exam 1 Flashcards
(69 cards)
1
Q
Psychology =
A
study of behavior
2
Q
To study behavior:
A
- Describe behavior and characteristics
- Predict behavior
- Determine the cause of behavior
2
Q
To draw conclusions about the result of an experiment
A
we observe small groups of people and we use inferential statistics
3
Q
P-value = probability of obtaining the result that you obtained if…
A
- there is no difference between the groups
- There is no real relationship between the variables you measure (for correlations)
4
Q
Level of significance (alpha)
A
the probability that is “rare enough” for you to conclude that there really IS a relationship between variables or a difference between groups ( a = 0.05)
5
Q
If p < a…
A
It means that your results are unlikely to occur when there is no real effect
Therefore, we conclude that there IS an effect
6
Q
Psychology pt. 2
A
- Study of all aspects of human and non-human behavior
- Application of scientific methods in order to understand behavior
7
Q
Ways to understand or gain knowledge about the world:
A
· Intuition
· Authority
· Scientific Approach
8
Q
Characteristics of scientific approach
A
1) Empiricism - use of objective observations to answer questions about behavior
2) Test a specific idea
3) Openly exchange ideas
4) Peer review
9
Q
Techniques for testing your ideas:
A
- Objective observation/description
- Exercise control over the situation
- Match the quality of the evidence to the nature of the claim being made
10
Q
Ways that we fool ourselves into believing what is not true
A
1) We don’t understand randomness
2) We give too much weight to confirmatory information
3) We tend to believe what we want to believe; we are not
open to contradictory ideas
11
Q
Tools of psychology
A
- Research methods
- statistics
12
Q
Idea =
A
some assertion about the world that we can test, support, or disprove through objective measurement (objective reality)
Ideas can be labeled true or false depending on the evidence
13
Q
Belief =
A
your personal decision as to the truthfulness of an idea
14
Q
Scientists test ___, they don’t test ___.
A
ideas, beliefs
15
Q
Scientists test an idea by constructing ___ for or against the idea
A
arguments
16
Q
Argument =
A
the evidence and logic used to support truth or falseness of an idea
17
Q
The cure for a fallacious argument is _________ not the suppression of ideas - Carl Sagan
A
a better argument
18
Q
THE LIFE CYCLE OF KNOWLEDGE
A
- Get an idea, perform a research project
- Present research at a conference (lecture, poster) (< 6 months)
- Prepare and submit a manuscript for publication (< 6 months)
- Peer review, revision (6 months - 1 year)
- Publication (1 - 2.5 years)
- [replication, verification] (1.5 years)
- References in other journal articles (1 - 2 years)
- References in books (3 - 5 years)
total= ~12 years
19
Q
GOALS OF THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF BEHAVIOR
A
1) Description of behavior
2) Predication of behavior
3) Determining causes of behavior
4) Explanation of behavior
20
Q
WAYS TO ACHIEVE GOALS: Describe or predict
A
Correlational research - measure two variables, determine if relationship exists
21
Q
WAYS TO ACHIEVE GOALS: Determining cause and affect or explaining behavior
A
experimental research - control one variable, determine if changing IV causes changes in DV
22
Q
Basic research =
A
gathering knowledge for the sake of gathering knowledge
23
Q
applied research =
A
particular problem in mind trying to solve through this research
ex) Benjamin franklin and electricity
24
25
Determining causes of behavior
1. Temporal precedence
2. Covariation of cause and effect
3. Elimination of plausible
alternative explanations
26
Sources of Research Ideas
- common sense
- observation
- past research
* territorial behavior*
- practical problems
- theories
27
Theory =
systematic body of observations of ideas that organizes what is known about a topic from past observations and makes predictions about future observations
28
facts about theories:
- Research provides evidence for or against a particular theory
- theories with ample support become accepted fact
- Disproved theories are modified or dropped
- To be of use, theories have to be falsifiable
29
The more ways a theory could be wrong....
The more useful the theory is
30
Hypothesis =
an assertion about what is true in a particular situation
31
Hypotheses have to be testable to be useable in research
(Not testable when:)
1) concepts are poorly defined
ex) Person committed crime because he is "mentally disturbed"
2) Hypothesis is circular
ex) Bobby is distractable and having trouble reading in school because he has ADD
3) Involves non-scientific terms (unobservable and unmeasurable) ideas or forces
ex) the devil made them do it
32
Testable hypotheses help to avoid ____ explanations and _______
after-the-fact, confirmation bias
33
The most useful theories to are...
those that can be wrong in the most ways
34
The most useful hypotheses are...
