Chapter 2

Question 1

What are the cognitive bias’s in research?

Answer 1

1. Hindsight bias
2. Confirmation bias
3. Belif perseverance

Question 2

What is hindsight bias?

Answer 2

->the tendency to overestimate how well we could have predicted an outcome after it has already occurred

->AKA the “I knew it all along” phenomenon
—>something happens and you feel you knew that would happen already

EX. lots of government officials say they knew 9/11 was going to happen

Question 3

Why is hindsight bias problematic in research?

Answer 3

It leads to overconfidence, ignoring alternative explanations, and a failure to consider other perspectives.

Question 4

What is confirmation bias?

Answer 4

->Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypotheses and ignore or distort evidence that contradicts them

->often referred to as the “mother of all biases.”

->seek and you shall find

Question 5

Why is confirmation bias dangerous in research?

Answer 5

It can skew results by reinforcing preexisting beliefs, leading to selective data interpretation and flawed conclusions

Question 6

What is belief perseverance?

Answer 6

->a tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them

->similar to confirmation but not actively seeking out info but just stick to your guns

Question 7

What’s a theory?

Answer 7

an organized set of principles that can be used to explain observed phenomena

Question 8

What’s a hypothesis?

Answer 8

a testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables.

Question 9

What is the process of theory refinement?

Answer 9

1. Develop a theory
2. Test specific hypotheses derived from the theory
3. Revise the theory and formulate new hypotheses based on results

Question 10

What’s validity?

Answer 10

The extent to which a method accurately measures something

Question 11

What is internal validity?

Answer 11

The extent to which we can draw cause-and effect conclusions

->make cause and effect statements and find relationship between 2 variables = experiment methods only as you can manipulate and control variables

Question 12

What is external validity?

Answer 12

The extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other situations and other people

->use these finding to generalize to whole population

Question 13

What are the three types of research methods in social psychology?

Answer 13

1. Observational methods.
2. Correlational methods.
3. Experimental methods.

Question 14

What is the observational method?

Answer 14

A technique where researchers systematically observe and record behavior

->Describes a behavior

-> Observing behavior in real-world settings

->ethnography

->archival analysis

Question 15

What is ethnography and what are the types?

Answer 15

->Observing a group or culture from the inside without imposing preconceived notions

->interaction with people

->Etic Approach: outside approach, want to see if there are cross culture differences, use your lens to observe and learn about that culture

->Emic Approach: insiders perspective, not imposing your ideas, immerse yourself in that culture to try and become member of that culture

Question 16

What’s archival analysis?

Answer 16

->Examining cultural documents like diaries, magazines, or newspapers.

->provides a unique look at the values of a culture

EX. portrayal of women in advertisements/magazines

Question 17

What are key issues with observational methods?

Answer 17

1. Observer effect
   ->knowing you’re being observed impacts your behavior
2. Observer bias
   ->observing behaviors not related to study or only the behaviors that supports your pov etc
3. Inability to infer causation

Question 18

What’s the Correlational method?

Answer 18

-> researchers systematically measure two or more variables and assess the relation between them (allows us to make predictions)
—>Measures how much one variable can be predicted by the other

-> The relation between variables is expressed as a correlation coefficient (r)

-> Correlations can be positive or negative

Question 19

What is a correlation coefficient?

Answer 19

A statistic (r) ranging from -1 to +1 that indicates the strength and direction of the relationship between variables

-> (+) and (-) determines the direction not the strength

Question 20

Describe positive and negative correlations

Answer 20

->Positive correlations indicate that an increase in one variable is associated with an increase in the other
EX. more psychology classes student attend = the better they tend to do on their psyc exam

->Negative correlations indicate that an increase in one variable is associated with a decrease in the other
EX. more beer student drinks = the worse they do on the first psyc exam

->Zero Correlation
EX. no relationship between shoe size and scores on the psyc exam
→third variable problem, there is a 3rd variable that impacts your results, for example above it would be age

Question 21

The correlational method often uses…

What are the advantages and disadvantages to this?

Answer 21

…surveys

->research in which a representative sample of people are asked questions about their attitudes or behavior

->advantage as allows researchers to:
—> Judge the relationship between variables that are often difficult to observe - direct access to info
—> Easy to administer

->Disadvantages:
—>potential of dishonesty
—>social desirability bias - want to be seen in a positive light

Question 22

What are the major limitations of correlations?

Answer 22

->they do not tell the causal direction of the relationship; they only indicate if two variables are related

→Correlation does not equal causation!

Question 23

What is the experimental method used for?

