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PSYCH 105 > Chapter 1 > Flashcards

Chapter 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the trouble with studying humans?

A

complexity: 500 million neurons in the brain
variability: every person is different
reactivity: reactions differ when observed vs. not observed

can use a model species to better understand what happens in humans

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2
Q

What is the trouble with studying animals?

A

complexity: range of 5,600-257,000,000,000 neurons
variability: reactions differ when observed vs. not observed
communication: differences in communication

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3
Q

What is empiricism?

A

involves using evidence from the senses as the basis for conclusions (the empirical method)

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4
Q

What is a hypothesis?

A

a tentative explanation or prediction about some phenomenon

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5
Q

What is a theory?

A

a set of formal statements that explain how and why certain events or phenomena are related to one another

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6
Q

What is hindsight understanding?

A

after viewing a behavior, propose an explanation that makes sense in that context

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7
Q

What is understanding through hypothesis testing?

A

test possible explanations through scientific method

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8
Q

What makes a good theory?

A

organize information in a meaningful way

is testable

predictions are supported by research

conforms to law of parsimony

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9
Q

What is the law of parsimony?

A

if two theories are good, the simpler one is correct

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10
Q

How do you obtain data?

A

obtain information related to hypothesis

scientific observation

precise, repeatable methods of measurement

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11
Q

What is a variable?

A

any characteristic that can vary

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12
Q

What is an operational definition?

A

defines a variable in terms of specific procedures used to produce or measure it

a description of a property in concrete, measurable terms

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13
Q

What makes good measurements?

A

reliability: always produce the same score when measuring the same thing
validity: must be conceptually related to the property of study
power: ability of a measure to detect the conditions specified in the operational definition

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14
Q

What is a self-report measure?

A

participants report on their own knowledge, beliefs, feelings, experiences, or behavior

a questionnaire or interview

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15
Q

What are some issues with self-report measures?

A

social desirability bias: desire to make good impression

asking suggestive or leading questions

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16
Q

What is an observational measure (measures of overt behavior)?

A

observers record observable behavior

requires an operational definition of the behavior you’re looking for

observers must be trained to consistently code their observations

we want reliable, consistent measurements

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17
Q

What is issues with overt behavior studies?

A

just like the desirability bias in self report measures, participants can change their behavior when being observed

demand characteristics: aspects of an observational setting that make people behave as they think they should

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18
Q

What are psychological tests?

A

specialized tests designed by psychologists to measure particular variables

personality tests, intelligence tests, neuropsychological tests

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19
Q

What is descriptive research?

A

seeks to explain how an individual behaves. especially in natural environments

some examples include, case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys

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20
Q

What is a case study?

A

a detailed investigation of an individual, group, or event, a single case studied in great deal

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21
Q

What are the benefits of case studies?

A

study an odd case in great detail

case may provide information that challenges a theory or provide new information that generates new ideas

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22
Q

What are some issues with case studies?

A

poor method of determining cause-effect relationships

generalizability is questionable

researcher bias

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23
Q

What is naturalistic observation?

A

observing people/animals in their natural environment

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24
Q

What are the advantages of naturalistic observation?

A

provides a rich description of behavior

can avoid demand characteristics

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25
What are the limits of naturalistic observation?
usually, experimenter cannot inform a person they are being observed requires long periods of observation to get a single measure of a desired behavior
26
What is survey research?
ask participants questions through interviews or questionnaires get a feel for the views, behaviors, experiences or traits of a population
27
What is a population?
the entire set of individuals about whom we wish to draw a conclusion
28
What is a sample?
a subset of individuals drawn from a population
29
What is a representative sample?
every member of the population has an equal probability of being chosen
30
What is a central tendency?
describing the center of the data
31
What is the mean?
average value of all measurements
32
What is a median?
value in the middle of the distribution
33
What is a mode?
value of the most frequently observed measurement
34
What is variability?
how much measurements differ from one another
35
What is range?
value of the largest measurement in a frequency distribution
36
What is standard deviation?
describes the average difference between the measurements in a frequency distribution and the mean of that distribution
37
What is correlational research?
looking for an association between two (or more) measured variables researchers care about relationships between variables
38
What is correlation?
correlation coefficient (r): describes the relationship between two variables ranges from -1.0 to +1.0 sign indicates direction absolute value indicates strength
39
What is positive correlation?
an increase in one variable relates to an increase in the other
40
What is a negative correlation?
an increase in one variable relates to a decrease in the other
41
What is does zero correlation mean?
there is no relationship the two variables are not correlated to one another
42
What are the advantages of correlational research?
show the strength of parent relationships can be used to make predictions about variables identifies "real-world" associations
43
What are the disadvantages of correlational research?
can't assume cause-effect relationship exists relationships may be due to a third unmeasured variable
44
What is experimental research?
manipulation of one variable measuring changes in another variable, while holding other factors constant
45
What is a variable?
a property whose value can change across individuals and over time
46
What is an independent variable?
the variable that is manipulated in an experiment
47
What is a dependent variable?
the variable that is measured in a study
48
What is the experimental group?
receives a treatment
49
What is a control group?
not exposed to treatment (basis for comparison)
50
What is random assignment?
a procedure in which each participant has an equal likelihood of being assigned to any one group within an experiment
51
What is between groups (between subjects) design?
each group in the experiment is composed of a different set of participants
52
What is repeated measures (within subjects) design?
each participant is exposed to all the conditions of an independent variable
53
What are ethical standards?
designed to protect the welfare of both human and animal subjects in psychological research
54
What are the ethical rules that psychologists must follow?
1. Protect and promote the welfare of participants 2. Avoid doing harm to participants 3. Not carry out any studies unless the probable benefit is proportionately greater than the risk 4. Provide informed consent 5. Ensure privacy and confidentiality
55
What is deception?
participants are misled about nature of research controversial, violates informed consent permitted only if no alternative is available must be debriefed by competent person about the true nature of research
56
What was the 1979 Belmont Report?
respect people's right to make decisions for and about themselves, no influence or coercion minimize risks and maximize benefits must distribute the benefits and risks equally to participants without prejudice towards particular individuals/groups
57
What was the Tuskegee Syphilis Study?
clinical study conduced between 1932-1972 purpose: observe natural history of untreated syphilis deception: African American men were told they were receiving free health care, and they were not informed that they were being infected with syphilis
58
What was the Milgram Experiment?
the "experimenter" was in charge of the session the "teacher", a volunteer for a single session, they were led to believe that they were actually the subjects of the experiment the "learner", an actor and a confederate of the experimenter, who pretended to be a volunteer
59
What was the Stanford Prison Experiment?
psychological effect of perceived power, focused on the struggle between prisoners and prison officers as days passed, revolts began, prisoners began to act "crazy", abuse from the guards occurred the participants internalized their roles
60
What are the ethics involved with non-human animals?
must be trained in research methods, the care of laboratory animals appropriate anesthesia and pain management minimize discomfort, infection, illness, pain procedures causing discomfort and pain only used when study shows potential for benefit
61
What are the "three R's" of working with animals?
1. Replacement: methods which avoid or replace the use of animals in research 2. Reduction: use of methods that enable researchers to obtain comparable levels of information from fewer animals 3. Refinement: use of methods that alleviate or minimize potential pain and enhance animal welfare
62
What is fear conditioning in animals?
help animals learn to avoid roads preferentially use alternative roads anthropogenic noise
63
Why do we use animals in studies?
control the influence of heredity control the influence of learning practicality need to apply procedures that would be considered unethical with humans
64
What is ethics?
it's a big deal rules are very strict and enforced peer review before publishing accountability

PSYCH 105 (8 decks)

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