Topic 2 Flashcards
Prefrontal Lobotomy
Used to treat schizophrenia and other severe mental disorders
Severed the fibers connecting the frontal lobe and thalamus
originally popularized by subjective clinical reports
studies showed it did not work and had serious negative effects
Doing research
Determine research question and hypothesis
Operationalize variables
Identify your study participants
Create you study material
Obtain ethics approval
Do research
Internal and external validity
Relates to how well a study is conducted
Relates to how applicable the findings are in the real world
Population vs samples
Population: Entire group of people of interest
Sample: A smaller group of people, drawn form the population
Random Selection
A key ingredient for generalizability
choosing participants from a larger population in such a way that every person has an equal chance of being selected
ensures samples are accurate
Operational Definition
Transplating your research question into specific, testable procedures that can be measured & observed
The methods Toolbox
Descriptive:
* Naturalistic observation
*case study
* Self-report measures and surveys
Relationship B/W variables:
* Correlational Designs
Cause & Effect:
* Expiremental designs
Naturalistic observation
Watching behavior in a natural/real-world setting
Advantages:
*High external validity
*Rich, detailed information
*Sometimes the only possible way
Disadvantages:
*lack of control
*Time and resource consuming
*Observer bias
*cant draw cause and effect conclusions
Case Studies
In depth analysis of a single person or setting
Comoon when studying rare, unusual, or noteworthy phenomena
Advantages:
*Rich, detailed description of data
*Sometimes the only possible method
Disadvantages:
* Low external validity
* Researcher bias
Self-reports/Survey methods
Involves collecting data by asking participants to describe their behaviors, attitudes, views, perceptions
Advantages:
* Affordable & Efficient
* Anonymity
* Snapshot of how a group of people think/behave
* Can inform policy, lawmakers, and public agencies
Disadvantages:
* Assumptions are that people answer honestly and provide meaningful responses BUT
* careless/random responding, misunderstanding question
*Reponse Bias
Dealing with social desirability
Question - wording
Embedding reverse score items
Social desirablity scales
Choosing a measure
What is your operation variable and research question?
Make your own measure OR use established
What is the cost of the measure
Monetary
Practical (compensation)
What is the equality of the measure
is it reliable
is it valid
Evaluating measures
Reliability: consistency of measurements
Validity: the extent to which a measure assesses what it claims to measure
Correlation/non-experimental method
examination of the strength of the relationshup[ between variables
variables observed but not manipulated
The correlation coefficient ranges from -1 to +1
correlation vs. Causation: because two things are related, does not mean that one thing causes the other
Advantages:
* Can establish trends across large amounts of data
* Good for describing behavior
* Can be used to predict future behavior
* Sometimes necessary due to ethical issues
Disadvantages:
* Cannot infer the casual direction
* Third variable problem
Experimental method
Research desings that focus on determining the casual influence between variables
at least one variable is manipulated, and one is measured or observed
random assignment of participants to experimental or control group
Independent variable (IV): manipulated by the researcher
Dependent variable (Dv): affected by a change in IV
Experimental design
interval validity relates to how well a study is designed & conducted
High interval validity
Confound: A variable not of interest that varies along with the IV - could provide an alternative explanation
Pitfalls of experiments:
* placebo Effect
* Nocebo effect
Experimental bias:
* Expectancy
* Demand characteristics
The replication crisis
Half to three-quarters of psychology studies are difficult to replicate
What is repilication
is the repetition of findings previously presented or published
Reasons for non replication
Falsified data
Sample size
Culturally and generationally specific
Poor replication quality
Ethical guidelines for human research
Informed consent: potential participants should be informed in advance of all aspects
protection from harm and discomfort: take steps to avoid harm to research participants
Deception and Debriefing: if deception is used, participants should be informed as soon as possible
When is it okay to not fully inform
Purely observation research
Special populations
Research requiering deception:
* Required in cases where knowing the true purpose would change their behavior of response
* Are not told the purpose of the study
* Misled (Given false purpose) OR not told
