Summative 1 Flashcards
psychology
scientific study of individual human behaviour and mental processes (=cognition)
behaviour
observable actions
mental processes (=cognition, cognitive process)
- way to explore what is happening in someone’s mind (e.g. internal thoughts, processes, memories to recall)
- might need to have surveys, quizzes etc to gather this data
qualitative research
- exploratory
- used to gain insight into psychological phenomena of interest
- further research into the topic may also include quantitative studies with more data
- case study, naturalistic observation, interviews
case study
- in-depth investigation of small group or individual
- may be conducted over a long period of time (longitudinal) and/or
- uses a range of different methods to gather data
- quantitative research
- descriptive starting point for exploring things more quantitatively
ethical considerations
- informed consent
- debriefing
- deception
- right to withdraw from participation
- confidentiality/anonymity
- Protection from undue stress or harm
informed consent
psychologist should explain what is involved ahead of time and obtain the informed consent of participants
debriefing
after the research is over, participants should be able to discuss the procedure and the findings with the psychologist
deception
deception cannot be used without a valid justification. It is permissible if it is justified by the experiment & does not harm participants
right to withdraw from participation
participants should be able to leave a study at any time if they feel uncomfortable. They should also be allowed to withdraw their data after the study
confidentiality / anonymity
participants and the data gained from them must be kept anonymous unless they give full consent. No names must be used in a research report
protection from undue stress or harm
researchers must endure that those taking part in the research will not be caused distress. They must be protected from physical and mental harm. You must not embarrass, frighten, offend or harm participants.
emphirical evidence
- gathered using observation and experimentation
- objective
- gathered using scientific approach
anecdotal evidence
- gathered from personal experience or hearsay
- subjetive
- gathered in an informal and haphazard manner
experiment
there will be an IV and DV
correlational research
- as one variable changes, so does the other
- often unable to distinguish between IV and DV since we are just observing the relationship between variables
quantitative research methods
- experiments, field experiments, quasi-experiments, natural experiments, correlational research, surveys
independent variable (IV)
factor in study that psychologists change to see the effect it might have on behaviour
dependent variable (DV)
- factor that researchers measure in the study
- effect of the IV
localization of function
theory that specific parts of the brain are responsible for specific behaviours or cognitive processes
- e.g. case study of H.M.
different parts of brain
- frontal lobe
- occipital lobe
- parietal lobe
- temporal lobe
- cerebellum
- brain stem
frontal lobe
- personality
- judgement
- higher order thinking
pariental lobe
- interprets language & words
- spatial & visual perception
occipital lobe
- interprets vision
temporal lobe
- understanding language
- memory
- emotion
cerebellum
- maintain posture & balance
- motor movement memory
brainstem
- controls subconscious body functions: breathing, maintaining heart rate
- sends signals from brain to rest of body
case study - strengths
- longitudinal
- uses triangulation (data, method, researcher, theory)
- holistic: looks at range of effects of the damage
- establishes good starting points through qualitative research method
- usually followed by quantitative research method
case study - limitation
- no cause & effect relationship can be determined since researchers don’t manipulate IV
- cannot generalize findings to all human beings
- cannot be replicated
- retrospective: may be difficult to verify information about the patient before the accident took place
quasi experiment
- not all conditions of the experiment can be met
- naturally occuring IV (e.g. gender, socioeconomic status)
field experiment
- researchers manipulate or assign IV
- participants are sent off into their natural environment
- e.g. Draganski (juggling MRI study)
true experiment
- research method that can determine that something “causes” something else
- involves the researchers directly manipulating the IV themselves and randomly allocating participants into conditions in order to establish a causal claim
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - strength
- non-invasive, minimal potential harm to patient (unlike PET)
- faster result (unlike PET)
- no special preparation needed (unlike PET)
- provide localization & 3D structure of brain (unlike EEG)
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - limitation
- only indicates structure
- usually correlational, not allowing researchers to establish clear cause & effect relationship (unlike PET, fMRI and EEG)
- cannot include participants who cannot be in the machine for 20-30 minutes (claustrophobic, metal implants, baby)
- expensive (unlike EEG)
Neuroplasticity
- changes in neural pathways and synapses due to changes in behaviour, environment, thinking, emotions, as well as changes resulting from bodily injury
difference between hormones and neurotransmitters
- system: nervous system / endocrine system
- speed: quick response, usually within milliseconds (happens at a synapse in the brain) / few minutes ~ few days to respond (has to travel around the body via the bloodstream)
- after effects/lingering: doesn’t linger after / linger after