those that are testable
35
3 basic ethical principles of research
1. Beneficence
2. Respect for persons (autonomy)
3. Justice
36
Beneficence: possible benefits
Possible benefits:
□ Education, treatment for a condition
□ Satisfaction associated with helping in research that could have beneficial implications, doing a good thing as serving as a research participant
□ Monetary - rep points or money
37
Beneficence: possible risks
Possible risks:
□ Physical harm
□ Psychological stress
□ Debriefing to help alleviate psychological effect
□ Loss of privacy and confidentiality
□ Naturalistic observation and privacy issues
38
Autonomy (Informed Consent) - informed consent form
An informed subject is capable of making a decision for themselves, whether or not to participate
Informed consent form
□ Tells the participant everything and they decide whether to participate or not
□ Reasonable alternatives to participation must be available
□ No excessive inducements
- Unreasonably large payment
or reward for a study they
wouldn't otherwise
participate in
□ No technical jargon
39
Justice - selection of participants
select participants in a way that is equitable and fair to everyone
- different genders, ethnicity, socioeconomic status
40
APA ethics Code: five general principles
· Principle a: beneficence and nonmaleficence
· Principle b: fidelity and responsibility
· Principle c: Integrity
· Principle d: justice
· Principle e: respect for people's rights and dignity
41
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
- At least 5 people, one from outside the institution
- Submit an application to IRB for review and approval
42
IRB classifications of risk
minimal risk
greater than minimal risk
- physical or psychological harm
- privacy/confidentiality
43
One way to avoid placing a subject
under stress:
- Ask how they think they
would behave in a situation (rather than putting them in the actual situation)
- Problem: Subjects do not always know how they would behave in a situation
(e.g., Milgram obedience study)
44
Withholding Information and Deception
- Sometimes, fully informed subjects may alter their behavior
- Deception is used only when there are no viable alternatives
- It cannot be used if physical pain or emotional distress is likely
- if used, the subject must be informed as soon as possible (debriefing)
45
Problems with excessive use of deception
Loses effectiveness as subjects begin to expect it
Undermines public’s trust in experts
46
Debriefing =
- Researcher reveals full nature of
experiment
- The researcher assures that subject has not experienced distress
- Researcher gets information about subject’s perspective on participation
- Good for both the subject and researcher
47
Variables
1) Situational variables
2) Response variables
3) Participant or subject variables
48
Therefore, we must define our variables in terms of the way that
they are measured...they must be _______________.
operationally defined
49
Operational definition =
definition of a variable in terms
of the operations or techniques that a researcher uses
to measure or manipulate it
50
We conduct research in Psychology for many
different reasons:
- to describe behavior
- to predict behavior
- to control behavior
- to explain behavior
51
correlational research
- Measure 2 variables
- Determine whether they are related
- Cant determine temporal order of the changes in the variables, cant establish a cause and effect relationship
- In correlational, subjects are placed into groups based on their preexisting characteristics
52
experimental research
- Create 2 or more levels of the IV
- Randomly assign each subject to one level of the IV OR have each subject experience all levels of the IV
- In experimental research, the researcher manipulates and controls the level of the IV Presented to Each subject
- Manipulation of the IV precedes measurement of the DV.
53
types of validity
1) internal - extent to which we can conclude that there is a causal relationship between variables that were studied
2) external - the extent to which the results of our experiments can be generalized to other situations or subjects that we didn’t directly study
3) construct - the extent to which our operational definition of a variable really measures that variable
4) statistical - extent to which our statistical conclusions are accurate
54
experimental methods
- Direct manipulation and control of different variables
- Manipulate one variable and measure some aspect of behavior
54
Biggest threat to internal validity is...
plausible alternative explanations
55
non-experimental methods (correlational)
- observe or measure variables of interest
- behavior is observed as it naturally occurs
- Useful if we are interested in prediction
56
third variable problem (confounding variable) in correlational method
a third variable may act as a cause of the two that were measured
57
steps of Experimental method
1. examine the evidence
2. consider plausible alternative explanation
2a. the big question you should ask: COMPARED TO WHAT?
58
Experimental designs (2 basic)
1. independent groups design (between subjects design)
2. repeated measures design (within subjects design)
59
independent groups (between groups) design
* Ideally start with two identical objects and treat them differently
* Different groups experience different levels of the IV, so the IV is manipulated "between groups"
* Easy to do in the physical sciences
* Hard to do in psychology
60
How can you create equivalent things in a psychology experiment
random assignment, used to be matching (very hard)
61
Types of independent groups design
1. Posttest only design
2. pretest-posttest design
3. Solomon four-group design
62
Confounds are factors that vary ______ with the IV, as a result, it provides alternative explanations for the results
systematically
63
Repeated measures (within groups) design
- Same subjects run in many conditions
- Advantages - fewer participants needed and more sensitive to the effects of the IV
- Disadvantage - order effects
64
types of order effects
1. practice - subjects performance gets better over time
2. fatigue - subjects performance gets worse over time
3. contrast (interference) - behavior in one condition affects subsequent behavior
65
solution to order effects
1. complete counterbalancing - all possible orders are presented (to all or different subjects)
2. incomplete counterbalancing - not all orders are presented (latin square design)
3. ABBA counterbalancing - run conditions once in one order, then again in reverse order (doesn't eliminate just spreads effects across conditions)
66
Cant use repeated measures if...
treatment changes the subject in some way
67
Matched pairs design
* Useful if only a few subjects are available
* Measure DV or something closely related
* Rank order results, and assign pairs of subjects to different groups
* At least groups will be equated on DV prior to manipulating IV
