Psychology Terms

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what is a "random sample"?

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each member in the population had a roughly equal chance of inclusion in the study

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Wilhelm Wundt

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He developed the first psychology lab in 1879, doing sensation/perception experiments on hearing. He's considered the "founder" of psychology as an experimental science.

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Descartes

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He was a psychologist in the 1600s that studied knowledge through intuition and reasoning, dualism (body and mind as separate, independent entities). Pre-Modern Psych.

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APA

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American Psychology Association established in the 1990s

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Freud

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Philosopher and psychologist intrigued by human behavior. He was alive during WWI and WWII and influenced by how badly people could treat eachother; dark, animlaistic instincts, death, impulse, lust, emotions

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British Empiricists

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In the 1800s, they studied knowledge through the senses (sight, hearing, touch) because "science" focuses on what can be observed and measured.

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Descriptive Research

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A research design that uses case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observations. It also includes correlational studies.

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Case Study

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An in-depth study of one or a few individuals. Methods may include interviews, tests, group discussions, etc. to gain a rich amount of detail. Problem is that it may only speak to a few individuals and not be generalizable.

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Survey

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A descriptive research method for a larger group of people that includes questionnaires to study attitudes and behaviors. One must watch for wording and sampling. They provide a lot of information on a lot of people at one time. They are larger, representative and random. They are cheaper to perform.

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Random Sample

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Each member in the population has a roughly equal chance of inclusion within the study

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Naturalistic Observation

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Observing behavior in the subject's natural environment, without directly intervening.
Ex. Jane Goodall w/ gorillas

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Correlational Designs

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A method of studying relationships between variables-- if one variable can predict another without establishing cause.

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Variable

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condition, event, or characteristic that might be controlled or observed in a research study

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Correlation coefficient

What does it mean? How do you interpret it?

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Statistical measure of how strongly two variables are associated (a defined number)-- ranges from -1 to 1.
Higher # means stronger relationship = good correlation. Lower # means weaker relationship = negative correlation

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Why doesn't correlation prove causation? (Three distinct reasons)

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The variable being studied often occurs naturally and can't be manipulated by the researcher. One can't show the direction of the correlation (what caused what). It's possible a third variable is involved. Correlations prove that two variables are related but not that they cause one another. Problem of ambiguity arises.

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Observational study

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Investigator studies the key factors rather than manipulating them directly. Random assignment is not possible.

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Experimental Research

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when a researcher manipulates one variable (under controlled conditions) to see its effect on another variable-- performs an experiment; the point is to identify a causal relationship between variables

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Theory

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Vague and complex place where the research starts. Organized set of principles that describes/explains some phenomenon. Can't be tested directly

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Hypothesis

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Specific testable prediction about how two or more variables are related-- educated guess

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Operational Definition

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Concretely defines a variable in an experiment and specifies how you're measuring it. Needed for every variable being tested. Must be very precise.

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Independent Variable

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The variable being manipulated by the researcher; the proposed cause. The variable whose effects are being examined-- changes something else.

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Dependent Variable

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The resulting behavior/process being studied-- the observable one you see. The proposed effect. Relies on another factor, which is being studied by researcher.

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Experimental group

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The condition or group that is exposed to the independent variable in the experiment. They experience the experimental manipulation.

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Control group

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The condition or group that does not get exposed to the independent variable, which allows for comparison in order to asses the effects of the experimental manipulation on the other group.

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Random assignment

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Assigning people to either experimental or control group by chance (IV or DV) in order to help cancel out naturally occurring differences between the groups. Unlikely that all of the people in a group will share a significant characteristic that would influence the experiment.

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Generalizability

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The extent to which the results apply to other populations and circumstances (age groups, countries, socioeconomic groups, etc.)

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Placebo effects

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Changes/effects due to the participants' expectation. ex. belief about how a drug or therapy leads to how they think it works rather than it actually working or not. Controlled by a blind control group.

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Demand characteristics

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Participants want to present themselves in the best possible light so they try to perform based on what they think is expected-- perform well on task and try to be helpful.

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Double-blind design

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A study in which neither the investigator nor the study's participants know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group in order to ensure that the participants in the two groups will have identical expectations about the procedure and that the groups are treated the same way by the experimenter.

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Experimenter bias

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When researchers' expectations or preferences influence the participant's and the study's outcome. Controlled by double blind design experiment.

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Informed consent

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Groups being studied must understand and know what they are doing and what's being studied before signing up for the studies-- obtained by researcher before study; part of ethics

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Confounds

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Uncontrolled factors that could influence the comparison between the experimental and control conditions (ex. saying different things to groups, different time of day, different environments, etc.)

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Internal validity

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When an experiment measures exactly what it's supposed to measure. Occurs when no confounds are present.

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Debriefing

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At the end of experiment, researcher must provide this to those being studied to explain any deception or hidden manipulation; manipulation of moods, beliefs, emotions must be undone (must minimize deception and risk); explain what happened and what it means.