Unit 0 Test Flashcards
Goals of Research Methods
Describe, predict, control, and explain behaviors
Hypothesis
An educated guess/prediction and is used to guide your research
Experimental Method
Researchers manipulate in a controlled setting
Non-Experimental Method
Researchers observe without manipulation
Case Studies
In-depth study of individuals/small groups and often unable to replicate
Naturalistic Observations
Observations without interference to avoid the Hawthorne Effect
Hawthorne Effect
A temporary change in behavior when a subject knows they are being watched (e.g. Jane Goodall and the chimpanzees)
Surveys
Collects data from many individuals with limitations such as wording effect and self-reporting
Qualitative Research
Focuses on observations and decriptions
Quantitative Research
Involves numbers, such as the usage of the Likert scale
Likert Scale
A scale of numbers (e.g. scale of 1-10)
Survey Sampling
Involves population and random/representative/convenience samples
Random Sample
A random portion of people that are selected to participate in a study
Population
The people you are interested in studying
Representative Sample
An equal amount of each group from the random sample (e.g. 50 freshmen, 50 sophomores)
Convenience Sample
When certain groups of people are selected because they are easier/more convenient for the researcher to access
Operational Definitions
Clear descriptions of variables for replication - making sure you are receiving consistent info for the study to be replicated
Correlations
Examining relationships between two variables
Correlation Coefficients
Shows strength of the correlation; represented by “r”; the graph does not go beyond -1 and 1
Positive Correlation
Both variables either increase or decrease
Negative Correlation
One variable goes up, while the other goes down
No Correlation
No relationship with each other
Wording Effect
Wording influences how you respond (e.g. questions could be biased which could bring faulty data, some might not understand the question, etc.)
Why is self-reporting a limitation in surveys?
People might want to make themselves look better and people tend to lie on surveys
Experiments
Establish a causal relationship with control and experimental groups
Effect Size
Measures strength of statistical relationship between two variables
Control Group
Group that is not manipulated in an experiment
Placebo
Fake treatment given to the control group
Independent Variable
Manipulated factor which affects the dependent variable
Dependent Variable
An outcome affected by the independent variable
Confounding Variable
A variable you’re not accounting for/control (e.g. If you’re testing to see how music affects test performance, confounding variables could be amount of sleep that night, whether or not they ate breakfast)
Random Assignment
Randomly assigning participants to groups (either experimental or control)
Single Blind Design
Participants are unaware of groups and helps to identify placebo effect
Double Blind Design
Participants AND researchers are unaware of groups and combats experimental bias
Experimental Bias
Guiding groups to prove the researcher’s hypothesis (either intentionally or unintentionally)
Psychology
- The science of behavior and mental processes
- Began as a combination of physiology (anatomy, brain, etc.) and philosophy (theories, thoughts, ideas, etc.)
Behavior
Anything an organism can observe
Mental Processes
Internal, subjective experiences that we infer from our behavior (thoughts, perceptions, feelings, dreams, etc.)
Experimental Psychologists
Conducts research and studies about psychological theories
Psychology Teachers
Teaches the research conducted by the experimental psychologists
High School - Requires a teaching degree
College - Minimum of a master’s degree
Applied Psychologists
Takes research and what they’ve learned in school and put it into practice
Industrial Organizational Psychologists
Works for businesses
Sports Psychologists
Helps with stress before competitions/games, long-term injuries, fear of coming back from injury, etc.
Engineering Psychologists
Study human factors - How people interact with machines and technology
School Psychologists
Works with certain students and goes through special training
Rehabilitation Psychologists
Mostly for the elderly and usually about emotional coping, physical and mental health, etc.
Clinical Psychologists
Practicing and engaging with people
Counseling Psychologists
Usually become school counselors and go through special training
Psychologist
- Cannot prescribe medications
- Usually monitored by a pediatrician and general practitioners
- Usually an hour long session
Psychiatrist
- Specialize in the medical practice of mental care
- Medical Doctors (M.D.)
