Psychology study methods Flashcards
Define empiricism
the belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired thru observation
What is the scientific method?
a procedure for using empirical evidence to establish facts
Define theories
theories are hypothetical explanations of natural phenomena
Define hypothesis
a falsifiable prediction made by a theory
What is the empirical method?
a set of rules and techniques for observation
What is an operational definition?
a description of a property in measurable terms
Define construct validity
the extent to which the thing being measured adequately characterizes the property
What are the two key features of a good *detector?
- power
- relability
“a good detector detects differences or changes in the magnitude of a property when they DO exist (power), but not when they DON’T (reliability)
Define demand characteristics
the aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think someone else wants or expects
What is naturalistic observation?
a technique for gathering scientific information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments
what is observer bias?
the tendency for observers’ expectations to influence both what they believe they observed and what they actually observed
What is a double blind study?
a study in which neither the researcher nor the participant knows how the participants are expected to behave
What is empiricism?
empiricism is the belief that the best way to understand the world is to observe it firsthand. It is only in the past few centuries that people have begun to systematically collect and evaluate evidence to test the accuracy of their beliefs about the world
What does the scientific method involve?
- developing a theory that gives rise to a falsifiable hypothesis
- making observations that serve to test that hyothesis - a hypothesis can never be proven true
- the methods of psychology are special because human beings are more complex, variable, and reactive than almost anything else that scientists study
What does measurement involve?
- defining a property in measurable terms (operational definition)
- using a device that can detect that property
What makes a good definition (in measurement)
a good definition has construct validity (the condition being measure adequately characterizes the property)
What are demand characteristics?
demand characteristics are aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think someone else wants or expects them to
How do psychologists reduce demand characteristics?
- observing participants in their natural habitats
- hiding their expectations from the participant
What is observer bias?
observer bias is the tendency for observers’ expectations to influence both what they belief they observed and what actually happened
…. double- blind studies reduce this
When are variables considered correlated?
if the patterns are synchronized, then the variables are correlated
correlations allow us to predict the value of one variable from knowledge of the value of the other
Why can’t we say two variables are causually related?
even when we observe a correlation between two variables, we can’t conclude that they are causally related bcuz a “third variable” problem could be causing them both
How do psychologists reduce the “third variable problem”?
experiments solve this third-variable problem by manipulating an independent variable, randomly assigning participants to the conditions that this manipulation creates, and then measuring a dependent variable
*measurements are then compared across conditions
What is an internally valid experiment?
an internally valid experiment establishes the likelihood of a causal relationship between variables as they were defined among the participants who were studied
When is an experiment externally valid?
when an experiment mimics the real world, it is externally valid
What is the function of random sampling?
random sampling allows researchers to generalize from their samples to the populations from which the samples were drawn
What is replication?
replication is an attempt to reproduce a result by using the same procedures and sampling from the same population as the original study
Why i thinking critically abt evidence difficult?
thinking critically abt evidence is difficult because people have a natural tendency to see what they expect and want to see, and to consider what they see but not what they don’t see
How are studies ensured to be ethical?
institutional review boards ensure that the rights of human beings who participate in scientific research are based on the principles of respect for persons, beneficence, and justice
How do psychologists uphold the ethical code of psychology?
- informed consent
- freedom from coercion
- protection from harm
- risk-benefit analysis
- avoiding deception
- keeping information confidential
