PSYC3017 FINAL Flashcards
scientific ideals
confirmation of findings, self-correction, scientific explanations are tentative, scientific explanations are rigorously evaluated, replication
Jacob Cohen
first power analysis of psychological research, results - very low power to detect small effects, modest power to detect medium effects, good power to detect large effects
Stapel - the secret life of emotions
do we have feelings we are unaware of that nevertheless affect us? primed fear/disgust using photos and measured word fragment completion. Stapel said he collected data but he actually made it up himself
Bem
precognition - participants correctly identified the future position of erotic pictures more frequently than the 50% hit rate expected by chance
fall out from Bem
Wagenmakers et al. (exploration vs confirmation findings, bayesian test), focus on faulty processes (peer review, self-correcting science), focus on systematic aspects (status and achievement measures, rewards)
is our research replicable? - Many Labs Study
first investigation of variation in replicability, 36 labs replicated 13 studies (10 effects replicated consistently)
reproducibility project
replicating 100 different studies and effects - 36% of replication had significant results, 47% of original effect size were in the 95% confident interval, 39% of effects were rated to have replicated the original result
questionable research practices (QRPs)
false-positive psychology, type I error rate, outlier strategies (what is considered an outlier?), picking at data (stop data collection before sample size issue), stopping data collection, file drawer (not reporting nonsignificant findings), selective reporting
replication is important but also have to focus on
internal validity, external validity, construct validity, consequentiality, communicativeness
Comment on “Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science” - Gilbert et al.
argued the methodology used was finding a crisis when one was not there, said the population of some replication attempts didn’t make sense for the research question
Response to Comment on “Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science” - Anderson et al.
stated Gilbert et al. treated all studies not falling in the confidence interval range of the original publication as not replicating whereas this is not the appropriate approach
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis
p-values, open science, sample non WEIRD populations, focus on boundary conditions, adversarial collaborations, use overarching theory, badges
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis - p-values
get rid of p-values and null hypothesis testing (approach hasn’t been adopted)
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis - open science
open data, source, access, methodology, peer review, educational resources
open science framework
publish replications to motivate researchers, pre-registration of what they’ll do with data, include all variables (rather than discarding later to get significant findings)
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis - focus on boundary conditions
when is the effect relevant? how would that effect emerge? not just whether an effect exists or not
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis - adversarial collaborations
work parallel with people who don’t necessarily agree on concept/approach to research - one person’s bias nullifies other person’s
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis - use overarching theory
use of a specific, metatheory - not a flimsy theoretical basis for findings
terror definition
the existential fear of our own mortality
terror management theory
two responses to mortality salience - proximal and distal
terror management theory proximal response
occurs immediately - deny vulnerability (deny importance of it) or distract yourself
terror management theory distal response
occurs after reflection - world-view defence (cultural background) or self-esteem
terror management theory - why does world-view/cultural perspective ameliorate concerns?
