research methods in psychology Flashcards
what is structuralism
Wilhelm Wundt
first school of psychology and focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components
what is functionalism
William James
stressed the purpose/ function of natural processes
emphasis on overt, observable behaviour
suggests that the mind’s primary purpose is to help humans adapt to their environment
what is the British psychological society
founded 1901
governing body for psychology in the UK
what is the American psychological association
founded 1892
what is psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud
interested in unconscious structures of the mind
need a trained psychoanalysis to interpret
highly critiqued
what is behaviourism
a school of thought that focuses on observable behaviours and how to modify them
what are different types of behaviourism
- classical conditioning (Pavlov dog and bell)
- operant conditioning (skinners pigeons, reinforcing and punishment)
- social learning theory
what is genetic epistemology
jean piaget
origin of knowledge in child development
tracking development of cognitive states in an empirical scientific manner
what is humanistic/ positive psychology
Abraham Maslow
emphasises the positive side of human experience and our potential
what is social psychology
the study of how people’s minds and behaviours are affected by others
highlighted the need for ethical guidelines in psychology
what are some topics researched in social psychology
obedience
deindividuation
segregation and social identity
what is psychometrics
a psychological measurement
eg intelligence (Flynn effect) and personality (five factor model)
what is cognitive psychology
studies the mental processes that affect behaviour
attention, language, memory etc.
eg information processing theory
what is eugenics
scientifically inaccurate (historical) theory that humans can be improved through selective breeding of populations
argued against immigration from “inferior races”
research used to support forced sterilization and Nazi policies
what is conversion therapy
“treatments” for homosexuality
classified as a mental disorder
what is a null and an alternative hypothesis
null hypothesis: the claim that the effect being studied does not exist ( alcohol does not effect reaction time)
alternative hypothesis: prediction that there is a relationship between two or more variables being studied (alcohol increases reaction times)
what does falsifiable mean
all hypothesis need to be falsifiable
means they can be proven false through an experiment or observation
what is a one tailed/ directional hypothesis
specifies direction
eg. alcohol increases reaction time, alcohol decreases reaction time
what is a two tailed/ non-directional hypothesis
leaves direction open
eg. alcohol will have an effect on reaction time
what is scientific theory
comprehensive explanation supported by a vast body of evidence
what are experimental and observational design
experimental => DV and IV, measures effect of one on the other, cause and effect relationship
observational => use observed, measurable variables, nothing is manipulated
what is a within subject design
repeated measures design
all participants are exposed to all conditions of the independent variable
less variability
needs smaller sample size (N)
what is a between subject design
independent designs
different participants are exposed to different levels of independent variables
need large N
variability between samples
what is counter balancing
a technique used to deal with order effects when using a repeated measures design by randomly varying the order of conditions or treatments
what is the Hawthorne effect
type of participant bias
the alteration of behaviour by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed
what is correlation and the two types
shows the relationship between two variables, no cause and effect, but association
positive => one score increases so does the other
negative => one score increases other decreases
what is the best method for obtaining a representative sample
random sampling
what are the different types of sampling
random
convenience/ opportunity
assigned
what does reliability mean
if its reliable if you repeat it you will get the same results
replication
what does validity mean
if it is valid it is measuring what it is supposed to do accurately
what is the relationship between reliability and validity
you can have reliability without validity but not validity without reliability
what is null hypothesis significance testing (NHST)
to check weather a statistical relationship in a sample reflects a real relationship in the population or is just due to chance
what is the p-value
the probability of the observed data under the null hypothesis
if <0.5 = statistically significant, reject null hypothesis
if >0.5 = not statistically significant, don’t reject null hypothesis
what is a type 1 error/ false positive
rejecting the null hypothesis when it’s actually true
what is a type 2 error/ false negative
a researcher incorrectly accepts a false null hypothesis
what is a familywise error
higher probability of making more false positive results, the more tests you run simultaneously
what are some questionable research practices
p- hacking
HARKing
sharp- shooter fallacy
what is p-hacking
failing to report all of a studies dependant measures
failing to report all of a studies conditions
selectively reporting studies that worked
