Exam #2 Flashcards

Question

Discriminant validity+

Answer 1

Scores on the measure are not related to other measures that are theoretically different. Discriminant validity specifically measures whether constructs that theoretically should not be related to each other are, in fact, unrelated. e.g. depression is not the same as a person’s perception of their overall physical health For example, the scores of two tests measuring security and loneliness theoretically should not be correlated. In other words, individuals scoring high in security are not expected to score high in loneliness. If that proves true, these 2 tests would have high discriminant validity.

Answer 2

A method of posing questions to people on the telephone, in personal interviews, on written questionnaires, or via the Internet. Also called polls. But, it is often used when people are asked about consumer products.

Answer 3

A method of posing questions to people on the telephone, in personal interviews, on written questionnaires, or via the Internet. Also called survey. But, it is often used when people are asked about their social or political opinions.

Answer 4

The process of watching people or animals and systematically recording how they behave or what they are doing. Some claims based on observational data. – Observing how much people talk, behave, etc. Strength - for people that struggle with introspection.

Answer 5

a bias that occurs, when observers' expectations influence their interpretation of participant behavior or outcomes of the study. Instead of rating behaviors objectively, observers rate behaviors according to their own expectations or hypotheses.

Answer 6

observers inadvertently change the behavior of the participants they are observing. - Observers not only see what they expect to see; sometimes they even cause the behavior of those they are observing, such as rats to conform to their expectations.

Answer 7

-Public settings usually ok. Most psychologists believe it is ethical to watch people in museums and classrooms, at sports events, or even at the sinks of public bathrooms. -Private settings require more attention and policies. In most cases, psychologists doing research must obtain permission in advance to watch or to record people’s private behavior. If hidden video recording is used, the researcher must explain the procedure at the conclusion of the study.

Answer 8

- Researchers can assess the construct validity of a coded measure by using multiple observers. - Masked design/blind design- observers are unaware of the purpose of the study and the conditions/groups participants assigned to. - Training for observers If there is disagreement, the researchers may need to train their observers better and develop a clearer coding system for rating the behaviors. - "Blend in". One way to avoid observer effects is to make unobtrusive observations—that is, make yourself less noticeable. - "Wait it out". A researcher who plans to observe at a school might let the children get used to his or her presence until they forget they’re being watched. - "Indirect measure". Instead of observing behavior directly, researchers measure the traces a particular behavior leaves behind. e.g. The number of empty liquor bottles in residential garbage indicates how much alcohol is being consumed in a community. (- Researchers develop clear rating instructions, often called codebooks, so the observers can make reliable judgments with minimal bias.)

Answer 9

The way a question is worded and presented in a survey can make a tremendous difference in how people answer.

Answer 10

A type of question in a survey or poll that is problematic because it asks two questions in one, thereby weakening its construct validity. People might be responding to the first half of the question, the second half, or both. e.g. Do you enjoy swimming and running?

Answer 11

A question in a survey or poll that contains negatively phrased statements, making its wording complicated or confusing and potentially weakening its construct validity. Ex: People who do not drive with an expired license should never be punished. “It’s impossible that it never happened.” In order to give your opinion, you must be able to unpack the double negative of “and“ So instead of measuring people’s beliefs, the question may be measuring people’s working memory.

Answer 12

One potential response set is acquiescence, or "yea saying". This occurs when people say “yes” or “strongly agree” to every item instead of thinking carefully about each one. For example, a respondent might answer “5” to every item on Diener’s scale of subjective well-being—not because the respondent is happy, but because that person is using a yea-saying shortcut. It can threaten construct validity because instead of measuring the construct of true feelings of well-being, the survey could be measuring the lack of motivation to think carefully.

Answer 13

Open-ended - A survey question format that allows respondents to answer any way they like. They might ask people to name the public figure they admire the most or comment on their experience at a hotel. Ex: What do you think of this food? (Lots of answers) Closed-ended - A survey question format in which respondents give their opinion by picking the best of two or more options. Ex: Do you like this food? ( Yes no answer) Would you vote for the Republican Or the Democrat? Forced-choice questions are also used to measure personality.