culture makes man seem important and more vital to the universe, not just me as an individuals but the ideal i’m part of
terror management theory - main elements in our worldviews
ingroup/outgroup perceptions, values, practices, gender-roles, social structure, symbols, reputation
classic tmt experiment
mortality salience vs control, subjects read one-page interview about US political system (positive or critical message) - participants who read the pro US message in the MS condition liked the interviewer more than participants in the control, participants who read the anti US message in MS condition disliked the interviewer more than participants in the control
meaning maintenance model
suggested people have a need for meaning
meaning definition
mental representation of expected. relations that organises their perceptions of the world
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model
assimilation, accommodation, affirmation, assembly, abstraction
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model - assimilation
assimilate exception by finding another element
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model - accommodation
make exceptions to rule
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model - affirmation
reaction to threat is by affirming either same element or an alternative element
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model - assembly
understandings that serve the same function as the old
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model - abstraction
reaffirming alternative framework - affirm another element in life
religion definition
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs
four elements of religion - counterintuition
all religions include belief in supernatural agents which in many ways violate our intuitive understanding of how the world works
dissonance theory - behaviour
the more costly the behaviour, the more you have to have a reason to do it - so, when you follow a costly ritual, you amplify your own belief in that (through cognitive dissonance)
four elements of religion
counterintuition, commitment, compassion (personal relationship with their gods), communion
“typical” religion
god/supernatural agent is not very powerful (just a special kind of person), not much privileged access to information, not morally concerned (“give me present but i don’t care about you”), locally constrained (eg. god of the river)
“really strange” religion
god tends to be very powerful (omniscient, omnipotent), cares a lot about people, are morally concerned, omnipresent
game theory’s game
participants told to unscramble sentences after being primed for religiosity, received $10 and can give/keep as much as they want, more than half of the people primed with religiosity divided it evenly. and some gave away more than. they kept
kind gods vs mean gods experiment
if people see god as a positive entity they’re more likely to cheat, if people see god as a mean entity, they’re less likely to cheat
3 major principles of darwin’s theory
- heredity 2. variability 3. natural selection
products of evolution
adaptations, by-products, noise, exaptation
products of evolution - noise
random effects produced by genetic drift and chance mutations that do not affect survival and/or reproductive success
products of evolution - exaptation
features that did not originally arise for their current use but rather were co-opted for new purposes
environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA)
technical term used to refer to the environment in which we evolved
two views of the mind
standard social science model and evolutionary psychology model
view of the mind - standard social science model
suggests mind is content free upon arrival and through associationism it learns how to better survive and reproduce in a given environment
view of the mind - evolutionary psychology
mind arrives with already specialised cognitive processes
problems faced by ancestral humans
problems of survival, mating, parenting and aiding genetic relatives
behavioural immune system
parasites (selection pressure, evolved defence mechanisms), disgust (facial blemishes), disease avoidance (the world before Germ theory, conformity, context-contingent conformity)
behavioural immune system experiment
recall task (when they felt vulnerable to disease, vulnerable to other physical dangers, non-threatening event), conformity evaluation (liking conformists, valuation of obedience, self-reported conformity), place penny in jar half full or jar which only a few pennies - people in infectious diseases salient condition more likely to conform
parental investment definition
any investment by the parent in an individual offspring that increases the offspring’s chances of surviving (and hence reproducing) at the cost of the parent’s ability to invest in other offspring
female reproductive strategy
look for certain criteria (physical and behavioural features), will compete with other females for the most. desirable males, seek quality not quantity, almost every reproductively capable female will find a mate
male reproductive strategy
seek quantity, less choosy, if presented with sexual opportunity they’ll take it, compete vigorously with other males, small number of males will achieve many matings
hypothesis for choosing partners (mating)
females have evolved mechanisms that enable them to detect men that will transfer resources to their offspring
hypothesis for choosing partners (mating) - Buss (1989)
showed that males prefer young, physically attractive and chaste mates. females place greater emphasis on earning capacity and ambitiousness-industriousness
women’s ovulatory cycles - wet t-shirt study
males wore t-shirt for 48hrs to develop their scent and measured men’s physical features (symmetry), females smelt t-shirts then rated attractiveness
women’s ovulatory cycles - wet t-shirt study results
women not at their peak fertility showed no indication of preferences for more symmetric men, women at their peak fertility showed clear indication of a relationship between symmetry and women’s rating of the attractiveness of that scent
