RDA Test 1 Flashcards
What is a between participants design and what are the pros and cons of this design?
Definition: Where participants contribute to only one condition and we compare between different groups of people
Pros:
- Less likely to observed fatigue effects, thus participants are more likely to perform at optimum levels
- Less chance of order effects
- Necessary for making some comparisons
Cons:
- Need a larger sample size
- Higher inter-participant variation
- Problems with group allocation – e.g. one group may have a higher IQ than the other
- Expensive and time-consuming
What is a within participants design and what are the pros and cons of this design?
Definition: Where participants contribute to more than one condition and we explore whether there is a change within that participant
Pros:
- Controls for inter-individual differences
- Limits the effects of extraneous and confounding variables
- Smaller sample size
Cons:
- Prone to order effects – as participants repeat tasks they can naturally improve
- Fatigue effects – participants may get tired/bored if they are participating for long periods of time
What is qualitative data?
Typically referred to as ‘text-based’ this approach emphasizes the analysis of meaning as not being absolute and requires an understanding of social context. One can therefore not generalize to all people all of the time, or offer simple or reductionist explanations. Dealing with qualities and offering complex explanations of behaviour.
What is quantitative data?
An approach that favours empirical measurement of behaviour to establish patterns and laws that can be universal and therefore generalisable. Laws are mostly reduced to the individual level and omit social context or influence. Dealing with quantities and offering simple explanations of behaviour.
What does random assignment in experimental research involve?
Assigning participants to groups randomly
What is the purpose of a control group in an experiment?
To provide a baseline for comparison
What statistical measure assesses the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables?
Pearson correlation coefficient
What does operationalization involve in psychological research?
Defining abstract concepts in measurable terms
Which measure of central tendency is most affected by extreme values or outliers?
Mean
In an experimental study, what is the role of the placebo group?
To receive an inactive substance without therapeutic effects
What does a p-value in statistical analysis indicate?
The probability of obtaining the observed results by chance
What are ‘WEIRD’ populations?
‘WEIRD’ stands for White, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic. Usually obtained when recruiting university students who have a specific demographic that is not necessarily the same as the general population.
Write a null hypothesis for the scenario below:
“A Psychologist investigated the impact of meditation on stress reduction. Each participant serves as their own control, experiencing both the meditation and a control condition (listening to a podcast). Stress levels were measured before and after each condition.”
There will be no difference in measured stress level changes between the meditation and control conditions
List some of the methods used in Psychology.
- Case study
- Psychometrics
- Neuroscience
- Introspection
- Observation
- Questionnaires
- Clinical
- Psycholinguistics
- Experimental
- Thematic analysis
- Ethnography
- Interviews
- Animal studies
- Discourse analysis
What is the belief in Deontological philosophy?
The correctness of an action lies in itself, not its consequences
E.g. lying is always wrong, even if it produces a good outcome
What is the belief in Consequentialism?
The correctness of an action is determined by its intended consequences
E.g. lying is good if it is done for the ‘right’ reasons (like protecting a person from harm)
What are costs and benefits?
Costs are the (potentially) negative consequences of the research – usually for the PPs involved
Benefits are the (potentially) positive consequences of the research for the PPs or (more usually) for society
What are some characteristics of cost-benefit analysis?
- Provides a framework for making ethical decisions
- Involves subjective judgments about costs and benefits
- Consequences cannot always be anticipated e.g. Zimbardo, Milgram
What are the two broad sets of guidelines in respect to ethical behaviour?
BPS Code of ethics and conduct - Determines professional behaviour as a psychologist
BPS Code of human research ethics - Determines ethical decision making when planning and conducting research with human participants
What are the 4 main principles for research listed by the BPS?
- Respect for the autonomy, privacy and dignity of individuals and communities
- Scientific integrity
- Social Responsibility
- Maximizing benefit and minimizing harm
What are the 3 key qualitative approaches and what do they involve?
- Discursive - Looks at how language (and visual material) are used to construct social realities
- Phenomenological - Involves the employment of a thick description of the subjective lived experience of the subject
- Ethnographic - Involves immersion within one’s chosen field of study
What are surveys?
Tools that allow us to ask questions and (typically) get a numeric response and can measure a range of things such as attitudes, opinions, but also variables that are less easy to measure using other methods: e.g. intelligence, personality, etc
What is psychometrics?
Any type of measure that has been developed that measures unobservable constructs
What is psychometric development based on?
True Score Theory (also called latent trait theory)
What are self-report questionnaires and what do they involve?
A way to quantify an aspect of the self and used to further understand behaviour and inner experience.
Involves a set of statements which are responded to on a scale
Responses are scored
- Individually
- For a group – e.g. to separate extroverts from introverts
What is reliability?
The ability to measure a construct consistently or that it has a low error rate