Answer 14

A survey question format using a response scale whose numbers are anchored with adjectives. e.g. on the Internet site RateMyProfessors.com, students assign ratings to a professor using the following adjective phrases. "Profs get F's too 1 2 3 4 5 A real gem" Internet rating sites (like Yelp) use is another example: one star means “poor” or (on Yelp) “Eek! Methinks not,” and five stars means “outstanding” or even “Woohoo! As good as it gets!”

Answer 15

A survey question format using a rating scale containing multiple response options labeled with the specific terms: strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, and strongly disagree. - A scale that does not follow this format exactly is called a Likert-type scale.

Answer 16

Scientists had concluded that a horse nicknamed Clever Hans was truly capable of doing math. Suspecting the animal was sensing subtle nonverbal cues, from his human questioners, Pfungst showed the horse a series of cards printed with numbers. He alternated situations in which the questioner could or could not see each card. As it turned out, the horse extremely clever—but not at math. He was smart at detecting the subtle head movements of the questioner.

Answer 17

It's a nonverbal scale for children e.g. Pain scale with pictures

Answer 18

-mail surveys -online surveys -interviews: Personal administration to groups or individuals.

Answer 19

- Face-to-face interviews: Interviewer and respondent meet. - Telephone interviews: Conducted over a telephone with or without computer assistance. - Computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI): Telephone interview where the interviewer uses a computer to prompt questions and record responses. - Interactive voice response (IVR): Telephone interview technique where respondents listen to questions and use a keypad or voice recognition system to respond. - Focus group interviews: Conducted with a group of individuals chosen to answer practice questions and to provide feedback.

Answer 20

also known as “non-differentiation” are short-cuts used when answering questions, usually in a long survey. It is a tendency to respond to survey questions from a particular perspective rather than answering questions directly. - It weakens construct validity

Answer 21

Playing it safe by answering in the middle of the scale for every question in a survey or interview, especially when survey items are controversial or when a question is confusing and unclear. Of course, some people honestly may have no opinion on the questions; in that case, they choose the middle option for a valid reason (no opinion or I don't know). It can be difficult to distinguish those who are unwilling to take a side from those who are truly ambivalent. - it weakens construct validity - to protect against it, use even number of questions so participant is forced to pick a side or use forced choice questions

Answer 22

the tendency to answer questions in the way that make one look better than one really is (threatens construct and statistical validity). Also called faking good. The idea is that because respondents are embarrassed, shy, or worried about giving an unpopular opinion, they will not tell the truth on a survey or other measure. - To avoid socially desirable responding, a researcher might ensure that the participants know their responses are anonymous.

Answer 23

Faking good - Giving answers on a survey (or other self-report measure) that make one look better than one really is. Faking bad - Giving answers on a survey (or other self-report measure) that make one look worse than one really is. e.g. A person stuck in a pattern of hopelessness who avoids having to change by believing, “I am bad; nobody accepts me; nothing will change”. These individuals attempt to convince others that they are 'hopeless cases'.

Answer 24

A change in behavior of study participants (such as acting less spontaneously) because they are aware they are being watched. They might react by being on their best behavior—or in some cases, their worst—rather than displaying their typical behavior. e.g. Suppose you’re visiting a first-grade classroom to observe the children. You walk quietly to the back of the room and sit down to watch what the children do. What will you see? A roomful of little heads looking at you!

Answer 25

The extent to which the subjects in a study represent the populations they are intended to represent or how well the settings in a study represent other settings. Questions to ask: How did the researchers choose the study’s participants, and how well do those participants represent the intended population? The whole point with external validity of frequency claim is generalizability. e.g. “74% of the world smiled yesterday.” Did Gallup researchers survey every one of the world’s 8 billion people to come up with this number?

