PSYCH CH 2 Flashcards
scientific method:
systemically gathering and evaluating info to understand a problem
variable
any characteristic that varies
clinical researchers:
try to discover broad principles to explain abnormal functioning
do clinical researchers diagnose people?
no
clinical practitioners:
seek idiographic (individual) understanding of abnormal behavior
do clinical practitioners diagnose?
yes
case study
focuses on the individual; a detailed description of a person’s life and psych problems
correlational/ experimental method:
gather info about many individuals
hypothesis
predictions that relate to variables in some way
What was Freud “Little Hans” (1909) experiment?
Freud studied a boy who had a fear of horses and gathered information to see if this cause was universal for people who feared horses
When do you use case studies? What do case studies prove?
when you have unusual problems that are not large enough to do many studies. Case studies can present/ support new and existing theories.
ex. dissociative identity disorder
What are some case study limitations?
- cannot really be generalized because it is so specific
- observers can be biased to serve themselves and only research what they want to research
- its based on subjective evidence (what the clients report)
- no telling if all factors contribute to something
external validity:
the degree to which the results of a study can be generalized beyond the study
correlational method
research procedure used to determine this ‘co-relationship’ between variables
correlation
the degree to which events/characteristics vary with each other
positive correlation
line of best fit goes up, proportional
negative correlation
line of best fit goes down, inverse relationship
sample
collective term for the participants in a given study
- should be representative of the general population
line of best fit
line drawn closest to the data points
magnitude
the strength of the line of best fit; how close the data points are to the line means how closely the variables correspond
statistical analysis
how likely the study results occurred by chance
When the statistical analysis is unlikely:
then the correlation can be applied to the public.
this occurs when the p-value is <5%
- the larger the sample the more chance the correlation results are statistically significant
correlation coefficient:
the statistical term for magnitude:
-1 to 0 to 1
negative correlation to no correlation to positive correlation
What is an advantage of the correlational method?
higher external validity than case study
what is a limitation of the correlational method?
it lacks internal validity; does not explain the relationship between the variables
random assignment
selection procedure where participants are randomly assigned in core group
masked design
participants are kept unaware of their assigned group
clinical significance
the amount of improvement meaningful in an individual’s life
confounds
variables other then IV acting on the DV
Single case experiments
a single participant is observed before and after manipulation of independent variable
quasi-experimental designs
not pure experiments that combine elements of both experimental and correlational studies
longitudinal studies
researchers that observe the same individual over a long time
natural experiments
nature manipulates the independent variable
what are natural experiments used to study?
psychological effects of unusual and unpredictable events
matched design
matches experimental participants w/ control participants who are similar on characteristics
ex. age, sex, family, size
analogue experiment
experimenter produces abnormal behavior in lab participants and then conducts experiment on the participants
What is a major limitation of analogue experiments?
- researchers can never be sure the environment created in the lab is representative of the real world
-animal cruelty
epidemiological studies:
reveal how often a problem like a psych disorder occurs in a particular population
What is an advantage of epidemiological studies?
they help identify groups that are more at risk for certain disorders
incidence
number of new cases that emerge in a pop
prevalence
total number of cases in a population during a given amount of time
