Test 3 Lecture

Question 1

What is psychological testing?

Answer 1

• involved in psychological research and clinical practice
• measures psychological constructs

Question 2

what is the observational method?

Answer 2

• human behaviour
• It systematically observes and records behaviour in its natural setting w/o manipulating variables
• researchers presence in unnoticeable
• gathers data on how individuals, behave, interact and respond to their environment

Question 3

female chimpanzees and reproductive energetics

Answer 3

pregnant/lactating female’s have a higher calorie diet so that they are able to have more energy to meet the demands of reproduction
- includes higher calorie fruits because of the increased energy demand

Question 4

Japanese macaques

Answer 4

• warm up in a pool of thermal water in the harsh winter in Japan
• use thermal baths to increase social interactions

Question 5

reactivity

Answer 5

• the potential influence of the research process itself on the participants’ behaviour or responses
• refers to any idea that their behaviour will change due to them being observed
• involves social desirability and presentation in a more favourable light

Question 6

external validity

Answer 6

• the extent to which the findings of a study can be generalized to other settings, populations, or specific conditions beyond the specific context in which the study was conducted
• generalizability across studies

Question 7

social desirability bias (reactivity)

Answer 7

• when individuals present themselves in a more socially acceptable or favourable light
• can use anonymous studies to try to avoid this

Question 8

hawthorne effect (reactivity)

Answer 8

• where individuals improve their performance or productivity when they know they are being observed
• originally observed in the Hawthorne Works factory study

Question 9

Hawthorne works factory study

Answer 9

• studied conditions in which you can maximize the amount of work you can get out of people in work environment

Question 10

demand characteristics (reactivity)

Answer 10

• when participants pick up cues from the researcher/study environment leading them to change their behaviour to align with perceived expectations
• unintentionally influences the outcomes of an experiment

Question 11

three R’s of animal research

Answer 11

replacement, reduction, refinement

Question 12

replacement (animal research)

Answer 12

encourages the use of computer modeling or other approaches in place of actual research animals in the lab

Question 13

reduction (animal research)

Answer 13

promotes limiting the number of animals in participants to disturbance in research or teaching
- include exact # of animal participants and why

Question 14

refinement (animal research)

Answer 14

involves improving procedures and techniques to minimize pain and discomfort for animals

Question 15

anxiety-related behaviour in lab animals (diagram on slide 21)

Answer 15

• “knockout” gene = disabling gene
• peptide hormone involved in fluid and blood pressure balance
• involved in social recognition, pair bonding, parenting, and anxiety and stress
• vasopressin** in humans and animals (anxiety)

Question 16

anxiety-related behaviour in lab animal — methods

Answer 16

• created a knockout gene that typically allows AVP (vasopressin) to have biological action
• conducted stress-tests on wild-type and knockout mice
• in knockout mice, AVP is suppressed (inactive)

Question 17

anxiety-related behaviour in lab animal – results

Answer 17

• knockout mice spent more time in the open, light areas than did the wild-type mice

Question 18

reliability in psychological testing

Answer 18

• consistency and stability of test scores over time and across different administrations
• not influenced by random measurement errors

Question 19

validity in psychological testing

Answer 19

• extent to which a test measures what its supposed to measure

Question 20

a test can be ____ but not ___

Answer 20

• a test can be reliable but not valid
• therefore validity is crucial
• if a test is designed to measure intelligence but instead measures memory, it lacks validity

Question 21

content validity

Answer 21

• involves examining the extent to which the test items represent the content domain of interest
• example on slide 30

Question 22

criterion-related validity

Answer 22

• involves comparing test scores with an external criterion, such as another established measure or real-world outcomes
• example on slide 31