Answer 26

Population- entire set of people or things in which you are interested; for example, all freshman currently enrolled at your college or university. Sample- smaller set of people or things that is taken from the population; for example, 100 freshman currently enrolled at your college or university.

Answer 27

- In a biased sample (unrepresentative sample), not all members of a population have an equal probability of being included. - In an unbiased sample (representative sample), all members of the population have an equal probability of being included (random). We can only make inferences from the sample to the population of interest when we have a representative sample.

Answer 28

A category name for random sampling techniques, such as simple random sampling, stratified random sampling, oversampling, multistage and cluster sampling, in which every member of the population of interest has an equal chance of being selected for the sample (also known as random sampling).

Answer 29

A category name for nonrandom sampling techniques, such as convenience, purposive, and quota sampling, that result in a biased sample.

Answer 30

The most basic form of probability sampling, in which the sample is chosen completely at random from the population of interest (e.g., drawing names out of a hat). Ex: putting every member of the population of interest in a pool and then randomly selecting a number of names from the pool to include in your sample.

Answer 31

Random sampling: creating a sample using some random method so that each member of the population of interest has an equal chance of being in the sample; this method increases external validity. Random assignment: only used in experiments; participants are randomly put into different groups (usually a treatment group and a comparison group); this method increases internal validity (e.g. flipping a coin).

Answer 32

A form of probability sampling; A multistage technique in which the researcher selects specific demographic categories or strata (such as race or gender) and then randomly selects individuals from each of the categories. The population is divided into subgroups (strata), and random samples are taken from each strata. For example, a group of researchers might want to be sure their sample of 1,000 Canadians includes people of South Asian descent in the same proportion as in the Canadian population (which is 4%). Thus, they might have two categories (strata) in their population: South Asian Canadians and other Canadians.

Answer 33

Clusters of participants within a population of interest are randomly selected, and then all individuals in each selected cluster are used. Clusters are identified, and samples are taken from those clusters. For example, we choose a cluster (sample) of 50 hospitals in Philadelphia and we choose all the doctors from each of 50 hospital.

Answer 34

Choosing a sample based on those who are easiest to access and readily available; a biased sampling technique. “Haphazard” or “take-them-where-you-find-them” sampling. Ex: Psychology studies are often conducted by psychology professors, and they find it handy to use easy-to-reach college students as participants. Another e.g. is used in online studies. Psychologists may conduct research through websites such as Prolific Academic or Amazon’s Mechanical Turk.

Answer 35

A biased sampling technique in which only certain kinds of people are included in a sample, so you only recruit those types of participants. - Sample meets predetermined criterion For example, if you wanted to recruit smokers, you might recruit participants from a tobacco store.

Answer 36

similar to stratified random sampling; A biased sampling technique (not random) in which the researcher identifies subsets of the population and then sets a target number (i.e., a quota) for each category in the sample. Then she uses nonrandom sampling until the quotas are filled. e.g. - You would like to have 20 college freshman, 20 sophomores, 20 juniors, and 20 seniors in your sample. You know some people in each of these categories but not 20 of each, so you might use snowball sampling until you meet your quota of 20 in each subset.

Answer 37

A probability sampling technique involving at least 2 stages: a random sample of clusters followed by a random sample of people within the selected clusters. e.g. we choose a cluster (sample) of 50 hospitals in Philadelphia, but we choose only a certain number of doctors instead of all, for example only 3 doctors from each of 50 hospitals.

Answer 38

A form of probability sampling; a variation of stratified random sampling in which a researcher over represents one or more groups. e.g., Perhaps a researcher wants to sample 1,000 people, making sure to include South Asians in the sample. Maybe the researcher’s population of interest has a low percentage of South Asians (say, 4%). Because 40 individuals may not be enough to make accurate statistical estimates, the researcher decides that of the 1,000 people he samples, a full 100 will be sampled at random from the Canadian South Asian community.

