Research Methods Flashcards
What is Dogmatism?
Holding on to beliefs
People like that are harder to sway because:
- It’s not just about the information, it’s also about identity (sense of self) and belonging (to a group - social aspect)
- Ego (admitting we are wrong)
- Might be scary (think about the cave)
What is empiricism?
Belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired
through observation (All about observation). This fits right into the scientific method.
What is the Empirical method?
A set of of rules and techniques for observation. Methods of observation and methods of explanation must be used. (Think pictures horse, is it flying? Important to define terms (explanation))
Why is research so important?
- Research is a mandatory process in validating claims.
- Without research, we would only have intuition and assumptions (we don’t want to rely on opinions)
- Psychology is a science,
-study and testing
- further investigate claims
- provide verification and support of the findings - Funding!
example of the hole in forehead of a skull: a stepping stone, people used to believed that trephination, allowed evil spirits to leave the body, thus, curing mental illness and other disorders —> observation of those skulls showed that those people survived, since the skin around the hole looked like it healing. At the time this practice was valid and helped people, but today it has been proven to be false.
What are two types of scientific reasoning?
- Deductive reasoning: results are predicted based on a general premise (so we go from something general to something specific). For example: all cats have claws. Because Bibiche is a cat, he has claws.
- Inductive reasoning: conclusions are drawn from observations (we go from specific to general). It’s less certain since it relies on observations. For example: SPECIFIC: Jusqu’a présent, le soleil s’est levé chaque jour.
GENERAL: le Soleil se lèvera tous les jours.
What are 3 principles about the appropriate relationship between ideas and evidence?
Theory, rule of parsimony and hypothesis.
What is a theory?
Hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomena
What is a hypothesis?
Falsifiable prediction made by a theory.
For example: God exists can’t be a hypothesis since it cannot be proven wrong (nor right)
What is the rule of parsimony?
Simplest theory that explains all the evidence is the best one (simplest meaning the one requiring the fewest assumptions, doesn’t mean it’s always correct, but it encourages avoiding unnecessary complexity ). For example, you hear a noise at night: It’s the wind, vs someone broke into the house.
How does the cycle of hypothesis and empirical observations work? Give an example.
- Scientists form ideas (theories/hypotheses) through deductive reasoning. (example: cognitive-behavioural therapy is effective in reducing symptoms of anxiety, so that would mean individuals with generalized anxiety disorder who go through CBT will show a reduction in their anxiety levels after treatment.
- Hypotheses are then tested through empirical observations and scientists form conclusions through inductive reasoning.
- These conclusions lead to new theories and hypotheses (or more broad generalizations).
- Psychological research relies on both inductive and deductive reasoning.
LOOK AT IMAGE DIAPO 7
What does the scientific method of research include? Draw mind map.
It includes proposing hypotheses, conduction research, and creating or modifying theories based on results.
DIAPO 8
Are Freud’s theories scientifically sound?
- Many of the specifics of Freud’s theories, such as his division of the mind into id, ego, and superego, have fallen out of favor in recent decades because they are not falsifiable. In broader strokes, his views set the stage for much of psychological thinking today, such as the unconscious nature of the majority of psychological processes (dans le sens que mm si ca ne passe pas le test de la demarcate scientifique, it doesn’t mean it’s useless).
My opinion:
theory of personality - superego - instilled in us from a very young age, so we could not really test this theory since it would not be ethical to isolate a kid from the rest of the world.
An other opinion:
We could try conducting an experiment by simplifying the theory: study urges and immediate gratification, but the problem is, once we do that it’s no longer Freud’s theory, since his theory implies that it has to be completely unconscious.
What are 5 approaches to research?
Clinical or case studies, naturalistic observation, surveys, archival research and longitudinal and cross-sectional research
What are clinical or case studies? Give an example.
- Clinical or case studies focus on one individual.
- The studied individual is typically in a extreme or unique psychological circumstance that differentiates them for the general public.
Examples:
the guy who lost apart of his frontal lobe.
CLIVE WEARING:
Developed anterograde and retrograde amnesia, which is the loss of past memories and the inability to form new memories (one of the most severe cases of amnesia ever recorded). Still kept a deep emotional connection with his wife (could remember and recognize her). He was also still able to play piano (muscle memory/ procedural memory). Because of this case we got to learn that there are different types of memories.
What is one advantage and one desadvantage of case studies?
A: allows for a lot of insight into a case.
D: Difficult to generalize results to a larger population
What is naturalistic observation? Give an example.
The observation of behavior in its natural setting (par un moyen: taking notes (removes the feeling of performance), videotaping….)
Example: the video showing attachement to mother (mother leaves child with strangers to see how he would react, and then comes back to see how he would react). The other person (stranger) is not taking notes or anything, all her attention is focused on the scene.
What are some pros and cons? Give a way traduce the effect of the con.
PROS:
* Most effective and accurate to
study genuine behaviors.
* High degree of ecological validity
* If done correctly, any feeling of performance or anxiety of the studied individuals is eliminated.
CON:
* Observer bias - when observations may be skewed to align with observer expectations. (example, a guy goes to the park to study parental behavior. He probably already has his thoughts about the matter, so he could unconsciously spend more time watching a certain group of people , and even interpret their behavior in the way that matches their vision).
- Establishment of clear criteria to observe should help eliminate observer bias (think of a teacher watching students’ presentation, but still having to rely on criteria for her evaluation to be fair and as objective as possible)
What happens if someone knows they are being observed? Give an example.
- The Hawthorne Effect: people’s tendency to behave differently when they become aware that they are being observed.
For example: hard to conduct experiments with psych students, since we tend to know what the observer is going for.
What are surveys?
A list of questions that can be delivered in many ways:
- Paper-and-pencil
- Electronically
- Verbally
What is an archival research?
Uses past records or data sets (electronically or hardcopy) to answer various research questions, or to search for interesting patterns or relationships.
What are some pros (2) and cons of surveys (3) ?
PROS:
- larger simple of people, which allows better generalizability
- Get answers faster
CONS:
- People might lie
- Social desirability bias (even if anonymous) once again, especially with psych students. EXAMPLE: study on sex life: men would always inflate the numbers VS women who would make them smaller - so researcher told them they would be connected to a lie detector (not true) - the answers made more sense.
- People are not always self-aware (think about personality tests)
What is a cross-sectional research? Give an example.
It’s a study that compares multiple segments of a population at a single time (such as different age groups).
EXAMPLE: a study examines the relationship between age and cognitive performance by taking different age groups.
