research psych topic 1 (chap 1 & 2)

psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

what do we do in psychology?

produce research and consume research

evidence based treatment

therapy method that’s supported by research.

research allows us to:

evaluate “common sense” claims. evaluate program organization and institutional outcomes. satisfy curiosity. learn more about the world around us. evaluate effectiveness of practices and treatments.

control group

group of individuals in an experiment who received no treatment or an alternative treatment.

confounds

general term for a potential alternate explanation for a research finding. can also be referred to as a third variable.

example of confounds/third variable

Catharsis study (Bushman,2002)

catharsis study

led by Bushman. studied the effect of catharsis on aggression. college students were told to write a political essay which was given to Steve (confederate). He ripped up the papers and wrote poor feedback. students split into 3 groups: 1) sit quietly 2)punch a punching bag 3) punch a punching bag with Steve’s face on it. Students had the choice to blast noise into Steve’s ear. group 1 didn’t. group 2 did lightly and group 3 pressed the most

probablistic

findings are not expected to explain all cases all the time

availability heuristic

events or memories that are recent and vivid come to mind more easily which leads to overestimate how often things happen.

confirmation bias

focusing on evidence we like best

bias blind spot

tendency for people to think that compared to others, they themselves are less likely to be engaged in bias reasoning

empiricism

when we use verifiable evidence as the basis for conclusions.

systematic

operating in a pattern

Rigorous

precise, specific

scientific method

ask a question, develop a hypothesis/statement of a specific result a researcher expects from a recent study, test hypothesis, draw conclusions, report conclusions and findings, replication

replication

when the study is conducted again to test if the results are consistent

theory

statement that describes general principles about how variables relate to one another

theory data cycle

theory→ research questions→research design→hypothesis→preregister your hypothesis(ensures we aren’t doing anything unethical)→see if the data (collect and analyze it)

theory data cycle in action

cupboard theory vs contact theory

who tested the cupboard vs contact theory

harry harlow

harry harlow testing his theory

made a wired “mom” with food and a plush mom. tested this on monkeys. he saw the data supported by contact theory.

falsifiability

a feature of scientific theory in which it’s possible to collect data that will indicate that the theory is wrong.

what has falsifiability?

good theories

organized skepticism

want to ask questions. want to see evidence.

operating with organized skepticism

should go with the weight of the evidence

scientific journals

contains peer-reviewed articles on a specific academic discipline. written for a scholarly audience.

empirical journal article

reports the results of a study for the first time

review journal article

summarizes and integrates all of the studies done in one area.

example of review journal article

meta analysis

chapters in edited books

one topic and getting different authors to write a chapter

paywalled

pay for an article

open access

free resources

peer reviewed

part of the publication process where the quality and potential contribution of each submission is evaluated by peers.

components of an APA formatted empirical journal article

abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion

abstract

short summary of the article

introduction

explains the topic, describes background, states questions, goals, hypothesis.

method

explains in detail how the researchers conducted the study.