Answer 39

A probability sampling technique in which the researcher uses a randomly chosen number, such as 9-th and counts off every 4-th member of a population to achieve a sample. - Using a computer or a random number table, the researcher starts by selecting two random numbers— say, 4 and 7. If the population of interest is a roomful of students, the researcher would start with the fourth person in the room and then count off, choosing every seventh person until the sample is the desired size.

Answer 40

a variation on purposive sampling in which participants are asked to recommend other participants for the study. - Snowball sampling is unrepresentative (biased) sampling technique, because people are recruited via social networks, which are not random. For example, for a study on coping behaviors in people who have Crohn’s disease, for example, a researcher might start with one or two who have the condition, and then ask them to recruit people from their support groups. Each of them might, in turn, recruit one or two more acquaintances, until the sample is large enough.

Answer 41

A form of sampling bias that occurs when a sample contains only people who volunteer to participate. - Self-selection is especially prevalent in online polls. - Self- selection can cause serious problems for external validity. e.g. When Internet users choose to rate something—a product on Amazon.com, an online quiz on Twitter or BuzzFeed.com, a professor on RateMyProfessors.com—they are self-selecting when doing so.

Answer 42

In a frequency claim, external validity is a priority. - External validity is extremely important when making frequency claims because you are reporting on how often something happens in a population. - external validity concerns both samples and settings. e.g. "Does the sample of drivers who were asked about road rage adequately represent American drivers?” “Can feelings of the Afghan people in the sample generalize to all the people in Afghanistan?” “Can we predict the results of the election if the polling sample consisted of 1,500 people?”

Answer 43

- Nonprobability samples in the real world Consider whether self-selection affects the results of an online shopping rating, as in the Zappos.com headline “61% said this shoe felt true to size.” You can be pretty sure the people who rated the fit of these shoes are self-selected and therefore don’t represent all the people who own that model. Are the feet of raters likely to be very different from those of the general population? Probably not, so their opinions about the fit of the shoes might generalize. If you believe this self-selected sample is almost the same as those of others who bought the shoes, their ratings might be accurate for you after all. - Nonprobability samples in research studies e.g. recall the 30 dual-earner families who allowed the researchers to videotape their evening activities. Only certain kinds of families will let researchers walk around the house and record everyone’s behavior. Would this self-selection affect the conclusions of the study? The researchers may have to live with some uncertainty about the generalizability of their data. However, our uncertainty does not mean that the results are wrong or even uninteresting.

Answer 44

Large samples are not more representative than smaller samples. - When a phenomenon is rare, we do need a large random sample in order to locate enough instances of that phenomenon for valid statistical analysis. But for most variables, when researchers are striving to generalize from a sample to a population, the size of the sample is in fact much less important than how that sample was selected. When it comes to the external validity of the sample, it’s how, not how many. - the margin of error is a statistic that sets up the confidence interval for a study’s estimate; the larger the sample size, the smaller the margin of error. That’s why many researchers consider 1,000 to be an optimal balance, which can generalize to the whole population. - In effect, sample size is not an external validity issue; it is a statistical validity issue.

Answer 45

a trick question, which presupposes at least one unverified assumption that the person being questioned is likely to disagree with. For example, the question “have you stopped mistreating your pet?” is a loaded question, because it presupposes that you have been mistreating your pet

Answer 46

study of our internal mental processes, abilities to think and memory.

Answer 47

Expectations impact behavior- if we expect something to happen it probably will happen Self fulfilling prophecy. One way of describing this concept is that if we expect something to happen in a certain way, our expectation will tend to make it so. Rosenthal study with psychology students on learning and conditioning. Ex: rats told to be smarter were rated as faster. E.g. "Clever Hans"

Answer 48

Rosenthal suspected that when an elementary school teacher is provided with information that creates certain expectancies about students’ potential (such as intelligence scores), whether strong or weak, the teacher might unknowingly behave in ways that subtly encourage or facilitate the performance of the students seen as more likely to succeed. This, in turn, would create the self-fulfilling prophecy of actually causing those students to excel. - Rosenthal and his colleague Jacobson obtained the assistance of an elementary school (called Oak School) in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in a large town.

