International Psychology Olympiad

Define...

- Case Studies

- Correlational Studies

- Interviews

- Questionnaires

- Pilot Studies

Case Study - An in-depth investigation of a single case.

Correlational Study - A research method that assesses the relationship between two or more variables without manipulating them. Cannot determine causation.

Interviews - Interviews - A qualitative research method where a researcher asks open-ended questions to gather detailed personal insights from participants. Can be structured, semi-structured, or unstructured.

Questionnaires - A set of written questions aimed at collecting quantitative data from respondents. Can be open-ended or close-ended.

Pilot Studies - A “test run” study, used to test the methods and procedures of a later experiment on a smaller scale.

Third-Variable Problem

Another variable may be responsible for the relationship between two variables. However, this is not a controlled variable, so it's not possible to know the cause in the specific experiment.

spurious correlation

an apparent but false relationship between two (or more) variables that is caused by some other variable

Reliability vs Validity

Consistency vs Accuracy

Internal vs External Validity

Internal: extent to which we can say that the change in outcome variable (dependent) is due to intervention

External: extent to which findings can be generalized to real world

Stuff you have to make sure you have in a study. Explain them.

- Informed Consent/Information Sheet at beginning

- Debriefing sheet at end

- Careful Consideration of deception used

- Protection

- Confidentiality

- Ability to withdraw from experiment

Double-Blind Procedure

When both the experimenter and participant in the experiment are unaware of who the control group and experimental group are.

Hindsight bias

The Andy Bernard. After information and the answer is revealed being like "ohhhh I knew the answer to that."

Wilhelm Wundt Backstory

Wundt was curious to measure the "atoms of the mind"-- the fastest and simplest mental processes. Many know this as psychology's first experiment, which launched the first psychology laboratory. His student, Titchner, with the help from Wundt developed structuralism.

Structuralism vs. Functionalism

Structuralism was created by Wilhelm Wundt, the first classified psychologist. A structuralist uses introspection -- breaking experiences into parts. Functionalism was created by William James, and is Structuralism + the "Why"?

Example: A structuralist might ask, "What does a blueberry taste like?" After finding out the answer to that question, a functionalist might ask "Why are blueberries sour?"

Describe all contemporary views on behavior:

- Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic

- Behaviorism

- Cognitive

- Sociocultural

- Biological

- Biopsychosocial

- Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic - Created by Freud. Focuses on analyzing unconscious feelings/drives & early childhood experiences.

- Behaviorism - Different from the psychoanalytic perspective to where it strives for objectivity. They believe that it's not possible to objectively study the mind, therefore, they focus on human behavior.

- Cognitive - Focuses on judgments, sensations, and thoughts.

- Sociocultural - Focuses on the things that make up the subjects society and culture. This could be cultural or societal traditions or norms and the relations they have, and how it influences peoples thinking.

- Biological - The brain and nervous system. Objective standpoint.

- Biopsychosocial - Takes biological aspects, psychological aspects, and social aspects in order to understand a persons behavior. A good example is a weightloss program where physicians may attempt to understand why the individual is gaining weight by their genetics, their current mental state, and also there social or workplace activities.

Nature vs Nurture

genetics vs environment

Empiricists vs. Nativists

Empiricists value learned characteristics to determine our behaviors, while Nativists value genetic characteristics to determine our behaviors.

Free Will vs Determinism

Do we freely choose our actions or is our behavior caused/determined by external factors we can't control?

Comorbidity

The presence of two or more psychological orders occurring simultaneously. A common example of this is anxiety and depression.

Objectivity vs Subjectivity

Fact vs Opinion

Observations vs Inferences

Observations are gathering information from our 5 senses. There are two types of observational data: qualitative and quantitative. Inferences are where we make explanations for observations based on prior knowledge or past experiences.

Example: An observation would be "Oh no, the playground is wet!" An inference would be "That must be because it rained."

Different Hypotheses

Null Hypothesis - no difference between two conditions

Alternative Hypothesis - significant difference between two conditions. There are two types of alternative hypotheses: one-tailed and two-tailed.

A. One-Tailed - A significant difference going in a particular direction (higher, lower, more, less)

B. Two-Tailed - A significant difference but no particular direction.

All research has a null + alternative and then they choose one.

