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15P02S20Y21 > Week 1 - Psychology as a Science > Flashcards

Week 1 - Psychology as a Science Flashcards

By the end of this week you should be able to: 1. evaluate the scientific method and outline its role in developing psychological knowledge 2. Recognise experimental research methodology and be able to outline the basic research designs 3. Demonstrate competence in basic statistical techniques using manual analysis methods 4. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of theory and practice in qualitative research 5. Explain the relevance of ethical guidelines for psychologists

1
Q

Who is Francine Shapiro?

A

Francine pioneered EMDR therapy or “Eye Movement and Desensitization Reprocessing” as a way to reduce anxiety

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2
Q

What is critical thinking?

A

Critical thinking involves assessing and evaluating claims based on well-supported evidence

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3
Q

What are five questions that can be asked in the critical thinking process?

A
  1. What am I being asked to believe or accept?
  2. What evidence is available to support this assertion?
  3. Are there any alternative ways of interpreting the evidence?
  4. What additional evidence would help evaluate the alternatives?
  5. What conclusions are most reasonable?
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4
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

A hypothesis is a specific, testable proposition about a phenomenon

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5
Q

What are operational definitions?

A

An operational definition is a statement that defines the exact operations or methods used in research

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6
Q

What is a variable?

A

A variable is a factor or characteristic that is manipulated or measured in research

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7
Q

What is data?

A

Data are numbers that represent research findings and provide the basis for research conclusions

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8
Q

What is confirmation bias?

A

An example of confirmation bias is when we want something or someone to be perfect to the point where we ignore their flaws.

This is one reason why people end up with faulty cars or in bad relationships. Double-blind methods are used by researchers to avoid confirmation bias when they draw conclusions from research evidence

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9
Q

What is statistical reliability?

A

Statistical reliability is the degree to which test results or other research evidence occurs repeatedly.

Are the results stable and consistent?

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10
Q

What is statistical validity?

A

Statistical validity is the degree to which test scores are interpreted correctly and used appropriately.

Do the results accurately reflect the topic being studied?

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11
Q

What is a theory?

A

A theory is an integrated set of propositions that can be used to account for, predict and even suggest ways of controlling certain phenomena.

They are tentative explanations and they must be tested

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12
Q

What is the law of parsimony?

A

The law of parsimony or the law of simplicity or KISS suggests that when several alternative conclusions exist it is usually the simplest one that is correct

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13
Q

As theories are tentative explanations, they must first be subjected to scientific examination based on _____ _____

A

Critical thinking

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14
Q

Scientists evaluate _____ and _____ in considering the value of the evidence they collect

A

Validity, reliability

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15
Q

The KISS principle is also known as the _____

A

Law of Parsimony

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16
Q

List the FOUR goals that psychologists strive to achieve

A
  1. DESCRIBE behaviour and mental processes
  2. PREDICT behaviour and mental processes
  3. Demonstrate some CONTROL over them
  4. EXPLAIN why and how behaviour and mental processes occur
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17
Q

What are observational methods?

A

Observational methods are procedures for systematically watching behaviour in order to summarise it for scientific analysis

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18
Q

What is naturalistic observation?

A

Naturalistic observation is the process of watching without interfering as a phenomenon occurs in a natural environment

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19
Q

What are case studies?

A

Case studies are a research method involving the intensive examination of some psychological phenomenon in a particular individual, group, or situation

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20
Q

What is neuropsychology?

A

Neuropsychology is a sub field of psychology whose goal is to explore and understand the relationships among brain processes, human behaviour, and psychological functioning.

Brain activity, thinking, and behaviour are all inter-related

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21
Q

What are some limitations of case studies?

A

Case studies may only contain evidence that the researcher deemed important.

Case studies are unlikely to be representative of the general population

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22
Q

What is a survey?

A

A survey is a research method which involves giving people questionnaires or special interviews designed to obtain descriptions of their attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and intentions.

Surveys provide a wide-angle view of a large group

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23
Q

What are the limitations of surveys?

A

Surveys are limited by how clear the wording is or how representative the population used is of the population being studied.

People are also unlikely to admit to undesirable behaviours

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24
Q

What are correlational studies?

A

Correlational studies are a research method that examines relationships between variables in order to analyse trends in data, test predictions, evaluate theories, and suggest new hypotheses. It is important to remember that correlation is not the same as causation

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25
Q

What is an experiment?

A

An experiment is a situation in which the researcher manipulates one variable and then observes the effect of that manipulation on another variable, while holding all other variables constant

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26
Q

What is an experimental group?

A

An experimental group in an experiment is the group that receives the experimental treatment

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27
Q

What is a control group?

A

A control group in an experiment is the group that receives no treatment or provides some other baseline against which to compare the performance or response of the experimental group

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28
Q

What is an independent variable?

