Chapter 2

Question 1

What are the five characteristics of scientific psychological research?

Answer 1

1. Precision- start with a scientific theory, then a hypothesis, then a prediction, then testing
2. Skepticism- treating conclusions, both new and old, with caution (no ideas accepted on faith or authority)
3. Reliance on empirical evidence- everything must be backed up by empirical evidence
4. Willingness to make “risky predictions”- being able to not only predict what will happen but also what won’t happen
   5- Openness- free flow of ideas and full disclosure of procedures in a study

Question 2

What are operational definitions?

Answer 2

Specify how the phenomena in question are to be observed and measured

Question 3

What is a theory?

Answer 3

An organized system of assumptions and principles that purports to explain certain phenomena and how they are related

Question 4

What is the principle of falsifiability?

Answer 4

States that a related principle is that a scientist must state an idea in such a way that it can be refuted, or disapproved by counter evidence

Question 5

What does WEIRDos stand for?

Answer 5

Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic cultures
The name of the selection of people for a sample

Question 6

What are case studies?

Answer 6

A detailed description of a particular individual based on careful observation or formal psychological testing
Illustrate psych principles in a way that statistics cannot
Produce a more detailed picture of individuals
Con- hard to generalize

Question 7

What are observational studies?

Answer 7

The researcher observes, measures, and records behaviour, taking care to avoid intruding on the people (or animals) being observed
Involve many participants unlike case studies
Presence of researchers and medical equipment may cause people to behave differently

Question 8

What are naturalistic observation and laboratory observation?

Answer 8

Sunsets of observational studies
Naturalistic- recording in the individuals natural environment
Laboratory- in a controlled lab setting

Question 9

What are psychological tests?
Objective tests?
Projective tests?

Answer 9

Procedures for measuring and evaluating personality traits, emotions, aptitude’s, interests, etc
Objective tests measure beliefs feelings or behaviours
Projective tests are designed to tap unconscious feelings or motives

Question 10

How do you test reliability of a test? (Standardization)

Answer 10

Test re test where you give the same people the same test and see if their scores are similar

A test is standardized when uniform procedures for giving & scoring exist

Question 11

What is content validity and criterion validity in tests?

What is validity?

Answer 11

Content- if the items broadly represent the trait in question
Criterion- the ability to to predict independent measures or criteria of the trait in question

Validity is the ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure

Question 12

What are surveys?

Answer 12

Questionnaires and interviews that gather information by asking people directly about their experiences, attitudes, or opinions

Question 13

What are problems with surveys?

Answer 13

Sampling/volunteer bias
Lack of self awareness
Social desirability bias
People sometimes lie

Question 14

What is a correlation?

Answer 14

Numerical measure of the strength of a relation between to things (variables)

A correlation does not establish causation

Also be aware of a third variable in correlation studies

Question 15

What is a positive correlation?

Example?

Answer 15

Means that high values of one variable are associated with high values of the other (and same with low values)
Height, weight, and school grades are positively correlated

Graph of dots going up and to the right since high numbers match

Question 16

What is negative correlation?

Example?

Answer 16

Means that high values of one variable are associated with low values of the other

Ex: the older people are, the fewer kilometres they can run

Graph of dots going down and to the right since high numbers of one math with low numbers of the other

Question 17

What is the coefficient of correlation?

What is perfect positive and negative correlation?

Answer 17

Statistic used to express a correlation
Conveys both size and direction of the correlation

Perfect positive correlation is +1.00
Perfect negative correlation is -1.00

Question 18

What is an experiment?

Answer 18

It allows a researcher to control and manipulate the situation being studied
Establishing cause and effect

Question 19

What is the independent variable and the dependant variable in experiments?

Answer 19

Independent (IV)- the one manipulated or varied by researcher
Dependant (DV)- the one you expect to change as a result

Question 20

What is a control condition in experiments?

Answer 20

Participants are treated exactly as they are in the experimental condition, except that they are not exposed to the same treatment or manipulation of the independent variable

(A comparison condition)

Question 21

What is a single-blind study compared to a double-blind study?

Answer 21

Single- participants do not know whether they are in the control group or the experimental group
Double- the person running the experiment who has contact with the participants also doesn’t know who is in each group

Question 22

What are the three major concerns that arise in cross-cultural research?

Answer 22

1. Methods and sampling
2. Stereotyping
3. Reification- to regard an intangible process

Question 23

What is descriptive statistics?

What is the arithmetic mean?

Answer 23

Numbers that summarize and organize data

Mean- type of average calculated by adding up all the individual scores and dividing by the number of scores

Question 24

What is standard deviation?

Answer 24

Tells us how flustered or spread out the individual scores are around the mean

Question 25

What are inferential statistics?

Answer 25

Statistics that do not merely describe or summarize the data; they permit a researcher to draw inferences

Question 26

What are significance tests? What do psychologists consider significant? What’s the p value?

Answer 26

Tells researchers how likely it is that their result occurred by chance If 5 or fewer times out of 100 repetitions of the study something occurs by chance then it’s significant P< 0.05

Question 27

What’s the difference between cross sectional and longitudinal studies?

Answer 27

``` Cross sectional- different groups are compared at the same time Group A (age 20) Group B (age 50) Group C (age 80) Longitudinal- the same people are followed over a period of time and are assessed at intervals Group A (age 20) -> Group A (age 50) -> Group A (age 80) ```

Question 28

What is meta analysis?

Answer 28

A set of statistical techniques that combines and analyzes data from a number of related studies instead of assessing each study’s results separately

Question 29

What is Bayesian statistics?

Answer 29

Involves a formula that takes prior knowledge into consideration when evaluating any finding

Question 30

What are the 8 major principles of the codes for conducting ethical research?

Answer 30

1. Respect for human dignity 2. Respect for free and informed consent 3. Respect for vulnerable persons 4. Respect for privacy 5. Respect for justice and inclusiveness 6. Balancing harms and benefits 7. Minimizing harm 8. Maximizing benefit

Question 31

What are the 5 reasons psychologists study animals?

Answer 31

1. To conduct basic research on a particular species 2. To discover practical applications 3. To clarify theoretical questions 4. To study issues that cannot be studied in humans 5. To improve human and animal welfare

Question 32

What does conspecific mean?

Answer 32

Member of the same species

Question 33

What is a random assignment?

Answer 33

Procedure for assigning people to experimental & control groups in which each individual has the same probability as any other of begun assigned to a given group

Question 34

What are the 3 ways psychologists evaluate results?

Answer 34

1. Describe them 2. Asses how reliable & meaningful they are 3. Figure out how to explain them