Answer 23

->only way to determine causation is through experimentation!

->Determining causation by manipulating an independent variable (IV) and measuring its effect on a dependent variable (DV)

Question 24

What’s an independent variable?

Answer 24

this is the variable the researcher changes or varies to see if it has an effect on some other variable

Question 25

What's a dependent variable?

Answer 25

this is the variable a researcher measures to see if it is influenced by the independent variable

Question 26

Experiments strive to achieve high...

Answer 26

...internal validity ->ensured by controlling extraneous variables and using random assignment ->researchers must keep everything about the situation the same except the independent variable ->Ensures that these conditions are identical, except for the independent variable -> Experimental and Control Group (only change is the manipulated IV)

Question 27

What is a p-value, and when are results significant?

Answer 27

->probability level --->the probability that results occurred by chance ->Results are significant if p < 0.05 ->calculated with statistical techniques

Question 28

Experiments also strive to have high...

Answer 28

...external validity ->the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other situations and other people

Question 29

What are the two kinds of generalizability?

Answer 29

1. Generalizability across situations ->real life situations vs artificial setting ->To overcome the artificiality of the experimental setting, researchers aim for psychological realism: having the experiment trigger the same perceptions, thoughts, and decision making as would occur in everyday life -> Cover stories, in which participants are told that the purpose of the study is different than it really is, are used to heighten psychological realism 2. Generalizability across people ->people in general ->Random selection is important

Question 30

What are field experiments?

Answer 30

→ Conducting experiments in a natural setting, rather than the laboratory → An effective way to increase external validity

Question 31

When conducting experiments why is there a trade off between internal and external validity?

Answer 31

→having enough control over the situation to ensure that no extraneous variables are influencing the results →ensuring the results can be generalized to everyday life

Question 32

Can an experiment have both internal and external validity?

Answer 32

->they both aren't typically captured in one experiment ->Most social psychologists opt first for internal validity

Question 33

What is the ultimate test for external validity?

Answer 33

Replication (i.e., repeating a study, often with different subject populations, or in different settings)

Question 34

What's meta analysis?

Answer 34

a statistical technique that is used to make sense of the results from multiple studies, by averaging the results - allows us to see if the effect of an independent variable is reliable

Question 35

What is the focus and questions answered for each method listed: 1. Observational 2. Correlational 3. Experimental

Answer 35

1. F = Description QA = What is the nature of the phenomenon? 2. F = Description QA = What's the relation between variable X & Y? 3. F = Causality QA = Is variable X a cause of variable Y?

Question 36

What is basic research?

Answer 36

designed to find out why people behave the way they do – it is conducted purely for reasons of intellectual curiosity

Question 37

What's applied research?

Answer 37

involves studies designed to solve a particular social problem; building a theory of behavior is usually secondary to solving the problem (applying something to solve a problem)

Question 38

What's cross cultural research?

Answer 38

→ Studying whether psychological processes differ in different cultures → Researchers have to avoid imposing their own viewpoints and definitions onto another culture

Question 39

What's social neuroscience?

Answer 39

→ Studying the connection between biological processes and social behavior EX. studying brain activity and its relation to behavior and social info processing using techniques like the functional MRI

Question 40

What are researchers required to ensure in their studies?

Answer 40

The health, welfare, and comfort of research participants. ->and informed consent ->Participants must be told that they can withdraw at any time, without any negative consequences ->Confidentiality of participants’ responses must be assured

Question 41

What is informed consent?

Answer 41

Consent given after participants are fully informed about the nature and potential consequences of the study.

Question 42

What is deception in research?

Answer 42

->participants are misled about the true purpose of a study or the events that will actually transpire ->need to prove you need deception for your study ->when used, researchers must arrange a debriefing session, in which the purpose of the study and exactly what transpired is explained to the participants at the end of the experiment

Question 43

What's the difference between consent and informed consent?

Answer 43

consent is the act of agreeing to something, while informed consent is consent that is given after a person is fully informed about the potential consequences

Question 44

What are the main ethical principles in social psychology research?

Answer 44

1. Respect for Persons - forms the foundation for other principles 2. Informed Consent - researcher should describe the procedure to participants before they take part in the study and document their agreement 3. Minimizing Harm - must to take steps to avoid harming their participants 4. Freedom to Withdraw - inform participants they can leave study at any point with no consequences 5. Privacy and Confidentiality - all info obtained from participants must be held in strict confidence 6. Use of Deception - may be used only if there is no other variable means of testing a hypothesis and doesn’t put participants at risk. Participants must be debriefed after the study (told the procedures)