women at higher fertility phase:
more mate searching and socialising, avoid rape and incest, less satisfied with long-term partner if he’s lower fitness, more fantasies, flirtation, dancing and short-term affairs with higher-fitness men, mate-guarded more closely by lower-fitness partners
‘fat’ gene experiment
individuals told either genes, social network or something about food affects people’s obesity and diabetes, see whether exposure to these media articles affects willingness to do a taste test for a future study, participants in gene condition consumed 50% more cookies than participants in the control condition, participants in the control and social network condition consumed about the same amount
genomic revolution
genome first sequenced in 2003 for USD $4 billion, now its only $1000 to sequence entire gene of a human being, media claimed to find gene for everything
genetic essentialism
people see living organisms as having an underlying fundamental nature that makes them what they are (essence) and you can’t change this, description of essence if very similar to how we describe genes (imbue genes with the power of essence, turning it into the essence placeholder)
psychological essentialism
idea that natural entities have this immutable, natural element
genetic essentialist biases
genetic attributions - immutability and determinism, specific etiology, homogeneity and discreteness, naturalness (and naturalistic fallacy)
genetic essentialist biases - genetic attributions immutability and determinism
increased belief that participant has less control over their own characteristics and behaviours
genetic essentialist biases - genetic attributions specific etiology
increased belief that genes are the only cause of their behaviour (disregard other explanations)
genetic essentialist biases - genetic attributions homogeneity and discreteness
increased belief that members of same group look more similar to each other and the difference between groups will be exaggerated
genetic essentialist biases - genetic attributions naturalness (and naturalistic fallacy)
causes people to believe that their beliefs are natural as that was the way they were born
genetic essentialism and social categorisation
genetic essentialism focuses on natural elements (doesn’t make sense for human artefacts), social categories are human artefacts (we created them) but we treat them like living organisms (see them as having an underlying essence). affects things like race and ethnicity, gender, mental illness
genetic essentialism and social categorisation - race and ethnicity
the more you believe in genetics underlying explanation of different phenomena, the more likely you are to believe that differences in groups are real (more prejudice and stereotyping)
genetic essentialism and social categorisation - mental illness
when primed with idea that genes are involved in mental illness, it was seen as more serious, was expected to last longer, less likely to be punished, social distance from siblings was greater
duality of the self
self as an object that cana be observed (self-concept “me”), self as an agent doing the observing (self-awareness “I”)
levels of the self
personal self, relational self, collective self
cultural differences in defining the self
individualist cultures tend to emphasise the individual’s needs over the group, collectivist cultures emphasise the needs of the group over the individuals’
culture definition
the set of cognitions and practices that identify a specific social group and distinguish it from others
individualist cultures features
analytic processing, causality inherent in the object, focus. on attributes (stable), independent herders, value agency, independence, uniqueness
collectivist cultures features
holistic processing, causality lies in the situation, focus on interaction (change), cooperative farmers, value harmony, independence, connectedness
independent (individualist) self-views
autonomy, responsible for one’s own actions, individuals as causes for their behaviour, important to achieve, stable self-concept, express oneself, global self-descriptions, define themselves as quite separate from other people
interdependent (collectivist) self-views
interconnectedness, social ties, social roles, social pressure, duties and obligations as causes for behaviour, important to fit in, flexible self-concept, figure out what others are thinking, contextualised self-descriptions, define themselves in terms of their relationships to others
defining the interdependent self - women
higher in relational interdependence, focus more on their close relationships
defining the interdependent self - men
higher in collective interdependence, focus on their membership in larger groups
introspection definition
looking inward to examine our thoughts and feelings
experiment proving we don’t know the reasons for our decisions
participants asked to choose a pair of stockers and rate which pair is the highest quality, participants showed a right-hand bias and chose the one on the far right more than others by a factor of 4:1. (when asked no one mentioned positioning or denied it)
experiment proving we don’t know the causes of our moods
introspection diary and observers estimate the extent to which factors influence mood, observer group was as accurate as the introspection group
self-perception theory (Bem)
we infer who we are from what we do (ie. from our behaviour)
when is self-perception theory likely to occur
when we are unsure of our attitudes and feelings, when our internal cues are weak, when we have no clear situational influence on our behaviour, when we chose the behaviour freely
we examine our behaviour and the circumstances in which it is occurring - is the situation sufficient to explain my behaviour?
if yes then behaviour is due to external factors, if no then behaviour is due to internal factors
how do we determine whether the situation is sufficient to explain our behaviour? - is the behaviour chosen freely?
