Unit 2: Theories and Measurement

Question 1

Phenomenon

Answer 1

An established answer to a research question.

A general result that has been observed reliably in a systematic empirical research.

Ex: Fundamental attribution error
People tend to explain others’ behaviour in terms of their personal characteristics as opposed to the situation they are in. Varies between cultures (more in N America than Asia)

Ex: Bystander effect; the more people who are present at an emergency situation, the less likely it is that any one of them will help.

Ex: Social facilitation; while being watched by others, people perform better on highly practiced tasks

Ex: Social inhibition; while being watched by others, people perform worse on relatively unpracticed tasks

Question 2

Replication

Answer 2

When a study is conducted again to ensure it produces the same results. Can be done exactly as the previous study, or with modifications

Question 3

Theory

Answer 3

A coherent explanation or interpretation of one or more phenomena

Goes beyond the phenomena by explaining variables, structures, processes, functions, or organizing principles that have not been observed directly

Ex: Zajonc’s drive theory; being watched creates physiological arousal, which increases dominant response. So increase in correct highly practiced behaviour. Explains social facilitation and social inhibition (decrease in correct display of unpracticed behaviour)

Question 4

Perspective

Answer 4

A broad approach to explaining or interpreting phenomena

More general than a theory

Ex: Biological perspective explains in terms of genetics or the nervous system

Question 5

Model

Answer 5

A precise explanation or interpretation of phenomena

Can be expressed in terms of equations or biological processes

Question 6

Theoretical framework

Answer 6

Provides the context applied to understanding a phenomenon; guides the interpretation of the observations

Can be as broad as a perspective, or as precise as a model

Question 7

Basic purposes of scientific theories

Answer 7

1. Organize phenomena; theories are good or useful when they coherently explain the results of many studies in a clear and concise way
2. Predict what will happen in new situations; help physicians make informed decisions about treatment
3. Help generate new research; even an inaccurate theory can generate new and interesting research questions, produce new results, and help to refine the theory

Question 8

Types of dimensions that differ in theories

Answer 8

1. Formality
2. Scope
3. Theoretical approach

Question 9

Functional theories

Answer 9

Explain psychological phenomena in terms of their function or purpose. Explain the “why”

Ex: Cutting produces a short-term reduction in the intensity of negative emotions

Ex: Evolutionary psychology - human behaviour has evolved to solve specific adaptive problems

Question 10

Mechanist theories

Answer 10

Focus on specific variables, structures, and processes, and how they interact to produce the phenomena. Explain the “how”

Identify a mechanism/explanation of phenomena and give context to when it happens or how intense it is

Ex: Social facilitation/inhibition

Question 11

Stage theories

Answer 11

Provide organization without using functional or mechanist explanations

Specify a series of stages that people pass through as they develop or adapt to their environment

As people pass through the stages, they integrate their outcomes from previous stages to help them succeed in the next stage

Can’t revert to previous stages

Question 12

Typologies

Answer 12

Provide organization by categorizing people or behaviour into distinct types

Ex: Basic emotions, types of intelligence, personalities

Unlike stage theories, people do not progress through typologies in any order, or do not progress through them at all

Question 13

Nominal scales

Answer 13

Descriptive scales; simply names or categorizes responses with no inherent numerical value and do not imply any ordering among the responses

The only form of central tendency that applies is mode

Ex: Favourite colour, religious affiliation

Question 14

Ordinal scales

Answer 14

Ordered scales; allow comparisons of the degree to which two individuals rate the variable

The differences between adjacent scale
values do not necessarily represent equal intervals

Ex: How satisfied a customer is (somewhat satisfied, very dissatisfied, etc)

Question 15

Interval scales

Answer 15

Numerical scales in which intervals have the same interpretation throughout

Do not have a true zero point

Ex: temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit (zero is arbitrary)

Question 16

Ratio scales

Answer 16

Interval scale with the additional property that its zero position indicates the absence of the
quantity being measured

Has the combined qualities of nominal, ordinal, and interval scales

Ex: temperature in Kelvin (zero = absolute zero), height in m, weight in kg, money

Question 17

Reliability

Answer 17

The ability to consistently produce a given result

Any instruments or tools used to collect data do so in consistent, reproducible ways

Used to evaluate a method of measurement

Ex: Kitchen scale measures 100g of flour 5 times in a row, but is not calibrated correctly

Question 18

Validity

Answer 18

The extent to which a given instrument or tool accurately measures what it’s supposed to measure

Ex: Kitchen scale measures 100g of flour, and the amount is actually 100g

Question 19

Psychological construct

Answer 19

A label to describe a complex set of behaviours, internal processes and how they relate to other variables

Cannot be observed or measured directly; are often tendencies (of behaviour, thinking, or feeling) and involve internal processes

Ex: Intelligence, self-esteem, depression

Ex: Big 5 personality of neuroticism (negative emotion, remains stable over time, genetic influence)

Question 20

Operational definition

Answer 20

A definition of a variable in terms of precisely how it is to be measured

A variable can have multiple definitions

Ex: Self-report, behavioural, or physiological measures

Question 21

Converging operations

Answer 21

When multiple operational definitions of the same psychological construct are used, either within a study or across studies

The various operational definitions are “converging” or coming together on the same construct

Question 22

Correlational design

Answer 22

When scientists passively observe and measure phenomena. Involves exactly 2 variables, to identify patterns of relationships. Cannot infer what causes what.

In comparison, experiments involve intervention and change behaviour

Question 23

Why can psychological theories be falsified but not proven?