stopping collecting data because you found what you were looking for
what is HARKing
hypothesis after results known
reporting unexpected finding as if been predicted from the start
what is sharp-shooter fallacy
when someone cherry picks specific data points or patterns after the fact and then claims that those patterns were meaningful or significant
what is re registration
writing down what you plan to do and your prediction before data collection commences
what leads to publication bias
studies submitted for publication after results have been analysed
what is the file drawer problem
describes the tendency of researchers to publish positive results more frequently than negative results
what are falsification and fabrication
falsification = manipulation/ distortion of existing data (cherry picking, p-hacking)
fabrication = most serious types, making up data that doesn’t exist
what is a high profile cases of academic fraud
MMR and autism
what does non-sequitur mean
type of bad science
an error in how an argument is structured
why do people commit fraud
to perverse incentives
- publication
- funding
- promotion/tenure
what is secondary analysis
using previously existing data toe examine a new research question
what are the benefits and challenges to large open data sets
benefits:
- efficient way to answer research question
- access to wide range of sample
- ethical
weaknesses:
- untidy data
- different file formats
what is literate programming
a programming paradigm that combines code with explanations in natural language to create more transparent and maintainable programs
what is data repository
a centralized storage space for data
what is team science
a collaborative approach to research that brings together multiple groups of researchers to address a challenge from different perspectives
what is a cross sectional study
studying 2+ groups at one time point
(cost effective & quick, difficult to compare different age groups)
what is a longitudinal study
studying the same group through of time
what is cohort (longitudinal research)
when a sample share a defining characteristic
can be very large and representative
what is the cross generational problem
skew because of generational specific factors
what are cohort effects
different cohorts may have fundamental differences in some characteristic that can influence your findings
what are practice/ test effects
problems with longitudinal studies
improvement may be due to practice
not a difference in intelligence
what are cross lagged correlations
a statistical technique used to analyse the relationship between two or more variables over time
what is an accelerated longitudinal study
a research method that involves recruiting multiple cohorts of participants at different ages to study developmental changes over time
what is selective survival
challenge with studying older age or certain health condition
what is attrition
loss of participants from sample over time
what is a prospective study
a research method that involves following a group of people over time and collecting data on them as their circumstances change
what is internal validity
the extent to which a study’s findings unambiguously establish cause-effect relationship between the IV and DV
what is external validity
an extent to which a study’s finding generalise to other settings and samples
what is ecological validity
a type of external validity referring to how findings generalise to different settings
what is triangulation
getting evidence from multiple types of study (different models for the same thing)
what do field and lab studies investigate
field: what does happen
lab: what can happen
what is the day reconstruction method
at the end of the day participants recall their experiences
reduces respondent burden, only once a day
can potentially reduce accuracy: recall bias
what is the experience sampling method
collect data about a sample of daily experiences
participants report their thoughts and feeling at specific times across the day
what is ambulatory physiological monitoring
a technique that involves using portable devices to record physiological data, such as heart rate, rhythm, or blood pressure, over a period of time
what are intervention studies
evaluate the impact of an intervention (treatment, programme, activity) on some outcome measure of interest
used to evaluate psychological treatments
what is a randomised controlled trial (intervention studies)
considered best way to evaluate intervention
- must be a relevant control condition for comparison
- participants must be randomly assigned to treatment/ control conditions
what is a cross over study
participants complete both conditions one after the other
when aren’t RCTs possible
Quasi-experimental studies
what are Quasi-experimental studies
still comparing a treatment and control but nor randomly allocated
appropriate when there are practical or ethical barriers to random allocation
what are key outcome measures for environmental studies
efficacy: can it work
effectiveness: does it work
efficiency: is it cost effective
what are feasibility studies
before investing resources in a full scale intervention study, researchers may asses weather the proposed intervention is feasible
evaluates acceptability of participants and practicality
what do you need to monitor in a intervention study
adherence and compliance
have the participants followed the intervention as indented
