Ch.2 Research In Psychology

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Ch.2 Research in Psychology
-Research Methods (8%-10%)

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Francine Shapiro

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created the new eye treatment called EYE MOVEMENT DESENSITIZATION AND REPROCESSING (EMDR); eye movement while thinking of a traumatic event or anxiety related problem results in faded memories and less unpleasant feelings

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critical thinking

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process of assessing claims and making judgments on the basis od well supported evidence

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hypothesis

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specific, testable proposition about something they want to study; establishes in clear, precise terms what they think may be true and how they will know if it is not

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operational definitions

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statements describing the exact operations or methods they use to manipulate and/or measure the variables in their research

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variables

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specific factors or characteristics that are manipulated and measured in research

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data

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numbers or scores that represent the variables of interest and provide the basis for conclusions

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reliability

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degree to which the data are stable and consistent

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validity

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degree to which they accurately represent the topic being studied

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theory

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integrated set of statements designed to account for, predict and even suggest ways of controlling certain phenomena

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goals in research

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1. describe a phenomenon 2. make predictions about it 3. introduce enough control over the variables to allow 4. them to explain the phenomenon with some degree of confidence

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naturalistic observation, case studies, surveys

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used to describe and predict behavior and mental processes

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experiments

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used to control variables and thus establish unambiguous cause-effect relationships, where one variable can be shown to have actually caused a change in another

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naturalistic observation

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process of watching without interfering with a phenomenon as it occurs in the natural environment

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case study

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intensive examination of a phenomenon in a particular individual, group or situation

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survey

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researchers use interviews or questionnaires to ask people about their behavior, attitudes, beliefs, opinions or intentions

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experiments

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situations in which the researcher manipulates one variable and then observes the effect of that manipulation on another variable, while holding all other variables constant

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independent variable

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variable manipulated by the experimenter

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dependent variable

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variable to be observed; affected by or DEPENDS on the independent variable

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experimental group

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group that receives the experimental treatment

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control group

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group that receives no treatment, or some other treatment

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confounding variables

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variables that could confound, or confuse, interpretation of the results; any factor that might have affected the dependent variable, along with or instead of the independent

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random variables

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uncontrolled, sometimes uncontrollable, factors such as differences in among the participants or in the research conditions

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random assignment

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intended to distribute the impact of these uncontrolled variables randomly across groups, thus minimizing the chance that they will distort the results of the experiment; random process to assign each research participant to experimental or control groups ex. flip a coin

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placebo

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treatment that contains nothing known to be helpful, but that nevertheless produces benefits because the person believes it will be beneficial

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experimenter bias

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unintentional effect that experimenters may exert on results

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double-blind design

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both the research participants and those giving the treatment are unaware of, or "blind" to, who is receiving a placebo, and do not now what results are expected from various treatments

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quasi-expermients

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"resembling experiments"; studies whose designs approximate the control of a true experiment, but do not include the random assignment of participants to treatment groups

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sampling

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process of selecting participants for research

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random sample

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when every member of a population to be studied has the same chance of being chosen as a research participant

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biased sample

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when not everyone has a chance of participating

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descriptive statistics

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the numbers that psychologists use to describe and present a data set

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inferential statistics

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mathematical procedures used to draw conclusions from data and to make inferences about what they mean

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measures of central tendency

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D.S.; describe the typical score or value in a set of data

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measures of variability

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D.S.; describe the spread or dispersion among the scores in a set of data

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correlation coefficients

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D.S.; describe the relationships between variables

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mode

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C.T.; value or score that occurs most frequently in a data set

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median

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C.T.;halfway point in a set of data

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mean

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C.T.; arithmetic average of the scores

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range

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M.V.; difference between the highest and lowest scores in the data set

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standard deviation (SD)

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M.V.; measures the average difference between each score and the mean of the data set

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correlation

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"co-relation"; refers to both how strongly one variable is related to another and to the direction of the relationship

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positive correlation

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two variables increase/decrease together

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negative correlation

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the variables move in opposite directions

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correlation coefficient

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describes the strength of a correlation; varies from +1.oo to -1.00

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statistically significant

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correlation coefficient or the difference between the means of two groups is larger than would be expected by chance alone

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biological nature

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people's genetic inheritance

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nurture

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environmental events and conditions before and after birth

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behavioral genetics

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the study of how genes and heredity affect behavior

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family studies

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researchers examine whether similarities in behavior and mental processes are greater among people who are closely related than among more distant relatives or unrelated individuals

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twin studies

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explore the heredity-environment mix by comparing the similarities seen in identical twins with those of non-identical pairs

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adoption studies

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take advantage of the naturally occurring quasi-experiments that occur when babies are adopted very early in life; if adopted children are more like those of their biological parents than those of their adoptive parents, genetically inherited ingredients in the nature-nurture mix play a clear role in that characteristic