Intro to Psychology year 10 Flashcards
(32 cards)
What is psychology?
Psychology is the systematic study of behavior and mental processes including: perception, cognition and emotion.
Memory Trick:
Pigs
Can
Eat
What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?
Psychologists
- 6 years of study
- General course then postgraduate
- Not trained in medical procedures
- Generally cannot hospitalize patients
Psychiatrists
- 13 years of study. - M.D with additional qualifications
- Can prescribe medications
- Can hospitalize patients
Why is psychology a science?
It uses the scientific (systematic) method. It’s based on the collated evidence of empirical data.
What are the seven steps of psychological research?
Step 1 Identifying the research problem.
What do you want to study?
Step 2 Formulation of a hypothesis.
What do you think will happen based on past research?
Step 3 Designing the method.
How are you going to perform the study?
Step 4 Collecting the data.
Can be quantitative or qualitative.
Step 5 Analyzing the data.
Perform tests to see what your data found.
Step 6 Interpreting the data.
What does your data mean? Is it consistent with past results?
Step 7 Reporting the research findings.
Report your finding to the scientific community.
What is the aim?
What must it include?
The aim of the experiment states the purpose or explains what the experimenter wants to investigate.
It examines whether a relationship exists between two variables.
Must include the IV and DV.
Eg The aim is to study whether students arriving in time affects their exam score.
What is the hypothesis?
A statement or prediction about the relationship between variables.
Should be written “it is hypothesized that” or “the hypothesis is that”.
Must include DV and both extremes of IV.
Eg It is hypothesized that students who arrive on time for school will achieve higher exam scores than those who do not.
What is the independent variable?
This is the variable that is manipulated or changed. (Usually what is being tested).
Eg presence of caffeine
What is the dependent variable?
This is the variable that is the result, it depends on the IV. This variable cannot be changed on itself but can be influenced by other variables.
Eg memory
What is an extraneous variable?
A variable other than the IV that can have an influence on the DV.
Eg Amount of sleep or age
What is a population?
The entire group of research interest.
Eg All year 10 students
What is a sample?
a select group taken from a population to try replicate the results of an experiment if it were performed on said population. It’s best if the sample is 30+ and is a fair representation of the population. (Gender age etc)
Eg 30 randomly selected year 10 students
What is a placebo?
A placebo is a substitute for the IV used so the group is not aware of what group they are in.
Eg sugar pill instead of painkiller.
What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative data?
Quantitative data is numerical (numbers). It is the quantity or amount of what is being studied.
Qualitative data cannot be quantified and will be non numerical. Eg words
What is mean, median, mode and range and how are they calculated?
Mean (the average) calculated by adding together the scores and dividing by how many there are.
Median (the middle) calculated by finding middle. If there are two middle numbers you add them together and divide by two.
Mode (most common) most common, can be bimodal.
Range (range of data) highest result take away the lowest.
How do you calculate percentages?
Subtotal (number of the group that apply)
————————————-
Total (number of group)
X 100. ?
———. = —- =?%
1. Total
If 6 out of 25 hair ties are blue, what percent of hair ties are blue?
6 100 6X100 600
— —— ——— —— =24%
25 1 25 25
What are the ethical principles researchers must follow?
Ethics Debriefing Deception Confidentially Withdrawal rights Informed consent Voluntary participants
Define ethical principles
Ethical principles are the standards of research that psychological researchers must follow.
Explain debriefing and give an example.
After the research is over the participant should be able to discuss the procedure and the findings with the psychologist.They must be given a general idea of what the researcher was investigating and why, and their part in the research should be explained.
Explain deception and give an example
The researcher should avoid deceiving participants about the nature of the research unless there is no alternative – and even then this would need to be judged acceptable by an independent expert.
Explain confidentiality and give an example
Participants, and the data gained from them must be kept anonymous unless they give their full consent. No names must be used in a research report.
Explain withdrawal rights and give an example
Participants should be able to leave a study at any time if they feel uncomfortable. They should also be allowed to withdraw their data. They should be told at the start of the study that they have the right to withdraw. They should not have pressure placed upon them to continue if they do not want to.
Explain informed consent and give an example
Before the study begins the researcher must outline to the participants what the research is about, and then ask their consent (i.e. permission) to take part. Parents/legal guardians of minors can also provide consent to allow their children to participate in a study.
Explain voluntary participants and give an example
Participants must not be force into participating in a study or give the impression that the study would be “ruined” if they didn’t participate. They must give their clear consent to participation and bribery may compel less than willing participants to stay.