Random Sample vs Random Assignment

A random sample is where they choose a random group of participants apart of a population. A random assignment is where based off that random sample participants are assigned into either the control or experimental group.

Independent vs Dependent Variables

An independent variable is the variable being changed or manipulated. A dependent variable is the variable that is the results or being measured in an experiment.

Ex: Evaluating the effect of chocolate on stress

IV: Chocolate

DV: Stress

Operational Definition. Why is it so important?

Describes the procedure and research variables.

Let's use a scenario. Let's say a experiment is conducted to test whether Moira laughs more at boys or girls. The experimenters would have to define the operational definition of a laugh because different people may have different perspectives on how extreme a laugh has to be in order for it to be considered one.

Extra Variables

- Extraneous variable - potentially affects the dependent variable.

- Confounding variable - known as an extraneous variable, but can also affect the independent variable.

Experimental Methods

- lab experiments - well-controlled environment by experimenters

- field experiment - observe daily life (the regular) and is only controlled somewhat by experimenters.

- natural experiment - real world + no control

Meta-Analysis

a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

Right vs Left Skewed Distribution

Right skewed distribution - abnormally high results, causing it to be skewed

Left skewed distribution - abnormally low results, causing it to be skewed.

Cross-sectional vs Longitudinal Studies

A longitudinal study are repeated observations done on a specific groups aimed to focus on changes.

A cross-sectional study is only one observation done on different groups aimed to focus on differences between them.

Correlation Coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1)

Explain the Atkinson & Shiffrin model of memory.

First, an individual takes input (stimuli) coming from the external environment and transfers that to their sensory memory (the five senses). If any sensory memory is not processed, it is forgotten. After that, the sensory memory, if given enough ATTENTION using the top-down processing method takes it's information from short-term memory. Any short-term memory not rehearsed or encoded is forgotten.. Finally, the short-term memory rehearsed and encoded is transferred to long-term memory. Any Long-Term memory not retrieved over time is forgotten.

Sensory Memory, Iconic Memory, and Echoic Memory

SM - Temporarily stores information from our five senses until it is recognized. When it is recognized, we are conscious of it.

IM - Type of sensory memory that takes from visual input.

EM - Type of sensory memory that takes from auditory input.

Top-Down Processing

Perceiving things based on previous experience and knowledge. Helps define sensory information into our short-term memory.

Short-term Memory

Activated, brief memory that is conscious.

Long-term Memory

Relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Holds knowledge, skills, and experiences.

How much short term memory can humans remember?

From the short-term memory experiment taken from George Miller, the average human can remember 5 to 9 chunks of information.

Working Memory

Conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, transferring it to long-term. Created by Alan Baddeley. Central Executive goes to phonological loop, episodic buffer, & visuospatial sketchpad.

Central Executive

Controls and regulates cognitive processes

Phonological Loop

Speech & Sounds

Visuospatial sketchpad

visual, illustrative, & space.

Episodic buffer

A component of working memory where information in working memory interacts with information in long term memory (eg. relating information you are processing to a previous memory)

Combine the two models previously mentioned & explain

Information is taken from input (stimuli) from our external environment and goes to our sensory memory (our five senses). Through attention, it transfers into our short-term memory for 10-30 seconds. A part of our short-term/working memory is controlled in our central executive, the main place for regulating and controlling cognitive processes. This is with the phonological loop & visuospatial sketchpad. If encoded and rehearsed, ti transfers onto the long-term memory system. Long-term memory can be forgotten if not retrieved.

Automatic vs Effortful processing

Automatic is unconscious memory (space, time, frequency, and well-learned info). Effortful is conscious memory (rehearsal, spacing, and serial position effect).

Serial Position Effect

our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

Interleaving

switching between two different activities

Concrete examples

hands-on materials or real-world scenarios used to illustrate abstract concepts

Dual coding

Words AND memory

Elaboration

linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding

Retrieval practice

Practice bringing information to mind

Types of Long-Term Memory

explicit (declarative) and implicit (non-declarative)

Explicit memory

memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and "declare"

Types of explicit memory

episodic - personal experiences

semantic - knowledge

Implicit memory

unconscious memory

Types of Implicit memory

procedural - cognitive & motor tasks (driving a car)

priming - earlier stimuli that responds to later stimuli

classical conditioning/habituation

Flashbulb Memory

a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event that is stored in explicit memory.