A

An independent variable is a variable that is manipulated by the researcher in the experiment

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29
Q

What is a dependent variable?

A

A dependent variable is a variable that is affected by the independent or manipulated variable

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30
Q

Independent or dependent variable? Children’s reading skill is measured after taking either a special reading class or standard reading class

A 
Independent variable: reading class type
Dependent variable: reading skill
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31
Q

Independent or dependent variable? University students’ memory from German vocabulary words is tested after a normal night’s sleep or a night of no sleep

A

Independent variable: Sleep amount

Dependent variable: memory of German vocabulary measured in a memory test

32
Q

Independent or dependent variable? Experiment title: ‘The effect of a daily walking program on elderly people’s lung capacity

A

Independent variable: Exercise amount

Dependent variable: Lung capacity

33
Q

Independent or dependent variable? People’s ability to avoid ‘accidents’ in a driving simulator is tested before, during, and after talking on a mobile phone

A

Independent variable: Phone usage

Dependent variable: Ability to avoid accidents

34
Q

What is a confound?

A

A confound in an experiment is any factor that affects the dependent variable, along with or instead of the independent variable.

When confounds are present the experimenter cannot know whether the independent variable or the confound produced the results

35
Q

What is a random variable?

A

A random variable is a type of confound where uncontrolled or uncontrollable factors affect the dependent variable, along with or instead of the independent variable.

An example of a random variable might be the time of year that the research took place or cultural differences of participants

36
Q

What is randomising?

A

Randomising involves assigning participants in an experiment to various groups through a random process to ensure that random variables are evenly distributed among the group.

Randomising is supposed to reduce the effects of uncontrolled variables

37
Q

What is the placebo effect?

A

The placebo effect is a treatment that contains no active ingredient but produces an effect because the person receiving it believes it will

38
Q

What is experimenter bias?

A

Experimenter bias is a founfound that occurs when an experimenter unintentionally encourages participants to respond in a way that supports the experimenter’s hypothesis.

An example of this is “maze-bright” rats and “maze-dull” rats which affected the way the experimenters handled the rats and thus affected the outcomes of the study

39
Q

What is a double-blind experimental design?

A

A double-blind experimental design involves the experimenter nor the participants being aware of who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group

40
Q

What is sampling?

A

The process of selecting participants who are members of the population that the researcher wishes to study

41
Q

What is representative sampling?

A

A process for selecting research participants whose characteristics fairly reflect the characteristics of the population from which they were drawn

42
Q

What is random sampling?

A

Random sampling is the process of selecting a group of research participants from a population whose members all have an equal chance of being chosen

43
Q

What is biased sampling?

A

Biased sampling is the process of selecting a group of research participants from a population whose members do not have an equal chance of being chosen

44
Q

What is qualitative methodology?

A

Qualitative methodology is the use of in-depth methods such as conversations and interviews to understand and explore the how and why of human behaviour

45
Q

What is behavioural genetics?

A

Behavioural genetics is the study of how genes and the environment work together to shape behaviour

46
Q

What is epigenetics?

A

Epigenetics is the study of potentially inheritable changes in gene expression that are caused by environmental factors that do not alter a cell’s DNA.

Whilst the DNA is not changed the FUNCTION of it due to the environment is

47
Q

The _____ method is most likely to use a double-blind design

A

Experimental

48
Q

Research on a new treatment method is most likely to begin with _____

A

Case studies

49
Q

Studying language by listening to people in public places is an example of _____ research

A

Naturalistic observation

50
Q

What are descriptive statistics?

A

Descriptive statistics are numbers that summarise a set of research data

51
Q

What are inferential statistics?

A

Inferential statistics are a set of mathematical procedures that help psychologists make inferences about what their research data mean

52
Q

Describe the three types of descriptive statistics

A
  1. Measures of CENTRAL TENDENCY which describes the typical score in a data set
  2. Measures of VARIABILITY which describe the spread, or dispersion, among the scores in a set of data
  3. CORRELATION COEFFICIENTS which describe the relationships between variables
53
Q

What is the mode?

A

The mode is a measure of central tendency that is the value or score that occurs most frequently in a data set

54
Q

What is the median?

A

The median is a measure of central tendency that is the halfway point in a set of data: half the scores fall above the median and half fall below it

55
Q

What is the mean?

A

The mean is a measure of central tendency that is the arithmetic average of the scores in a set of data

56
Q

What is the range?

A

The range is a measure of variability that is the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a data set

57
Q

What is standard deviation (SD)?

A

Standard deviation is a measure of variability that is the average difference between each score and the mean of the data set

58
Q

What is correlation?

A

Correlation in research is the degree to which one variable is related to another

59
Q

What is a correlation coefficient?