- Can prescribe medications
- Usually a 15 min session
Psychoanalytic Perspective
- First perspective in psychology
- Introduced by Sigmund Freud
- Believed that we are significantly influenced by our unconscious which influences your fears and wishes
Unconscious Mind
Things you do without thinking about it
Cognitive Perspective
Thinking, thought process, understanding (e.g. if someone is struggling with depression, then psychologists will try to change their cognitive perspective)
Behavioral Perspective
Learned behavior, observed, conditioned (picking up what you observed)
Humanist Perspective
About humans and self, free will
Neurobiological Perspective
Brain, neurons, neurotransmitters, hormones, genetics (e.g. if your family has depression, then it could be genetically passed down to you)
Sociocultural Perspective
Society and culture - how these shape who you are
Evolutionary Perspective
How cognitive behaviors go through the process of natural selection just as the human body has done - Darwinism
Measures of central tendency
Mean, Median, Mode
Mean
The average; determined by adding all the values and dividing by the number of values
Median
The middle number; put numbers in order and find the middle number
Mode
The most commonly occurring number; if no number repeats, then there is no mode; there can be more than one mode (having two sets of the same number)
Measures of Variability
Range, Standard Deviation
Variability
How different the data points are from one another
Range
The difference between the highest and lowest value
Standard Deviation
How all of the numbers fall back to the middle point; must know the mean to determine the SD
Large SD
Data is more spread out
Small SD
Data is closer together
Percentile Rank
Shows where someone falls in a SD scale
Normal Distribution
A continuous probability distribution where the values are symmetrical and are around the mean
Bimodal Distribution
There are two modes/bell curves (e.g. one did study for a test and one didn’t study for a test)
Positive Skew
Toward a positive direction; Pulls the data up
Negative Skew
Toward a negative direction; Pulls the data down
No skew
Normal curve is a perfectly symmetrical distribution
Statistical Significance
When the difference between the control group and experimental group is big enough to have a significance
p-value
The smaller the p-value, the higher the statistical significance
Null Hypothesis
A type of statistical hypothesis that shows that no statistical significance exists
Descriptive Statistics
Set of methods used to summarize data (mean, median, mode, range, SD)
Inferential Statistics
Making predictions based on the data you have collected
Confirmation Bias
Finding people to confirm your existing bias
False Consensus Effect
A tendency that more people agree with us than they actually do (this can result in confirmation bias)
Hindsight Bias
Tendency to assume that they knew the outcome of an event after the outcome has already happened (usually after data is collected and being interpreted, things seem obvious)
Overconfidence
Being overconfident about something which messes with how data is collected and feeds into confirmation bias
Social Desirability Bias
Giving answers based on what people want to hear or what is expected of them (either intentional/unintentional)
Directionality Problem
When two variables have a correlation, but it is unknown which variable causes change in the other
Illusory Correlation
When there appears to be a correlation between two variables, but there is actually a third variable involved
Third Variable
A third factor that might explain a correlation better (e.g. higher shark attacks mean higher ice cream sales, but weather is the third variable that explains the correlation better)
Cultural Norms
Something that is considered to be a norm in a culture (e.g. a normal breakfast in the US is pancakes, cereal, etc.)
Meta-analysis
Analyzing other research studies and their findings to look for patterns
Peer Review
Researchers in a similar area reviewing research and findings
APA
American Psychological Association; Has a lot of ethical rules
IRB
Institutional Review Board; Panel of people - Every institution that conducts research has an IRB to review research in order to avoid ethical concerns
Animals vs Humans
Animals can only be used if it is better for human understanding; many rules in place to make sure animals are being cared for
Informed Consent
Telling someone what the purpose of the research is and what the risks and benefits are
Informed Assent
When individuals under the age of 18 agree to participate; parents have to give consent, but individuals can give assent
Protection from harm (physical/psychological)
Rules to make sure participants are not physically/psychologically harmed; can have temporary discomfort, but should not be long-term
Confidentiality
Ensuring privacy of all information that participants share in a study (unless if info can harm someone/yourself)
No coercion
Cannot manipulate someone to participate with incentives/threats
No deception
Cannot tell a participant that you’re doing something and then doing something else (only exception is if deception is necessary for the study)
Debriefing
All subjects that participated from day 1 to the last (even if they dropped out) are entitled to a summary and description from research findings