Answer 49

All the students in grades 1 through 6 were given an intelligence test (the Tests of General Ability, or TOGA) near the beginning of the academic year. - TOGA- Nonverbal test for which a student’s score did not depend primarily upon school-learned skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. The teachers were told that the students were being given the “Harvard Test of Inflected Acquisition.” Teachers believed that students who scored high on the test were ready to enter a period of increased learning abilities within the next year. All of the 18 teachers (16 women, 2 men) for these classes were given a list of names of students in their classes who had scored in the top 20% on the Harvard Test and were, therefore, identified as potential academic bloomers during the academic year. Not true scores- students were randomly assigned to conditions. End of year kids tested again on the same test (the TOGA), and the degree of change in IQ was calculated for each child.

Answer 50

For the entire school, the children for whom the teachers had expected greater intellectual growth averaged significantly greater improvement than did the control children. - Most of change driven by 1st and 2nd graders.

Answer 51

-Expectancy effect -Ethical nature of study -Long term impact of expectations -Cultural bias of IQ testing

Answer 52

3 groups: - Group C (the control group) was exposed to a complex maze using the standard procedure of one run through the maze each day with a food reward at the end of the maze. - Group N (no reward) was exposed to the maze for the same amount of time each day but found no food and received no reward for any behavior in the maze. - Group D (delayed reward) was treated exactly like group N for the first 10 days of the study, but then on day 11 found food at the end of the maze and continued to find it each day thereafter.

Answer 53

Rats in groups N (no rewards) and D (delayed reward) did not learn much of anything about the maze when they were not receiving any reward for running through the maze. The control rats learned the maze to near perfection in about 2 weeks. However, when the rats in group D discovered a reason to run the maze (food!), they learned it to near perfection in only about 3 days (day 11 to day 13). - Evidence for latent learning

Answer 54

Tolman’s spatial orientation technique was designed to show that rats trained in a maze actually know the location in space of the food reward relative to their starting position even if the elements of the maze are radically changed, or even removed. We develop conceptual maps or “lay of the land”

Answer 55

Loftus has found that when an event is recalled, it is not accurately re-created. Instead, what is recalled is a reconstruction of the actual event. Loftus’s research has demonstrated that reconstructive memory is a result of our use of new and existing information to fill in the gaps in our recall of an experience. She maintains that memories are not stable, but that they are malleable and changeable over time. - This new information, in turn, causes your representation of the original memory to be altered or reconstructed. Later, if you are asked a question about the event, your recall will not be of the actual original event but, rather, your reconstruction of it.

Answer 56

Wording of questions can impact memory Ex: Did you see A broken highlight or did you see THE broken headlight? - the power of questions containing presuppositions to alter a person’s memory of an event. Loftus defines a presupposition as a condition that must be true for the question to make sense.

Answer 57

- Memories not as strong or as accurate as we think - Humans can be “tricked/fooled” into believing certain events happened - False memory debate - Eyewitness testimony - Child abuse history

Answer 58

built on research about brain structure Gardner then developed a set of eight indicators or “signs” that define an intelligence. Any intellectual ability, or set of abilities, must map onto most of these criteria, if it is to be considered a separate, autonomous intelligence.

Answer 59

1. Linguistic 2. Musical 3. Logical-Mathematical 4. Spatial 5. Interpersonal 6. Bodily/Kinesthetic 7. Intrapersonal 8. Naturalistic

Answer 60

1. Potential isolation of the intelligence by brain damage. 2. The existence of savants, prodigies, and other exceptional individuals relating to the intelligence. 3. A clear set of information processing operations linked to intelligence (core operations) 4. A distinctive developmental history of the intelligence and the potential to reach high levels of expertise. 5. Evidence that the intelligence has developed through evolutionary time. 6. Ability to study the intelligence with psychological experiments. 7. Ability to measure the intelligence with existing standardized tests. 8. Aspects of the intelligence may be represented by a system of symbols.

