Research Methods Lecture Flashcards
our perception is ___ from others
unique
why is psychology a hub science
it bridges natural science (biology, neuroscience) and social sciences (sociology, economics) together
what are some of the assumptions/biases in western psychology
- individuality = thoughts and behaviours are independent of their social environment
- Experiment-based empiricism = when ppl think that experiments are enough to understand something
- Quantification = to understand something by always measuring it
- objectivity = that knowlegde and observations can be recorded without bias
- nomothetic approach = coming up with principles that govern human behaviour
- male dominance = historically only men were contributing to psych
who created voluntarism
wilhelm wundt
- founding experimental psychology
- that we have voluntary control over what we pay attention to or perceive
who is emma barker
the first canadian woman to get a phd in psych
who created structuralism and what does it mean
Edward Titchener
understanding the universe around us by using elemental compounds like electrons, protons, neutrons
- breaks down mental conscious into smaller pieces like feelings and sensations
- it quickly fell out of favour bc it didnt explain mental disorders, highly subjective meaning that the results varied by person and it only relied on personal experience, the rise of functionalism moved ppl away from structuralism
who created functionalism and what is it
william james
- influenced by darwin and natural selection about brains evolving
- focused on explaining why we think and feel
- watched behavioural observation
critics: less experimental, hard to measure the adaption
who created behaviouralism and what is it
John Watson and B.F Skinner and Ivan Pavlov
said that psych should study observable behaviour and not the mind
- said that behaviour was shaped by the environment
- Pavlov’s dogs (salivation - learning)
- Skinners operant conditioning
critics: ignores mental processes + emotions + free will
who creared humanism and what is it
Carl Rogers (therapy) and Abraham Maslow
- positive psych, helped people be the best versions of themselves, focusing on personal growth and self-actualization
- used therarpy, self reporting
who created gestalt psychology and what is it
max wertheimer
school of thought that emphasizes that the mind perceives objects as whole patterns rather than just the sum of their individual parts
- we separate objects from their background, we group similar looking objects together, objects closer in proximity are grouped together, we prefer continuous patterns rather than abrupt changes, we fill in missing gaps to complete a image, objects moving in the same direction are grouped together
Critics: explains perception but not the brains mechanism, based on observation and not controlled experiment, no deep cognitive or emotional processes
who created psychoanalysis and what is it
sigmund freud
behaviour is influenced by unconscious desires and childhood experiences
critics: unscientific, hard to test empirically, overemphasis on sexuality
what and who created cognitive psychology
Jean Piaget
- the mind works like a computer, processing information, memory, perception and problem solving
- uses experiments and MRI - brain imaging
critics: ignores emotion and social context
who created and what is biopsychology/neuroscience
Roger Sperry and Michael Gazzaniga
said that behaviour is driven by brain structures, neurotransmitters, genetics, focusing on the biology part of behaviour
- uses MRI and EEG
critics: say that it is reductionist approach and it oversimplifies behaviour to biology alone
who created and what is evolutionary psychology
David Buss
mental traits evolved for suvivral and reproduction
critics: say that it is hard to test evolutionary hypotheses
who created and what is sociocultural psychology
Lev Vygotsky and Albert Bandura
behaviour is shaped by social interactions, cultures and norms
they use observational studies and cross-cultural research
critics: overlooks the biological aspect
what do scientific theories usually help with
explain the relationship between 2 or more variables
what are the 3 criterion that a scientific theory needs
- needs to be testable - currenly using avaliable research techniques
needs to falsifiable - must be possible to make 2. the propostiion to be false, even if that observation has not been made - parsimonious - simplificity
what is a variable
a characteristic or condition that changes or has different values for different individuals
what is an independent variable
a variable that is manipulated in order to see its impact on the dependent variable
what is the dependent variable
a variable that is measured in order to see how it is impacted by the manipulated independent variable
what does it mean to have a conceptual definition vs operational definitions
conceptual: dictonary or textbook definition which explains the meaning of the term
ex: agression - the intentional behaviour to harm someone
operational: definitions of theoretical constructs that are stated in term of concrete, observable procedures - something that can be measured like height/weight which is easy to measure and sometimes they are difficult to measure and cannot be done directly
what are constructs
INTERNAL characteristics that cannot be directly observed but are useful for describing and explaining behaviour
what are the three big categories of research methods
- descriptive methods - single variable interested
- correlational methods - associations between 2+ variables
- experimental methods - cause and effect relationships between 2+ variables
explain descriptive methods
involves the systematic observation and classification - not looking for relationships just information from:
surveys, focus groups, case studies (focuses on a specific person or small group), observational research
what are the strengths and weaknesses of descriptive approaches
STRENGTHS
case studies and observational research can provide important insight and stimulate further reseaech to test specific hypotheses
- surveys = large amounts of info fast and quickly
- focus groups/interviews can provide rich and detailed information from open ended questions
WEAKNESSES
- Hawthorne effect - when people know they are being watched they change
- self-report bias - trying to be socially accepted so they change
- the observer may have personal biases so they need multiple observes to cancel out bias
- participants may chose to better or worsen the hypothesis
what are the types of observation
- naturalistic observation” observers do not change or alter ongoing behaviour - not intentionally
- participant observation - active observation where the research is actively involved int he situation
- laboratory observation - systematic observations are made in lab settings to mimic real world situations
explain correlational methods
involved examining how variables are related WITHOUT manipulating any of the variables
- needs a single group of participants and needs at least 2 variables
- this allows researchers to make claims about associations between variables - these associations are not causal
EX: seeing is laptops become a distraction to students in class as they multitask - is it associated with lower GPA?
