How Psychlogists Do Research

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5 Key Characteristics of the ideal scientist:

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1. precision
2. sceptisism
3. reliance in empirical evidence
4. willingness to make risky predictions
5. openness

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precision

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state hypothesis and predictions prcisely

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skepticism

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is skeptical of claims that rest solely on faith or authority

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reliance on empirical evidence

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relies on empirical evidence

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willingness to make risky predictions

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resists the confirmation bias and complies with the principal of falsifiability

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openness

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is open about methods and results so that findings can be replicated

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theory

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an organized system of assumptons and principals that purports to explain certain phenomena and how they are related

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theory

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an organized system of assumptions and principals that purports to explain certain phenomena and how they are related

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hypothesis

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a statement that attempts to describe or explain a given behaviour

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operational definitions

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a precise definition of a term in a hypotheis
ex. measuring appression. how often they swear
the number of items they throw
the volume of their voice

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principal of falsifiability

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does not mean that the idea will be disaproved, only that it could be if contrary evidence were to be discovered,

a scientist must risk disconfirmation by predicting not only what ill happen but also what might not happen .

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conformation bias

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the tendency to look for or pay attention to only information that confirms ones own beliefs

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Descriptive studies:

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allows research to describe and predict behaviour but not necessarily to choose one explanation over competing ones

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case studies

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a detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated

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advantages to case studies

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provides in depth information on individuals

unusual cases that are impractical or unethical to study can be studied this way

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disadvantages to case studies

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vital information may be missing, making the case hard to interpret

the persons memories maybe selective or inaccurate

the individual may not be representative or typical

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observational studies

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the researcher observes measures and records behaviour, taking care to avoid intruding on the people/animals

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naturalistic observation

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to find out how people or animals act in their normal social environemnts

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disadvantage of naturalistic observation

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allows researched little to no control of the situation
ovservations may be biased

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advantages of naturalistic observation

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allows description of behavior as it occurs in the natural environment

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laboratory oservation

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observations made in lab setting

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advantage of lab observations

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allows more control than naturalistic obsrvations

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disadvantage of lab observations

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allows researcher only limited control of the situation

observations maybe biased

does not allow firm conclusions about cause and effect

behaviour may differ from behaviour in the natural environment

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tests
psychological tests

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assessment instruments, procedures of measuring and evaluating personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities and values

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tests advantages

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yields information on personality traits, emotional stats, aptitudes, abilities

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tests disadvantages

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difficult to construct tests that are reliable and valid

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objective tests

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simple questions,
easy to answer them in a way that you get desired results.

they measure feelings beliefs etc of which the person is aware

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projective tests

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harder to know what is being tested for, harder questions.

ex. ink blots

designed to tap into unconcious motives and feelings

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standardized

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a test that has uniform procedures for giving the exam and scoring it also.

ex. giving a test to a group of with detailed instructions and plenty of time vs. other receiving vague instructions and limited time

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norms

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established standards of performance norms determine which scores can be considered high, low, or average

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reliability

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the consistency of scores derived from a test from one time and place to another

consistency over time, from ex. 2 weeks to 6 months

if the test is reliable, individuals scores will be similar from one session to another

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internal consistency

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one chance to give test
one chance to test reliability of test

split test of 20 questions into 10 each and give it one after the other

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split half approach

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if you dont get a chance to administer the exam twice then you do the split half approach

20 questions
split into 10 each
given one after the other

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test re-test

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giving the test again at a later time to see how consistent the scores are from the first time

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validity

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does the test measure what it was intended to measure

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alternative forms reliability

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are the scores similar on different versions of the test

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surveys

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

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advantages of surveys

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provides a large amount of information on large numbers of peole

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disadvantages of surveys

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if sample is nonrepresentative or biased,

it maybe impossible to generalize from the results

results maybe inaccurate or untrue

subject to volunteer bias

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representative sample

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a group of participants that accurately represent the larger population that the researcher wishes to describe

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volunteer bias

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a shortcoming of findings derived from a sample of volunteers instead if a representative sample, the volunteers may differ from those who did not volunteer

