Psychological Research Flashcards
ensures that results are empirical and involves tangible evidence that can be observed repeatedly
Scientific Method
tentative and testable statement about the relationship between two or more variable
hypothesis
well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena
theory
What are the 4 key components of the scientific method?
fairness, verifiability, predictability, and falsifiable
Which study strategies have low effectiveness?
highlighting, rereading, long practice, and summarizing
Which study strategies have moderate effectiveness?
mnemonic devices, mental imagery, and interval practice
Which study strategies have high effectiveness?
distributed practice & practice testing
the process by which researchers working with participants describe their research project and obtain the participants’ consent to participate in the research
informed consent
What are some types of information that may be included when discussing informed consent?
requirements, length (time), tasks to be completed
What does IACUC stand for?
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
What does the IACUC do?
reviews proposals for research involving animals to ensure that research animals are treated humanely and inspects research facilities
used to describe general or specific behaviors and attributes that are observed and measure
descriptive research
What are the categories of psychology research?
descriptive, correlational, and experimental
test whether a relationship exists between two or more variables
correlational research
test a hypothesis to determine cause and effect relationships
experimental research
What are the types of descriptive research?
clinical/case study, naturalistic observation, survey, archival research, cross-sectional research, longitudinal research
observational research study focusing on one or few people
clinical/case study
observation of behavior in its natural setting
naturalistic observation
list of questions to be answered by research participants, allowing researchers to collect data from a large number of people
survey
using past records/data sets to answer various research questions or to search for interesting patterns or relationships
archival research
compares multiple segments of a population at a single time
cross-sectional research
studies in which the same group of individuals are surveyed or measured repeatedly over an extended period of time
longitudinal research
What are the 4 issues with descriptive research?
may not be possible to generalize results, observer bias, inter-rater reliability, and cannot test relationships between variables
when observations are skewed to align with observer expectations
observer bias
a measure of agreement among observers on how they record and classify a particular event
inter-rater reliability
there is a relationship between two or more variables, which can be positive, negative, or random
correlation
What are the limits of correlational research?
Correlation does not prove cause and effect and there may be confounding variables
an extraneous factor that interferes with the relationship between independent and dependent variables
confounding variable
What are some key components of an experimental design?
at least 2 groups (experimental & control), random samples, placebos, and random assignment
Why do we need an operational definition?
to help people understand the results and to ensure that an experiment could be replicated
_____ variables influence change in the _____ variable.
independent; dependent
where researchers AND participants don’t know which group received the treatment
double blind study
Why are double blind studies beneficial?
prevents experimenter bias and creates control for the placebo effect in participants
influences people’s expectations or beliefs on their experience in a given situation
placebo effect
