Research Methods in Psychology Flashcards
What is intuitive thinking?
quick thinking, fast judgementals, “being on autopilot”
What is analytical thinking?
Slow and reflective, the type of thinking that takes mental effort, trying to reason or think about a problem
What are heuristics?
Simple, efficient rules people use to form judgments and make decisions.
What are heuristics important for research design?
Research designs can help us avoid the pitfalls that can result from an over reliance on intuitive thinking and an uncritical use of heuristics
What is naturalistic observation?
Watching behavior in real-world settings without trying to manipulate the situation
What is external validity?
The extent to which our findings generalize to real-world settings. Because psychologists apply these designs to living creatures as they go about their daily business, their findings are highly likely to be relevant to everyday life(advantage)
What is internal validity?
The effects of something observed in a study or due to an independent variable and not some other factor.
Why are naturalistic designs low in internal validity?
Naturalistic designs are low in internal validity because we have no control over variables and need to wait for behavior to unfold before our eyes. Naturalistic designs can also be problematic if people know they’re being observed. (disadvantage)
What are correlational designs?
Examines the extent to which two variables are associated; is there a relationship between two variables?
What is a case study?
Examines one person or a small number of peop
What are some positive aspects of case studies?
Proof of existence: demonstrations that a given psychological phenomenon can occur
Rare phenomenon- case studies provide an opportunity to study rare or unusual phenomena that are difficult or impossible to recreate in the laboratory
Can offer useful insights that researchers can follow up on and test in systemic investigations
What are some negative aspects of case studies?
Anecdotal
Cannot infer causation
What are the two ingredients of experimental design?
Random assignment of participants to conditions sorts participants into one of two groups. Experimental vs. control group
Manipulation of an independent variable
What is an independent variable?
The variable the experimenter manipulates
What is a dependent variable?
The variable that the experimenter measures to see whether this manipulation has produced an effect
What are confounds/confounding variables?
Any variable that differs between the experimental and control groups other than the independent variable
What is the Placebo effect?
Improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement.
How do psychologists avoid the placebo effect?
To avoid placebo effects, it’s critical that patients not know whether they’re receiving “real medication” or a placebo
What is the Experimenter Expectancy Effect/ Rosenthal Effect
Occurs when researchers’ hypotheses lead them to unintentionally bias a study’s outcome. Researchers’ biases affect the results in subtle ways, al
How do psychologists avoid the Experimenter Expectancy Effect/ Rosenthal Effect?
Psychological investigators conduct experiments in a double-blind fashion. Neither researchers nor participants know who’s in the experimental or control group.
What are demand characteristics?
The cues that research participants can pick up on from an experiment that allow them to generate guesses regarding the researcher’s hypothesis. The problem is that when participants think they know how the experimenter wants them to act, they may alter their behavior accordingly.
What are positive aspects of self report measures and surveys?
Easier to measure
Low costs
Self-report measures of personality traits and behaviors often work reasonably well
What are some negative aspects of self report measures and surveys?
Answers can change based off the wording of a question
Response sets- tendencies to distort their answers to questions, often in a way that paints them in a positive light
Malingering- tendency to make ourselves appear psychologically disturbed with the aim of achieving a clear-cut personal goal
Halo effect/Horns effect
What is institutional review board (IRB)?
Evaluates all research carefully with an eye toward protecting participants against abuses
Consist of faculty members drawn from various departments within a college or university, as well as some outside members
What is informed consent?
Researchers must tell subjects what they’re getting into before asking them to participate
What happened during the Tuskegee study?
White doctors and nurses are curious about how syphilis impacts the mind and body. Studied untreated syphilis in poor black men of the south. Didn’t tell people they had syphilis. Withhold treatment to “see long term effects”. 128 men died as a result, children and wives were affected too
What are descriptive statistics?
Numerical characterizations that describe data
What are inferential statistics?
Methods that help us determine whether we can generalize findings from our sample to the full population
What is statistical significance?
Does not confirm hypotheses, provides additional evidence. There are lots of ways you can bias statistical significance
What is sharpening?
The tendency to exaggerate the gist, or central message, of a study
What is leveling?
The tendency to minimize the less central details of a study