A

A correlation coefficient or r is a statistic that summarises the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables.

r = -1.00 (negative relationship) to r = +1.00 (positive relationship) - these are perfect relationships

r = +/- 0.01 is a very weak correlation - almost no relationship. This is not a perfect relationship

60
Q

What is statistical significance?

A

Statistical significance refers to a correlation or difference between two groups that is larger than would be expected by chance

61
Q

The measure of central tendency that is most affected by exremely high or extremely low scores is the _____

A

Mean

62
Q

A set of data with a high standard deviation contains scores that are _____ variable than a set of data with a low tandard devation

A

More variable

63
Q

True or false: correlation coefficients of +0.5 and -0.5 indicate relationships that are different strengths

A

False

64
Q

What is the name of the code of conduct for psychologists in Australia?

A

APS Code of Conduct

65
Q

What code is used for research with animals?

A

NHMRC Australian code of practice for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes

66
Q

Whatever the research topic, psychologists’ _____ is to investigate it in accordance with the highest ethical standards

A

Duty

67
Q

If a proposed study is likely to create risks or discomfort for participants, an ethics committee will consider both the potential _____ and potential for _____

A

Benefits and harm

68
Q
  1. You are watching an infomercial that claims that if you drink liquefied seaweed twice a day, you will lose 5 kilograms a month. As a wise consumer who knows the five critical thinking questions listed in this chapter, you would first say:
    a) ‘I don’t know whether the person making the claim about the weight-loss effects of seaweed is a doctor.’
    b) ‘The only evidence they present in support of their claim is one woman’s personal experience.’
    c) ‘I’ll bet you also have to exercise to lose the 5 kilos.’
    d) ‘They are asking me to believe that I can lose 5 kilos a month by drinking seaweed.’
A

d) ‘They are asking me to believe that I can lose 5 kilos a month by drinking seaweed.’

69
Q
  1. Dr Lucas is interested in the effect of seeing colours on people’s moods. She has participants complete a mood survey in either a bright red room or a stark white one. A participant’s score on the mood survey is the researcher’s _____.

a) operational definition of mood
b) random variable
c) independent variable
d) descriptive statistic

A

c) independent variable

70
Q
  1. Case studies are used to:

a) avoid a placebo effect
b) determine the effects of an independent variable
c) collect descriptive data
d) provide control in an experiment

A

c) collect descriptive data

71
Q
  1. Before using survey results to support a hypothesis, we must be sure about which of the following?

a) The questions are properly worded.
b) The sample used is representative of the population of interest.
c The responses are not strongly biased by efforts to appear socially acceptable.
d All of the above.

A

d) all of the above

72
Q
  1. In Dr Daneli’s experiment, Group A receives serotonin before taking a memory test, whereas Group B takes the same test without receiving serotonin.

In this experiment, performance on the memory test is the _____ variable.

a) dependent
b) independent
c) control
d) random

A

a) dependent variable

73
Q
  1. Ari wants to know whether growing up in an abusive family causes children to become physically violent.

Which of the following research methods would create the greatest ethical problems in trying to study this question scientifically?

a) case studies
b) experiments
c) observations
d) surveys

A

b) Experiments

74
Q
  1. Why do psychologists follow ethical guidelines?
    a) Psychologists would not want the cost of participating in an experiment to be too high in comparison with the information to be gained.
    b) The American Psychological Association has set standards for psychologists to follow when conducting research and treating clients.
    c) Stress and pain could act as confounding variables in an experiment.
    d) All of the above
A

b) The American Psychological Association has set standards for psychologists to follow when conducting research and treating clients

75
Q
  1. Amy wanted to assess reactions to a new school rule requiring students to wear uniforms. She put the names of all 400 students enrolled in the school into a bag, drew out 25 names and sent them a questionnaire. In this study, Amy used:

a) biased sampling
b) double-blind assignment
c) random sampling
d) random assignment

A

c) random sampling

76
Q
  1. Ben has discovered a correlation of -0.83 between the amount of time his male housemates spend working out in the gym and the number of dates they have during the semester.

Based on this information, Ben can correctly conclude that:

a) when the men work out more, they also have more dates
b) when the men work out more, they also have fewer dates
c) working out increases dating
d) working out decreases dating

A

b) when the men work out more, they also have fewer dates

77
Q
  1. To assure that people participate voluntarily in psychological research, psychologists must:

a) pay them a reasonable participation fee, even if they drop out of the study later
b) give them the right to sue for damages in the event something goes wrong
c) tell them the true purpose of the study beforehand and let them ask questions
d) inform them about everything that might influence their decision to participate

A

d) inform them about everything that might influence their decision to participate

15P02S20Y21 (2 decks)

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