Prelims Flashcards
Father of experimental psychology
Wilhelm Wundt
When: first psych lab
1879
4 goals of psychology?
describe, explain, predict, control behaviour
Characteristics of Modern Science: thinking objectively
Scientific Mentality
Characteristics of Modern Science: gather data systematically
gathering empirical data
Characteristics of Modern Science: should be backed up by a theory
seeking general principles
Characteristics of Modern Science: avoids biases; being open to new ideas
good thinking
Characteristics of Modern Science: accept uncertainty of their own conclusions; accept new discoveries
self-correlation
Characteristics of Modern Science: scientists meet frequently through professional and special interest groups and attend professional conferences to exchange info abt their work
publicizing results
Characteristics of Modern Science: should be able to repeat our procedure & have/get same results
replication
Objectives of Psychological Science: a systematic unbiased account of the observed characteristics of behaviour
Description
Objectives of Psychological Science: refers to the capacity for knowing in advance when certain behaviours would be expected to occur
Prediction
Objectives of Psychological Science: Understand what causes it to occur
Explanation
Objectives of Psychological Science: Application of what has been learned about behaviour
Control
Scientific Method, Tools of Psychological Science: systematic noting and recording of events
Observation
Scientific Method, Tools of Psychological Science: assignment of numerical values to objects/events/their characteristics accdg to conventional rules
measurement
Scientific Method, Tools of Psychological Science: manipulate variables; process undertaken to test a hypothesis that particular events will occur reliably in certain, specifiable situations
experimentation
degree to which a research design allows us to make causal statements
internal validity
generalizablity or applicability to people and situations outside the research setting
external validity
often preferred bc they may have external validity, their generalizability to the real world be more apparent
nonexperimental design
used to study behaviours in natural settings to explore unique or rare occurances or to sample personal info
nonexperimental methods
description of on’es immediate experiences; we begin with personal experience as a source of data
phenomenology
no manipulated & data may consist of any immediate experience; no constraints are imposed
antecedent
an observation that eventually led to our understanding of the spectral sensitivity of the rods and cones of the eye
The Purkinje Phenomenon
He used the phenomenological approach. - dealt with basic psychological issues, including habits, emotions, consciousness, and the stream of thought.
William James
Phenomenology _______ behavior but __________ behavior.
descibes; can’t explain
Descriptive record of a single individual’s experiences or behaviours or both, kept by an outside observer
case study
Nonexperimental approaches used in the field or in real-life settings
field study
The researcher uses a prearranged strategy for recording observations in which each observation is recorded using specific rules or guidelines, so that observations are more objective
systematic observation
Kind of field osbervation: Here the researcher actually becomes part of the group being studied.
Participant-Observer Studies
Descriptive research method in which already existing records are reexamined for a new purpose
Causal inferences cannot be supported
Valuable information for further study on these important issues was gained (without the great expense of finding the kind of subjects) by accessing and reanalyzing information from existing data archives in a creative new way
Archival study
Relies on words rather than numbers for the data being collected
Focuses on self-reports, personal narratives, and expression of ideas, memories, feelings and thoughts
Big-Q, candidate for a paradigm shift within psychology
Qualitative research
Also called empirical phenomenology
Rely on the researcher’s own experiences or on experiential data provided by other sources
contemporary phenomenology
useful way of obtaining information about people’s opinions, attitudes, preferences, and experiences simply by asking them.
allow us to gather data about experiences, feelings, thoughts, and motives that are hard to observe directly.
Survey research
two most common survey techniques in psychology research.
written questionnaires & interviews
1st step in constructing survey
map out research objectives
2nd step in constructing survey
design survey items
3 kinds of questions
closed, open-ended, double-barreled
tendencies to respond to questions or test items in specific ways, regardless of the content
response styles
apt to agree with a question regardless of its manifest content. , also called as ________
yea-sayers; response acquiescence
tend to disagree no matter what they are asked. also called as ________
nay-sayers; response deviation
the tendency of subjects to alter their responses if they are aware of the presence of an observer
reactivity
probability sampling: – any member of the population has an equal opportunity to be selected, and the outcome of the sampling procedure cannot be predicted ahead of time by any known law. Random selection is also a common assumption of the statistical tests used most often to analyze data.
random selection
PS: a portion of the whole population is selected in an unbiased way.
To obtain a simple random sample, all members of the population being studied must have an equal chance of being selected.
simple random sampling
PS: In cases where all members of a population are known and can be listed in an unbiased way, a researcher may select every nth person from the population
The n is determined by the size of the population and the desired sample size
systematic random sampling
PS: When the population is known to contain distinct subgroups, researchers often prefer another variation of probability sampling known as?
stratified random sampling
PS: When the population of interest is very large; it is often too costly or impractical to randomly select subjects one by one
Researchers sample entire clusters, or naturally occurring groups, that exist within the population
cluster sampling
Nonprobability sampling: Researchers select samples through predetermined quotas that are intended to reflect the makeup of the population.
quota sampling
NPS: Obtained by using any groups who happen to be available.
This is consider a weak form of sampling because the researcher exercises no control over the representativeness of the sample
convenience sampling
NPS: When nonrandom samples are selected because the individuals reflect a specific purpose of the study
purposive sampling
NPS: Researcher locates one or few people who fit the sample criterion and asks these people to locate or lead them to additional individuals
snowball sampling
