Behaviour, Health and Development Flashcards
(26 cards)
What is the Biomedical model?
- Focuses on the health purely in terms of biological factors
- Believes that mental disorders are brain diseases and can be treated
- Weakness is that it does not address clinical conditions that may have multiple behavioural, social and environmental causes
What does Psychosomatic mean?
Mind and body are involved in the illness
Theoretical Framework
The structure that can hold or support a theory of a research study.
Systemic way of organising and explaining observations
Standardised Procedure
Procedure that is the same for all participants except where variation is introduced to test the hypothesis
Generalisability
Sample that is representative of the population
Procedure that is sensible and relevant to circumstances outside of the laboratory
Objective Measurement
Measures that are reliable (that produce consistent results)
What is Occam’s Razor?
If two hypothesis explain a phenomenon equally well, we should generally select the simpler one
Correlation vs Causation
The fact that two things are associated with each other does not mean that one causes the other
What are the two designs of General Research?
Experimental
Correlational
What are the two designs of Developmental Research?
Longitudinal
Cross-Sectional
What are the key features of Experimental Research?
Investigates the cause-and-effect relationship through:
- Manipulation of independence variable
- Random assignment of participants to conditions
Difference between dependent and independent variables?
Independent variables are what we expect will influence dependent variables.
A Dependent variable is what happens as a result of the independent variable
What are some pros of an Experimental design?
Can make causal claims
High Internal Validity (random assignment helps eliminate confounding)
What are some cons of an Experimental design?
Can be unethical
Low external validity (control reduces relevancy to real world)
What is a key feature of a Correlational Research Design?
Examines the degree to which two or more variables are related
What is an example of Observed Correlation?
As the inability to manage stress increases, blood pressure increases
What are some strengths of a Correlational Design?
- Helps to predict behaviour and outcomes
- Can suggest a potential cause and effect relationship
- Reveals naturally occurring relationships in the real world
What are some weaknesses of a Correlational Design?
- Only reveals that two variables tend to vary together
- Can’t predict why association exists
What are some strengths of Naturalistic Observation?
- High external validity (real world)
- Can help generate new ideas
What are some limitations of Naturalistic Observation?
- Have to wait for behaviour to happen
- Low internal validity
- Cause and effect hard to establish
What are some strengths of a Longitudinal Design?
- Can examine change overtime
- Can examine associations between early experiences and later behaviour/development/ health
What are some limitations of a Longitudinal Design?
Time
Expensive
Attrition (drop in participant numbers)
What is a Cross-sectional study?
Compare people of different ages at one time point
Subject Expectancies
a form of reactivity that occurs when a research subject expects a given result and therefore unconsciously affects the outcome, or reports the expected result.
