OP Summer Psychology - Week 1 (Lecture 1, Chapter 2)

Discipline

how we think, feel, behave

Critical thinking

analyzing, not simply accepting information

The Scientific Method

a procedure for finding facts → “is this valid?” by using observation, measurement, or experiments

The Empirical Method

a set of rules/techniques for observation

Demand Characteristics

in an observational setting, people behave or act the way they think researchers expect/want them to

(Construct) Validity

how well the study measures what it claims to measure

Reliability

consistency; if the measure is reliable and has similar/same results after testing multiple times

Descriptive research

systematic, observation of people (where you observe people without inteference); no manipulation

Correlational study

looking at two variables and how they are related/vary together; how well one variable predicts the other (no manipulation)

Experimental study

explore cause and effect relationships, using random assignment; manipulation of one or more factors (has independent variables)

Positive Correlation

between 0 and +1.00; indicates direct relationship, two things increase or decrease together

Negative Correlation

between 0 and -1.00; indicates inverse relationship, one thing increases, the other decreases

Correlation Coefficient

a statistical measure of how closely two things vary together and how well one predicts the other; the closer it is to 1 the stronger it is

Double Blind Procedure

eliminating bias (neither people in groups nor the researcher know which group is receiving the treatment)

can also avoid observer bias

Mode

most occurring score

Mean

average score

Median

middle score (when rearranged in order, which number is in the middle)

Range

difference between highest and lowest scores

Standard deviation

describes distribution of grades, % of students who made the high end and % of students in the lowest end

An Observed Difference is Reliable when (4 reasons):

• representative samples are better than biased samples

• the more cases the better

• generalizations based on a few unrepresentative cases are unreliable

• less variable observations are more reliable than those that are more variable

Statistical Significance

when sample averages are reliable and difference between them is relatively large, the difference has statistical significance (the difference wasn’t by chance)

Techniques to Avoid Demand Characteristics (4 listed)

1. naturalistic observation

2. privacy

3. control

4. unawareness

Observer Bias

observers’ expectation influences what they observe and what they actually observe

Example: a set of students were told their rats were slow bred while others were told they were fast bred and so the set of students who were told their rats were slow bred believed and observed that the rats grew slower even though the rats were the same breed in both samples of the experiment and grew the same

To avoid observer bias: double blind study

Third Variable Problem/Confounding Variable

an outside factor that causes a fake link between two other things

Establishing causal relationship between variables in 3 steps (in an experiment)

1. manipulate

2. measure (dependent variable)

3. compare (compare the value of the dependent variable in one condition w/ the value of another dependent variable in another condition)

Internal Validity

how safely you can say your test/experiment caused the specific result

External Validity

how well the results can generalize to the whole population (if it is valid to external world)

Random sampling

chooses from a big group to join a study (generalize)

Random assignment

sorts those chosen groups into different test groups (assigning them into random groups)

Replication

an experiment that uses the same procedure as the previous experiment but with a new sample of people from the same population

Causation

know for a fact that A caused B (direct relationship)