Answer 23

The theory can be supported by evidence, but conclusions provide confirmation, not proof (unlike a mathematical proof). As more evidence is obtained, conclusions are refined.

Falsification is possible because observations can provide evidence that disproves a theory. Ex: observing a person without exactly five toes on each foot.

Question 24

Parsimony

Answer 24

A theory should include only as many concepts as are necessary to explain or interpret the phenomena of interest.

A parsimonious theory organizes phenomena more efficiently and simply

Also known as Occam’s razor.

Question 25

Formality (in theories)

Answer 25

The extent to which the components of the theory and the relationships among them are specified clearly and in detail

Informal theories - easier to create/understand, predictions are less precise, more difficult to test

Formal theories - more difficult to create/understand, more precise, easier to test

Question 26

Scope (in theories)

Answer 26

The number and diversity of the phenomena they explain or interpret

Broad scope - organize large number of phenomena, are less precise; Freud’s theories tried to cover all of human behaviour

Narrow scope - organize small number of closely related phenomenon, are more precise

Question 27

Theoretical approaches

Answer 27

Theories in psychology vary widely in the kinds of theoretical ideas they are constructed from

Ex: Functionalist, mechanist, and stage theories

Question 28

Hypothetico-deductive method

Answer 28

1. Starts with a phenomenon
2. Constructs a theory to explain it, or chooses an existing theory to use
3. Makes a prediction about phenomenon in a new situation (hypothesis)
4. Conducts empirical research to test prediction
5. Revises theory using new results

Matches with scientific model and, when combined with it, produces “theoretically motivated” or “theory-driven” research

Question 29

Measurement

Answer 29

Assignment of scores to individuals so that the scores represent some characteristic of the individual

Does not require instruments or procedures

Requires some systematic procedure for assigning scores so that the scores represent the characteristic of interest

Question 30

Self-report measures

Answer 30

When a variable is operationalized by participants’ self-report of thoughts, feelings, actions

Ex: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale

Question 31

Behavioural measures

Answer 31

When a variable is operationalized by observing and recording participants’ behaviour

Ex: memory recall in a lab setting, aggression in a natural setting

Question 32

Physiological measures

Answer 32

When a variable is operationalized by measuring participants’ physiological processes

Ex: heart rate, blood pressure

Question 33

Test-retest reliability

Answer 33

The extent to which a construct that’s assumed to be consistent across time actually is consistent across time

Ex: Intelligence

How to assess it: test-retest correlation

Question 34

Internal consistency

Answer 34

A kind of reliability that involves a multiple-item measure (such as a survey) and the consistency of responses across all items

The questions on the survey are intended to reflect the same underlying construct. Therefore, an individual’s scores across all items should correlate with each other

Ex: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale - If a participant says they are a person of worth, then they should also agree they have a number of good qualities

How to assess it: split-half correlation

Question 35

Test-retest correlation

Answer 35

Used to assess test-retest reliability of a construct that is assumed to be consistent over time

1. Use measure on one group at one time, then again on the same group at a later time
2. Use correlation between 2 sets of scores.
3. r = .80 or higher indicates the measure has good reliability

Question 36

Split-half correlation

Answer 36

Used to assess internal consistency (a form of reliability)

1. Items are divided into 2 sets (first and second half, or odd and even items)
2. Compute a score for each set and correlate the scores
3. r = .80 or higher indicates good internal consistency

Question 37

Cronbach’s a (alpha)

Answer 37

A statistic to assess internal consistency

Conceptually, it is the mean of all possible split-half correlations for a set of items.

r = .80 or higher indicates good internal consistency

Question 38

Interrater reliability

Answer 38

In an experiment, how consistent different observers are with their judgements (i.e. researchers who are rating participant behaviour)

Ex: 2 observers recording aggressive behaviour from the same participants should have ratings that correlate with each other

Quantitative scores are often assessed using Cronbach’s a (alpha)

Categorical scores are often assessed using Cohen’s k (kappa)

Question 39

Face validity

Answer 39

The extend to which a measurement method appears “on its face” to measure the construct/variable of interest

A weak measure of validity because it’s based on intuitions about human behaviour, which are often incorrect

Question 40

Criterion validity

Answer 40

The extent to which a person’s score on a measure is correlated with other criteria that one would expect them to be correlated with

Ex: A new measure of test anxiety would have good criterion validity if it has a negative correlation to exam scores (high anxiety is expected to result in lower exam scores)

Ex: concurrent, predictive, and convergent validity

Question 41

Content validity

Answer 41

The extent to which a measure “covers” the construct of interest

Ex: Conceptual definition of test anxiety includes nervous feelings and negative thoughts. The measure should include items about feeling nervous and thinking negatively

Question 42

Concurrent validity

Answer 42

A type of criterion validity. When the criterion is measured at the same time as the construct

Question 43

Predictive validity

Answer 43

A type of criterion validity. When the criterion is measured at some point in the future

It is “predictive” because scores on the construct measure predict the outcome of the criterion measure

Question 44

Convergent validity

Answer 44

A type of criterion validity. When the criterion used is another existing measure of the same construct

Question 45

Discriminant validity

Answer 45

The extent to which scores on a measure are NOT correlated with measures of conceptually distinct variables

Ex: Self-esteem is a general attitude that is fairly stable over time. Mood is variable, how one feels right now. If a new measure of self-esteem does not correlate with mood, then it would demonstrate a concept that is conceptually distinct from mood (high discriminant validity)