Answer 61

- People are smart in different way - Use in education MI Theory has been applied in educational settings, especially K–12, which is focused on applying his ideas to enhancing the educational process for children and adults. - MI Theory mapped well onto growing concerns and research about learning disabilities and was largely responsible for the reformulation in edu- cation of “learning disabilities” into “learning differences.”

Answer 62

Implicit in Rosenzweig’s research was the belief that animals raised in highly stimulating environments will demonstrate differences in brain growth and chemistry when compared with animals reared in plain or dull circum- stances. In each of the experiments reported in this article, 12 sets of 3 male rats, each set from the same litter, were studied.

Answer 63

- Three male rats were chosen from each litter. They were then randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Group 1- laboratory cage with the rest of the colony. The standard laboratory colony cage contained several rats in an adequate space with food and water always available. Group 2- “enriched” environment cage Six to eight rats lived in a large cage with new toys and stimulating activities Group 3- “impoverished” cage The impoverished environment was a slightly smaller cage isolated in a separate room in which the rat was placed alone with adequate food and water. 12 rats were placed in each of these conditions for each of the 16 experiments. Rats’ brains were then measured, weighed, and analyzed to determine the amount of cell growth and levels of neurotransmitter activity.

Answer 64

More Acetylcholinesterase in brains of enriched rats The cerebral cortex (the part of the brain that responds to experience and is responsible for movement, memory, learning etc.) of the enriched rats was significantly heavier and thicker. No significant differences were found between the two groups of rats in the number of brain cells (neurons), the enriched environment produced larger neurons.

Answer 65

Artificial finding only in lab? Will it extend to real life Rats vs. humans Take home message- environment may impact brain development Many aspects of brain anatomy and chemistry are changed by experience!! Some evidence exists to indicate that experience does indeed alter brain development in humans. Through careful autopsies of humans who have died naturally, it appears that as a person develops a greater number of skills and abilities, the brain actually becomes more complex and heavier. Learning is impacted by enriched environments Stimulated brain activities over a lifetime is beneficial for brain health

Answer 66

genetic factors (or the genome) appear to account for most of the variations in a remarkable variety of human characteristics. This finding was demonstrated by the data in two important ways: 1) genetically identical humans (monozygotic twins), who were raised in separate and often very different settings, grew into adults who were extraordinarily similar, not only in appearance but also in basic psychology and personality. 2) the dominance of genes is the fact that there appeared to be little effect of the environment on identical twins who were raised in the same setting.

Answer 67

Test twins- identical and fraternal and twins raised together and separately. - 50 hours of testing within one week - Twins tested separately Multiple domains of functioning assessed including personality, psychological functioning, physical health, social attitudes and IQ.

Answer 68

High correlations for all domains assessed Twins reared apart and together were very similar in all areas of functioning Results provide support for nature side of debate

Answer 69

Genetics has a huge impact on IQ Human characteristics are determined by some combination of genetic and environmental influences. Lots of critics- what about free will?

Answer 70

skills needed to assess depth and spatial relationships. - the goal of this research was to examine whether depth perception is learned or innate

Answer 71

36 mothers & their infants ranged from 6 months - 14 months. Each infant was placed on the center board of the visual cliff and was then called by the mother, first from the deep side and then from the shallow side. Infants encouraged to crawl across to reach mother and or toy.

Answer 72

- 27 babies crawled across visual cliff from shallow side - 9 refused -Babies showed hesitation - 3 crawled across deep side - Babies used social referencing from mothers - They were unable to answer question- is depth perception learned or innate? Various studies have indicated, depth perception is present at birth, but fear of falling and avoidance of danger are learned through experience after the infant is old enough to crawl around enough to “get into trouble.”

Answer 73

Human infants tested had at least 6 months of experience which may have taught them cues about depth perception. Social referencing- infants may have used mother’s expressions and verbal directions as cues to proceed.

Exam #2 Flashcards

(97 cards)