more food
Research says best way to monitor eating is to be mindful of ____
portion sizes
The desire for ____ is necessary for human survival
sex/procreation
Hormone responsible for sexual desire
DHEA
____ may be the route of sexual desire in both men and women
Testosterone
Woman’s sexual interest is NOT dependent on her ______
Menstrual cycle
Why is it beneficial that a woman’s sexual interest is not dependent on her menstrual cycle?
Men will stay as they can’t tell when she’s not ovulating
Why do men think about sex more than women
Men are more prone to indulgent impulses
Men and women’s physiological responses during sex are ____
Similar
4 stages of the Human Sexual Response Cycle
- Excitement
- Plateau
- Orgasm
- Resolution
Number 1 reason men and women have sex
Being attracted to the person
______ enhanced early ancestor’s survivability
Social bonds/cooperation
Humans are innately ____ beings
social
biological motivators are (2)
- shared with other animals
- Physiological
Psychological motivators are (3)
- Unique. tohumans
- Limitless
- Have 3 dimensions
3 dimensions of psychological motivators
-extrinsic/intrinsic
-conscious/unconscious
-approach/avoidance
Motivation to take actions that are themselves rewarding
Intrinsic motivation
Which type of motivation is more satisfying
Intrinsic
Motivations to take actions that are not themselves rewarding, but lead to a reward
extrinsic
Extrinsic rewards may undermine ______ motivation
Intrinsic
Delaying gratification is something our species does _____
Well
In children, ability to ____ is a better predictor of grades than _____
delay gratification, IQ
Why do rewards sometimes backfire?
Make us lose any enjoyment/intrinsic motivation we might have
Punishment can be used to create _____ motivation
Intrinsic
___ and ___ can make prohibited behaviour more appealing
Threats, punishment
Motivation of which one is aware
Conscious motivation
Motivation of which one is not aware
Unconscious motivation
Motivation to experience positive outcomes
Approach motivation
Motivation to not experience negative outcomes
Avoidance motivation
Is avoidance or approach motivation more powerful
Avoidance
Losses have larger impact on preferences than advantages of equal size
Loss aversion
High need for achievement - motivated for success
Promotion-focus
Low need for achievement - motivated by fear of failure
Prevention-focus
Brains use ____ of resting energy
20-25%
Maternal costs of big brains (3)
- Big heads come out of narrow hips
- Obstetrics Dilemma
- Maternal mortality
Key health indicator for a country
Maternal mortality
Why are human hips narrow
Bipedalism - walking on two feet
Phenomenon where human childbirth is more painful/dangerous than other primates
Obstetrics Dilemma
Two theories for big brains
-Runaway Sexual Selection Theory
-Social Brain Hypothesis
Male/female insatiable need for more intelligent mates leading to runaway process
Runaway sexual selection theory
Brains evolved to keep track of increasingly complex social lives
Social Brain Hypothesis
Ability to use one’s mind to solve novel problems / learn from experience
Intelligence
Measure of individual difference in general cognitive ability
IQ
Goddard’s (1866-1957) IQ Theory
First to measure intelligence, used to discriminate against US immigrants
Binet and Simon’s (1850s-1900s) IQ Theory
Used intelligence test to identify children who needed remedial education
Terman’s (1877-1956) IQ
Modern IQ test
Child’s mental age (IQ results) divided by chronological age x100
Ratio IQ
(IQ results) divided by average test score of same age group x100
Deviation IQ
Mean and SD of IQ
100, 15
IQ tests are used to predict ______
performance in school
Most commom IQ tests (3)
- Standford-Binet Scale
- Weshler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
- Weschler Intelligence Scale for Children (WAISC)
Is IQ a valid measure
Yes, predicts what we expect to predict
What does IQ correlate negatively with (3)
- Arrests
- Drug and alcohol
- Car accidents
Spearman’s theory suggesting every task requires a combo of general ability (g) and skills specific to a task (s)
Two-factor Theory of Intelligence
5 abilities in Spearman’s General Intelligence (g)
- Verbal ability
- Abstract Reasoning
- Memory
- Spatial Intelligence
- Math ability
Spearman said IQ is the operationalization of _____
General intelligence (g)
_____ argued for a few primary abilities that were stable/independent
Thurstone
Thurstone’s 7 Primary Mental Abilities
- Word Fluency
- Verbal Comprehension
- Numerical Ability
- Spatial Visualization
- Associative Memory
- Perceptual Speed
- Reasoning
Who was correct about IQ, Spearman or Thurstone?