if yes then behaviour is due to intrinsic motivation, if no then behaviour is due to extrinsic motivation
overjustification effect definition
what happens when people have an external justification for doing something they already like to do
do rewards always ruin things? - initial level of interest
if initially unmotivated receiving a reward will increase interest, if initially motivated receiving a reward will decrease interest
do rewards always ruin things? - type of reward
if people receive a task-contingent reward intrinsic motivation will be undermined, if people receive a performance-contingent reward intrinsic motivation won’t be undermined
looking-glass self (Cooley)
we see ourselves as a reflection of how others see us and how we think others see us
social comparison theory (Festinger)
we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people in various domains
3 key questions in social comparison theory
when do we engage in social comparisons? why do we engage in social comparisons? with whom do we compare?
social comparison theory - when do we engage in social comparisons?
when there is no objective means of assessment (no standard to compare yourself to), when you experience uncertainty about yourself in a particular area
social comparison theory - why do we engage in social comparisons?
self-assessment, self-enhancement, self-improvement
social comparison theory - with whom do we compare?
anyone who is around (upward comparison targets and downward comparison targets), prefer to compare yourself to someone at your level, someone a bit worse than you or someone a bit better than you
experiment - are social comparisons automatic?
test of schizophrenia detection ability, participants either cognitive busy or not, confederate either performed well or poorly. participants who were cognitively busy did not take into account confederates performance was scripted and rated themselves as far more competent when confederate’s performance was bad, participants who were not cognitively busy did take the confederate’s context into account
who do we compare ourselves to? (Festinger experiment)
participants preferred UC to feel inspired to improve ourselves, if you want to feel good about yourself compare to DC
self-motive definition
an inclination that is aimed toward establishing or maintaining a particular state of self-awareness, self-representation or self-evaluation
types of self-motives
self-assessment, self-verification, self-enhancement
self-assessment definition (self-motives)
the motivation to have accurate and valid information about ourselves
self-verification definition (self-motives)
the motivation to confirm what we already know about ourselves
self-enhancement definition (self-motives)
the motivation to maintain or increase the positivity of the self
manifestations of self-enhancement
we are better than average, we hold positive illusions about ourselves, temporal comparisons, biased attributions, self-serving categories and traits, self-handicapping, self-evaluation maintenance model
manifestations of self-enhancement - better than average effect
think we are better than average on skills and abilities, positive traits, positive behaviours and attitudes, anything that is self-relevant
manifestations of self-enhancement - positive illusions
unrealistically positive views of the self (think we have more positive than negative traits and that we have more positive traits than the average person), unrealistically optimistic views for our future (see future as being full of positive events but few negative events, think others will experience more negative events than we will), think we have more control over our lives than we do, illusions maintained through SSB
manifestations of self-enhancement - temporal comparisons
past selves provide opportunity for downward comparisons, people evaluate themselves more favourably now than in the past but rated acquaintance at same for both time points
manifestations of self-enhancement - biased attributions
take credit for successes and deny responsibility for failures, positive feedback = internal attribution, negative feedback = external attribution, ambiguous feedback = interpret in positive way, unambiguous and negative feedback = ignore it or discredit source of the feedback
manifestations of self-enhancement - self-serving categories and traits
self-enhancement motives influence how we define concepts, categories and traits - define categories and traits in a self-serving way. if we’re good at a task then the domain is important to us, if we’re bad at a task then the domain is irrelevant
manifestations of self-enhancement - self-handicapping
create obstacles to success in order to protect the self, avoid negative internal attributions (simply don’t try)
manifestations of self-enhancement - self-handicapping experiment
participants completed bogus analogies test (solvable or insolvable), participants received success feedback - participants with solvable analogies made internal attributions for their success whereas those with unsolvable analogies made external attributions, participants offered a drug which would either improve or impair performance, participants with solvable analogies picked performance-enhancing drug whereas those with unsolvable analogies picked performance-impairing drug (built-in excuse for expected failure)
manifestations of self-enhancement - self-evaluation maintenance model
we are motivated to maintain positive self-perceptions and have ways to restorer self-evaluations
self-evaluation maintenance model - ways to restore self-evaluations
distance self from others, reduce relevance, downplay other’s performance, try to improve, sabotage other’s performance, self-affirm in another important domain
self-evaluation maintenance model - Tesser responses to upward social comparison depends on…
closeness of the comparison target and relevance of the comparison domain