Types of Long-Term Amnesia

Anterograde Amnesia - inability to form explicit long-term memories (think future)

Retrograde Amnesia - disruption of old memory from the past. (retro - old - past)

Pro-active vs Retroactive Interference

THINK PORN

Proactive - old interferes with new. Ex: Incorrectly writing the date.

Retroactive - new interferes with old. Ex: forgetting previous address.

Environmental Effects on Encoding

State-Dependent Memory - memory that depends on someone's current psychological state.

Ex: Alcohol effecting memory

Mood-Dependent Memory - memory that depends on someone's emotional state

Mood-Congruence Effect - tendency to recall memories similar to a person's mood

Why do we forget?

encoding failure, storage decay, retrieval failure

Schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Prototype

Mental images that incorporate all features we associate with a category.

Concepts

mental groupings of similar objects, events, and people.

Source misattribution

attributing a memory to the wrong source, resulting in a false memory

Fixation

Inability to see a problem from a new perspective. You're in your own mental square.

Ex: nail-biting

Framing

The way we present an issue can sometimes be striking

Example: 10% of people are going to die may seem different than 90% of people will survive

Mental Set

a tendency to approach a problem in one particular way, often a way that has been successful in the past

Example: A math equation or a child throwing a fit to get what they want

Chunking

Combining small pieces of information into larger clusters or chunks that are more easily held in short-term memory

Assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Accommodation (cognition)

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Actor-observer bias

attributes our own actions to external causes & others to internal.

Example: I'm fat because of genetics but other people are fat because they can't diet.

Anchoring Bias

tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information offered when making decisions

Conformation bias

Favoring information that conforms to our existing beliefs

false consensus effect

overestimate how much others agree with you

Functional FIxedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions; an impediment to problem solving. See objects as working in a particular way.

Halo effect

overall impression of a person influences how you think about their character.

Misinformation effect

Tendency for post-event information to interfere with original event

Self-serving bias

blame external forces when bad things happen & vice versa

Dunning-Kruger Effect

people believe they are more capable than they actually are.

Belief Bias

the tendency for one's preexisting beliefs to distort logical reasoning, sometimes by making invalid conclusions seem valid, or valid conclusions seem invalid

Example: Biden and Trump

Overconfidence bias

the bias in which people's subjective confidence in their decision making is greater than their objective accuracy

Belief Perserverance

tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them

illusory correlation

The perception that two variables are correlated when they are actually not.

Algorithms vs Heuristics

- Algorithms: specified sequence of steps that is guaranteed to produce an answer; usually guaranteed to produce the correct answer, but may be slow or laborious

- heuristics: short cut/"rule of thumb"; never guaranteed to produce the correct answer, but usually quick and easy

Anchoring Heuristic

estimating problems to ones initial estimate & adjusts anchor up or down insufficiently.

working-backward heuristic

one attempts to solve a problem from goal state to start state

means-end analysis heuristic

A problem-solving heuristic in which the distance to the goal state is decreased systematically by breaking the problem down into subgoals and achieving these subgoals.

Availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory; if instances come readily to mind (perhaps because of their vividness), we presume such events are common

Example: mosquito and shark

Representativeness Heuristic

judging the likelihood of things in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes; may lead us to ignore other relevant information

Example: see a guy with glasses and assume he's a nerd

Recognition Heuristic

makes us more likely to believe something we've heard many times

Affect Heuristic

The tendency to consult one's emotions instead of estimating probabilities objectively.

Phonemes vs morphemes

basic sound units vs. basic units of meaning

Example: morphemes can be prefixes and suffixes

critical period for language

the time during which language develops readily and after which (sometime between age 5 and puberty) language acquisition is much more difficult and ultimately less successful

Aphasia

impairment of language usually caused by damage to the left hemisphere

Broca's area

Controls speech production - an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Wernicke's Area

controls language reception - a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe

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