research methods - year 2, more consepts

Question 1

what does the cognitive approach believe and focus on

Answer 1

that internal mental processes should be studied scientifically
it focuses on cognitive functions like memory, perception, thinking. these are studied indirectly by making inferences based on out behaviour

Question 2

what is validity

Answer 2

the extent to which the observed effects are genuine, is it measuring what it is supposed to measure

Question 3

how can we assess validity

Answer 3

face validity: does it appear to be researching what its supposed to
concurrent validity: comparing your test to a well established test and see if they produce the same result - the tests must have a correlation coefficient of +.8

Question 4

how can we improve validity

Answer 4

questionnaires: incorporating a lie scale to control the effects of social desirability bias
interviews/case studies: using direct quotes die to the qualitative data, using triangulation which just refers to using a number of sources as evidence eg diaries, family members etc
observations: using covert observations and ensuring clear behavioural categories
experiments: using a control group, standardising procedures, using single and double blind procedures

Question 5

what is reliability

Answer 5

a measure of consistency - how much it produces the same results when repeated

Question 6

how can we assess reliability

Answer 6

test-retest: administering the same test/questionnaire after some time to seen if the results correlate
inter-observer reliability: observers should conduct their observations in teams and ensure their data correlates

the correlation MUST be +.8 to be reliable

Question 7

how can we improve relaibility

Answer 7

questionnaires: questions should be rewritten or deselected, ensure they aren’t ambiguous or confusing - consider closed questions
interviews: again no leading or ambiguous questions - consider a structured interview
observations: operationalise behavioural categories and are measurable and self-evident
experiments: ensure use of standardised procedures

Question 8

what is the role of the unconscious

Answer 8

1. to store drives and instincts that have effects on out behaviour
2. to protect us from traumas through repression

Question 9

what is the role of schema in our childhood and adulthood

Answer 9

schema are our mental packages of information and ideas that are developed through experience
babies have some innate schema such as suckling or grasping
as we age our schemas become more sophisticated and developed such as our concepts of things eg psychology, what happens in a restaurant etc

Question 10

who did sperry research

Answer 10

11 people who had their corpus callosum cut in a split brain surgery to ease epilepsy symptoms. this means that their hemispheres couldn’t communicate with eachother

Question 11

what did sperry find

Answer 11

when an image was shown to their RVF (LH) they could tell us verbally what was seen. they couldn’t do this if the object was shown to theyr LVF (RH) because theres no language centers in the right hemisphere. they could however select the object using their left hand (RH). they couldn’t see the objects and had to use touch recognition only.

Question 12

what does ‘levels of measurement’ refer to

Answer 12

its just data types, nominal ordinal interval

Question 13

how can we calculate the value of S in the sign test

Answer 13

in the table data set:
identify all the data that has improved/ gone from 0-2 etc and label as +.
identify all the data that has decreased/ gone from 2-0 etc and label as -.
identify all the data with no difference and disregard it.

identify which value, the + or - is the lowest so if you had 3+ and 5-, you would choose 3.

this is the S value so S=3

Question 14

what are biological rhythms and what are they governed by

Answer 14

changes in body processes or behaviours that repeat regularly in a cycle
they are governed by 1. endogenous pacemakers which are our internal body clocks and 2. exogenous zeitgbers which are environmental impacts

Question 15

what are the three biological rhythms and what do they all mean

Answer 15

circadian rhythms: 24 hour cycles
infradian rhythms: take longer than 24 hours to complete eg menstrual cycle, SAD
ultradian rhythms: take less than 24 hours to complete eg stages of sleep

Question 16

what are theoretical models and computer models

Question 17

what is maslows hierarchy of needs

Answer 17

bottom to top:
physiological needs
safety+security
love+belonging
self esteem
self actualisation

Question 18

explain the self, congruence and conditions of worth

Answer 18

self: how we perceive ourselves
ideal self: how we want to be ideally
congruence: how in line these two are

conditions of worth refers to parents having conditions tied to the love for their child

we can increase congruence by using client centred therapy, aka counselling, the therapist must have unconditional positive regard (because they didnt have it in childhood) to help them heal and cope with everyday life

Question 19

where is the cell body in a motor, relay and sensory neuron

Answer 19

motor and relay - usually inn the dendrite
sensory - outside, coming off the centre of the axon

Question 20

what messages and in what direction do motor and sensory neurons carry

Answer 20

motor: connect the CNS to muscles and glands aka effectors
sensory: from the PNS to the CNS

Question 21

what does the nervous system do and what two parts does it split into

Answer 21

it collects processes and responds to environmental stimuli
coordinates the working of different organs and cells in the body

splits into the CNS (brain and spinal chord) and PNS (our neuron network)(ANS and SNS)

Question 22

what does the brain and spinal chord do in the CNS

Answer 22

brain: centre of put conscious awareness, its highly developed in humans and divided into 2 hemispheres
spinal chord: an extension of this, its responsible for reflex actions and passing messages

Question 23

what are the 3 pairs of observations and what do they all mean

Answer 23

naturalistic and controlled - natural environment vs lab environment

covert and overt - participants don’t know they’re being observed vs they do know

participant and nonparticipant - observer becomes part of the group vs is outside the group

Question 24

what are the strengths and weaknesses of time and event sampling

Answer 24

time: good when behaviour is frequent so reduced the amount of observations to be made however the sample may be unrepresentative as a whole because you miss certain behaviours

event: good for infrequent behaviour that you may miss in time sampling however its more time consuming and requires acute concentration

Question 25

what age do freuds psychosexual stages happen

Answer 25

oral 0-1
anal 1-3
phallic 3-6
latency 7+
genital 12+

Question 26

what is the focus of pleasure in the psychosexual stages

Answer 26

oral - mouth, breast
anal - anal, faeces
phallic - genitals, oedipus/electra complex happens here
latency - previous stages are repressed
genital - sexual desire is conscious, fixations arise

Question 27

what are the sections in a report and what do they all contain

Answer 27

abstract - short summary including aims/hypothesis, methods results and conclusions
introduction - literature review of research in to that field
method - design, sample, materials, procedure, ethics
results - descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, raw data
discussion - summary of results in verbal form
referencing - full details of citations made