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correlation study

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a descriptive study that looks for a consistent relation between two phenomena

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correlation

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a measure of how strongly two variables are related to one another

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variables

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anything that can be measured, rated, or scored can serve as a variable

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positive correlation

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high values of one variable are associated with high values of the other

low values of one variable are associated with low values of the other

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negative correlation

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

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coefficient of correlation

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statistcs used to espress a correlation range in values from -1.00 to +1.00

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a perfect negative correlation has a coefficient of:

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-1.00

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which is stronger?

a. +0.46
b. -0.57

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B, ignore the sign and look at the number

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when the coefficient is zero or close to it the correlation is?

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there is no association between the variables
no correlation

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the amount of scatter suggests what?

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the strength of the correlation

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little scatter indicates

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high correlation

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experiment

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allows the researcher to control or manipulate the situation being studied

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indepndent variable

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the variable that an exeriment mnipulates

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dependent variable

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a variable that an experimenter predicts will be affected by manipulation of the independent variable

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control condition

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

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random assignment

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a procedure of randomly assigning people to experimental and control groups

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single blind study

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an experiment in which participants do not know if they are in an experimental or a control group

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experimenter effects

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unintended changes in participants behaviour due to cues inadvertantly given by the experimenter

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double blind

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neither participants nor the experimenter knows who is in which group until after the results are tallied

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field research

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descriptive or experimental research conducted in a natural setting outside the lab

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descriptive statistics

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statistical procedures that organize and summerize research data, often as numbers depicted in graphs and charts

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mean

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an average that is calculated by adding up a set of quantities and dividing the sum by the total number of quantities in the set

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standard deviation

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tells us how clustered or spread out the individual scores are around the mean

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the ____ spread out the clusters are the ____ less typical the _____ is

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more

less

mean

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inferential statistics

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statistical procedures that allow researchers to draw inferences about how statistically meaningful a studys results are

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significant tests

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statistical tests that show the likelihood that a studys results occured merely by chance

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range

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the gap between the lowest and highest scores

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4 - 4- 4:

2 - 3 - 6:

1- 4 - 7:

what is the mean?

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the mean is the average,

the average is 4

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what is the range?
4 - 4 - 4

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range is zero:

4-4 = 0

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what is the range?
1- 4 - 7?

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7-1: 6

that is the range

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what is the problem with a mean score?

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it only talkes about the two extremes but not very representative if the people in the middle

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two ways to measure deviation?
or index of dispersion?

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mean
standard deviation

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normal distribution

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the expected distribution of most variables across a population where the values cluster near the center and are sparsed at the extremes

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Draw positive and negatively skewed distributions.

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.

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the direction of a a curves skewedness is determined by?

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the position of the long tail

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skewedness refers to?

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the lack of symmetry in a frequency distribution

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kurtosis is

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a measure of how peaky or flat a distribution is

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representativeness

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selecting the few in such a way that they represent the many

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within subject experiment

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different levels of the independent variable are applied to the same subject

ex. longitudinal studies

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between groups experiment

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different levels of the independent variable are applied to differenr groups of subjects

tablet A given to one class
tablet B given to another class

results are compared

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false consensus effects

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tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviours
we should avoid biased sample of people mostly those who share our own attitudes or habits and those who are easily accessible and available

we wanna know if we are a good cook so we should avoid asking our spouse

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significance tests

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statistical tests that show the likeihood that a studys results occured merely by chance

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cross sectional study

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different groups studied at the same time

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longitudinal study

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the same people are followed over a period of time and are reassessed at regular intervals

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nominal scale

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are scales that use numbers to names

ex. nisha - 1
toby - 2

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ordinal scale

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used to rank

ex. 1- very happy -2-happy -3sad etc

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interval scale

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indicate actual amounts and there is an equal difference between numbers

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ethics of studying humans:

1. ethical codes require researchers to obtain the informed consent of human participants

2. protect them from harm

3. warn them in advance of any risks

4. avoid deception

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ethics of studying animals

1. helps to improve human and animal well fare

2. animals are studied when humans can not be regarding this issue