midtopic Flashcards
psychology
scientific study of human thoughts feelings and behaviours
scientific method
involves use of appropiate research methods to collect data, collect and analyse data, and interpret results
biopsychosocial approach
suggests that biological, phychological and social factors interact to cause and influence human behaviour and mental processes
pseudoscience
any non scientific approach to studying human behaviour as it may produce biased or unreliable results
phrenology
explored relationship between skull’s surface features and an individual’s personality characterisitcs, based on reasoning and anecdotal evidence
barnum effect
explains that people are more likely to believe statements about themselves if its positive, vague or general
empirical evidence
data collected through systemic observations and/or carefully constructed observations
population
entire group of research interest to which the researcher seeks to apply or generalise their research findings
sample
research participants selected from the larger population
iv
variable that is being changed or manipluated to see if it has an effect on the dv
dv
variable that is measured to see the effects of the iv
ev
any variables other than the iv that can cause unwanted change in the dv + identified prior to the research and controlled
cv
any variables other than the iv that can cause unwanted change in the dv + confounds and confluses effect of iv not identified prior
controlled variable
a variable that is held constant to ensure that the only influence on the dv is the iv ensuring validity of results
placebo effect
when a participants response is changed by the belief (expectation) their receiving some kind of treatment opposed to the actual treatment
order effect
when perfomance is influenced by the specific order in which the experimental tasks are done rather than the iv
non standardised instructions + procedures
if certain groups are given different instrutions from researcher –> unwanted effect on dv
situational-envirionment
demand-cues in experiment
indivual differnces
any difference between participants being studied that impact dv
experimenter effect
any sutble cues or signal from experimenr that signals expermenters true intent or purpse that efffects perfromance of subjects
goals of sampling
ensures sample closely represents population so we can generalise results
reflect population in all personal characteristics of partiicpants relevent to the study
random sampling
ensures every member of population of research interest has equal chance of being selected to be part of sample
obtain sampling frame + lottery procedure
x-not guarenteed that sample is representative + time consuming
stratified sampling
dividing population into different subgroups and selecting seperate sample frome each stratum in the same proportions that they appear in the population
x-need a complete list of target pop–> time consuming
random allocation
minimising differences between groups where every participant have an equal chance opf being slected for any of the groups used
tossing coin + names out of hat
counterbalencing
used to minimise/ balence out order effects stystemically changing order of treatments or tasks to counter unwanted effects of order effects
controlled experiment
experimental investigations of the relationship between one or more ivs and a dv all other variables are controlled
between subjects design
participants are randomly allocated to one or more entirely seperate independant groups
between subjects design pros + cons
- less time consuming + avoids order/ practice effects
- x minimise individual differences
within subjects design
same participants are used in both experimental and control group
within subjects design pros + cons
- eliminates indiviudal differences/ less people
- time consuming –> increase dropout
mixed design
elements of both subect designs examines not only potential differences between two or more groups but also assesses change of individiuals of each group over time
mixed design pros + cons
- time + cost effective can test multiple ivs on dv
- higher withdrawal rate/ less control over conditions