- they aren’t manipulating anything just collecting data and seeing how getting off task related to GPA
what are the types of correlations you can have in correlational research
no relationship
positive relationship = variables move in the same direction (the increase of V1, increases V2)
negative relationship = variables are inverse of each other (the increase of a variable, decreases the other variable)
what is a correlation coefficient
is it a number that explains the strength and direction of correlation
0 = no relationship
large negative = strong negative correlation (-100)
large positive = strong positive correlation (+100)
T/F correlation = causation
false
correlation studies do not tell us whether one variables causes the change in the other
there can be directionality and a third variable in play
multitasking on the laptop may not be the only reason why they get a low GPA - other family issues or study methods
explain experimental methods
involves manipulating an independent variable in order to determine its impact on a dependent variable (which we measure)
- they are tightly controlled and take place in a lab
- participants are randomly assigned to certain conditions in the lab - like randomly assigning people for the placebo or real caffeine pill
what are confound variables
anything that may unintentionally vary along with the independent variable
- anything that may weaken validity
- is there anything else that might be different between the experimental conditions - like if your measuring studying, (alone, music, desk)
- confounds are the reason why we cannot make causal claims
what is random assignment vs random sample
random assigment = each participant gets an equal chance of being assigned any conditions in the study = allows different groups in ur research are equivalent
- flipping a coin to assign participants for placebo or caffeine
- reduces selection bias like intelligence, skin colour
random sample = each member of the population you are interested in has an equal chance of being chosen or participate - prevents bias or causal claims
- picking 100 random students at school
what is a double blind experiment
where the participants and the experimenters are unware of which condition the participants are in
- unaware if someone is has had the placebo or not
what is a single blind experiment
where the researchers know but the participants don’t know whether they got the placebo or not
what is the difference between population and sample
population = the group that u want to be able to generalize your findings to
sample = the group of individuals form this population who are part of your study
what are quasi experiments
experiemental design where random assignment is not possible
- they do not undergo random assignment
- they work with pre-existing groups
- there is a risk of potential confounds - this limits the claims that the researchers can make
- it is helpful foe studying variables that raise ethical issues for random assignment
what are field experiments
experiments that occur in real world setting instead of the lab
- random assignment is possible but they have less control over the stufy
- ppl are usually unaware that they are in the study
- water score mailing out - getting a happy face or sad face - will they change their intake of water
difference between reliability and validity
relability = consistency of a test or measurement
validity = how valid are the measures used in the study - how accurately have the variables been operationalized
what is interrater raliability and test-retest reliability
interrater = different observes, judges, researchers give consistent scores or assessments when measuring the same thing
- if all the judges give the same score or same assessment = high interrater reliability
test-retest = when a test or measurement is taken mutliple times under similar conditions
- taking the same IQ test 3 months later
- if similar scores = high test-retest reliability
what are the types of validity
construct validity = operationalizations = trust worthyness, being able to measure something
- when measuring depression thru a questionnaire - it should actually measure depression not sadness or stress
external validity = do the results generalize - the extent that the results of a study apply to real world settings and different populations
- a memory experiment done with college students in a lab may not work with adults in a noisy office
internal validity = how well has the study established a cause-and-effect relationship between variables
- how well the independent variable caused the change in the dependent without outside interference/ confounds
- are there plausible alternative explainations for the differences?
what are the 2 types of statistics
DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS
organize data into meaningful patterns and summaries
they describe data
%s, averges, correlations
INFERENTIAL STATISTICS
- allow us to extend conclusions to a broader population from a sample to a population
- allow us to make inferences based on data
- always probabilistics
- extend the graph to make predictions about the future
difference between reproductibility and replicability
reproductibility = a study can be duplicated in method and/or analysis
- needs a lot of transparency
repliciability = a study about a phenomenon which produces a similar result from a previour study of the same phenomenon
- exact replications = repeat a study as precisely as possible using the same methods and materials - testing reliability
- conceptual replication = tests the same idea but with different methods and settings - testing external validity to see if can apply to other findings
This approach to psychology arose partly as a rebellion against Freud, as well as the behaviorists.
humanistic psych = abraham maslow
- focuses on free will, personal growth, positive psych
Dr. Chen is researching the nature of memory loss among people with Alzheimer’s disease. She assesses the memory of 50 individuals from 10 different Alzheimer’s day centres across the country. In Dr. Chen’s research, what do the 50 individuals that she assesses represent?
sample
in Dr. Hassan’s research study, participants are measured with Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI) before and after taking a new antidepressant for two weeks in order to study the effect of the drug on depression. In this research, the BDI score is the:
operational definition of depression
Xiang is manipulating the length of words and measuring participants’ recall of the words following a 24-hour delay. 50 participants are given a list of short words to memorize and 50 participants are given a list of long words to memorize. what is the independent, dependent and hypothesis
IV = word length
DV = word recall
hypo = unknown for now
IV is being manipulated and the word recall is what is being tested, hence the manipulation of the length
depending on the length of the word, will the recall be easier or harder for the participants
Which of the following is not a construct?
Racial prejudice
Beauty
Calorie consumption
Subjective happiness
calorie consumption can be measure which is what they mean by construct
- you cannot measure the amount of racial hate, beauty, subjective happiness
Xuan wants to know the effect of a new drug A on depression. Which of the following is required for this experimental design?
Confound variable
Random assignment
All of the listed options are correct
Random sample
random assignment
- makes sure that participants are randomly assigned to either the control or experimental group
- this helps control confounding variables - which are uncontrolled factors to ensure that any differences between the experimental group is bc of the drug
random sample would be incorrect because it is not required strictly for a controlled experiment
random assignment is used more for cause and effect