Both
Correlatinos between scores on mental ability tests are best described in _____
Three-level heirarchy
Three-level heirarchy of intelligence
Spearman’s general factor (g)
Thurstones group factors (m)
and Specific factors (s)
How do you measure middle-level abilities with a data-based approach
Connect intelligence test performance (data) to clusters of abilities
Inductive
How do you measure middle-level abilities with a theory-based approach
survey human abilities and determine which ones intelligence tests do/don’t measure (test them)
Deductive
Limitations of data based approach (inductive reasoning)
you can only use data that has already been measured
____ found patterns of correlation among 8 independent middle-level abilities
Carroll
Carroll’s 8 middle level abilities (m)
- Fluid intelligence
- Crystallized intelligence
- Memory/learning
- Visual perception
- Auditory perception
- Retrieval ability
- Cognitive speed
- Processing speed
Ability to retain knowledge acquired through experience
Crystallized intelligence
Ability to see abstract relationships/draw logical inferences
Fluid intelligence
In what life stage is fluid intelligence highest
Early adulthood
In what life stage is crystallized intelligence
Late adulthood
Raven’s progressive matrices test (shape patterns) measures ______
Fljuid intelligence
Benefit of data-based approach
all conclusions are backed up by data
finding correct answer to a defined problem
analytic intelligence
Finding novel solutions and choosing which to apply
Creative intelligence
Ability to identify, describe, predict, manage our own emotions/of others
emotional intelligence
Gardner’s 8 forms of intelligence
- musical
- kinesthetic
- Interpersonal
- Linguistic
- Mathematical
- Naturalistic
- Intrapersonal
- Visual
___ is hard to change, _____ can be improved through accumulation of soft skills
IQ, EQ
Observed differences between people can be attributed to genes
Heritability
Stat that measures proportion of diff in IQ scores that are explained by genes
Heritability Coefficient (h2)
_____ of differences in IQ scores is due to environment
30-50%
2 factors that affect heritability of IQ
-SES
-Age
how do environments influence genes
Access to practice/training leaves opportunity to access heritable skills
Average IQ rises 0.3% per year
Flynn effect
One of best predictors of intelligence is _______
wealth
Poverty in ____ childhood has worse effects on intelligence
Early
Correlation between formal education and IQ
r= .55 to .90
Nature vs nurture have a _____ influence on IQ
Combined
Largest international IQ society
Mensa
Who can participate in Mensa?
98th percentile IQ (132+ on Stanford-Binet)
Who can participate in Mensa?
98th percentile IQ (132+ on Stanford-Binet)
Extremes of IQ bell curve are most likely to include ____
men
4 Levels of Intellectual Development Disorcer (from least to most)
Mild (IQ 50-69)
Moderate (IQ 35-49)
Severe (IQ 20-34)
Profound (IQ <20)
80-85% of those with a developmental difficulty are in ___ level
Mild
Women and men have ___ mean/average IQ
same (100)
Male IQ range is ___ than women
larger
Women tend to outperform men on (3)
-Semantics.language
-Speed. ofverbal intelligence
-Fine motor skills
Men tend to outperform women on (3)
-Visual/spatial memory (transformations)
-Some motor skills
-Logical reasoning
Terman’s 3 IQ claims (wrong and racist)
- IQ is genetic
- Some races have higher IQs
- Reason for racial IQ difference is due to genes.
IQ diff between racial groups tend to be ___ than within-group differences
less
Alternative explanations for racial IQ differences (4)
-Cultural variances in intelligence definitions
-IQ test is based on white sample
-Diff in SES/nutrition
-Family size/parental attention
Fear of confirming negative beliefs that others may have about your group
Stereotype threat
4 ways to improve IQ in children
-Polyunsaturated fatty acids
-Early childhood interventions for low SES
-Interactive reading/conversing
-Preschool
2 ways to improve IQ in adults, children, elderly
-Cognitive enhancing drugs
-Mental exercises (helps fluid intelligece)
