PSYCH CH 2

Question 1

scientific method:

Answer 1

systemically gathering and evaluating info to understand a problem

Question 2

variable

Answer 2

any characteristic that varies

Question 3

clinical researchers:

Answer 3

try to discover broad principles to explain abnormal functioning

Question 4

do clinical researchers diagnose people?

Answer 4

no

Question 5

clinical practitioners:

Answer 5

seek idiographic (individual) understanding of abnormal behavior

Question 6

do clinical practitioners diagnose?

Answer 6

yes

Question 7

case study

Answer 7

focuses on the individual; a detailed description of a person’s life and psych problems

Question 8

correlational/ experimental method:

Answer 8

gather info about many individuals

Question 9

hypothesis

Answer 9

predictions that relate to variables in some way

Question 10

What was Freud “Little Hans” (1909) experiment?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

When do you use case studies? What do case studies prove?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What are some case study limitations?

Answer 12

• 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

Question 13

external validity:

Answer 13

the degree to which the results of a study can be generalized beyond the study

Question 14

correlational method

Answer 14

research procedure used to determine this ‘co-relationship’ between variables

Question 15

correlation

Answer 15

the degree to which events/characteristics vary with each other

Question 16

positive correlation

Answer 16

line of best fit goes up, proportional

Question 17

negative correlation

Answer 17

line of best fit goes down, inverse relationship

Question 18

sample

Answer 18

collective term for the participants in a given study
- should be representative of the general population

Question 19

line of best fit

Answer 19

line drawn closest to the data points

Question 20

magnitude

Answer 20

the strength of the line of best fit; how close the data points are to the line means how closely the variables correspond

Question 21

statistical analysis

Answer 21

how likely the study results occurred by chance

Question 22

When the statistical analysis is unlikely:

Answer 22

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

Question 23

correlation coefficient:

Answer 23

the statistical term for magnitude:
-1 to 0 to 1
negative correlation to no correlation to positive correlation

Question 24

What is an advantage of the correlational method?

Answer 24

higher external validity than case study

Question 25

what is a limitation of the correlational method?

Answer 25

it lacks internal validity; does not explain the relationship between the variables

Question 26

random assignment

Answer 26

selection procedure where participants are randomly assigned in core group

Question 27

masked design

Answer 27

participants are kept unaware of their assigned group

Question 28

clinical significance

Answer 28

the amount of improvement meaningful in an individual’s life

Question 29

confounds

Answer 29

variables other then IV acting on the DV

Question 30

Single case experiments

Answer 30

a single participant is observed before and after manipulation of independent variable

Question 31

quasi-experimental designs

Answer 31

not pure experiments that combine elements of both experimental and correlational studies

Question 32

longitudinal studies

Answer 32

researchers that observe the same individual over a long time

Question 33

natural experiments

Answer 33

nature manipulates the independent variable

Question 34

what are natural experiments used to study?

Answer 34

psychological effects of unusual and unpredictable events

Question 35

matched design

Answer 35

matches experimental participants w/ control participants who are similar on characteristics
ex. age, sex, family, size

Question 36

analogue experiment

Answer 36

experimenter produces abnormal behavior in lab participants and then conducts experiment on the participants

Question 37

What is a major limitation of analogue experiments?

Answer 37

• researchers can never be sure the environment created in the lab is representative of the real world
  -animal cruelty

Question 38

epidemiological studies:

Answer 38

reveal how often a problem like a psych disorder occurs in a particular population

Question 39

What is an advantage of epidemiological studies?

Answer 39

they help identify groups that are more at risk for certain disorders

Question 40

incidence

Answer 40

number of new cases that emerge in a pop

Question 41

prevalence

Answer 41

total number of cases in a population during a given amount of time