experimental psych exam 1

Heider called nonscientific data gathering commonsense psychology

this approach uses scientific sources of data and nonscientific inference

Scientific mentality

Behavior and though follow a natural order and can be predicted – the assumption is essential to science.

There is no point in using the scientific data

if there Is no implicit order.

When we research, we must gather measurable evidence;

You make things measurable by operationally defining the research.

A law consists of

statements generally expressed as equations with few variables that have overwhelming empirical support

Theory is

broad and can be supported by a hypothesis well supported over a course of many tests. Ex; bystander effect, cognitive dissonance theory,

Theory is an interim explanation

a set of related statements used to explain or predict a phenomenon; They can be tested. The hypothesis must fail to support or support a theory

Good thinking is critical to scientific methods

we engage in good thinking when data collection and interpretation are systematic- equal or the same throughout the experiment, objective- , rational-what is your study telling you based on what you measured.

Replication

is an exact or systematic repetition of a study

There are 3 forms of replication

direct, conceptual, and operational

direct replication

- which is copy pastes of a study

Conceptual replication

- uses the same variables and operationalizes them differently

Operational

4 objectives of science

description, prediction, explanation and control

Description

is happening when we encounter something brand new; we know nothing about it is a systematic and unbiased account of characteristics of behaviors.

Prediction

is the capability of knowing in advance when certain behaviors should occur.

Explanation-

is knowledge of the conditions that reliably produce a behavior. Why a behavior is happening.

Control-

is where we interfere or act to do something or produce a certain outcome. - scientific knowledge to influence behavior

Basic research

test theories and explain psychological phenomena like helping behavior- done by academics

Applied research

address real-world problems like how to improve student graduation rates- business or corporation-based research

Observation

is the systematic noting and recording of events

Systematic means

means that the procedures are consistently applied, The events of their signs must be observable. Observations must be objective so that there can be strong agreement among rates

Measurement assigns

assigns numbers to objects, events or their characteristics. This is and inherent feature of quantitative research.

Experimentation

is the process we use to test the predictions we call hypotheses and establish cause and effect relationships

Experimentation is not always possible

because our predictions must be testable

Ethics prevents things from being

testable, resources, some things may not be measurable.

Confound

when you accidentally manipulate another variable when manipulating another – your study may be confounded when random assignment is not done well

In psychology experiments

we control extraneous variables so we can measure “what we intend to measure”- we can remove a confound by adding and variable or levels

Experiments establish

a temporal relationship because causes must precede effects; however, not all prior events are causes.

An experiment

attempts to establish cause- and effect relationship between the antecedent conditions iv and dv

Bidirectional causation

two variables, insomnia and depression- may affect each other

Third variable problem

not the same things as confounds- a third variable is a family conflict- may create the appearance that insomnia and depression are related to each other. Example- ice cream and murder - causality related to temperature

Researchers use multiple regression

to predict behavior measured by one variable based on score on two or more other variables. They can never rule out other explanations but only rule out if an explanation that you think of.

What variables do I control for in predictors

EX, SES, gender, age,

Causal modeling

- two types- we do them in an instant when we cannot do an experiment but use experimental methods to find causality.

Path analysis

  when a researcher test models of possible sequences using multiple regression analysis where two or more variables are used to predict behavior on a third variable

3 rules

1.      Every variable that is receiving (arrow is going to a variable) an arrow is a dependent variable or outcome variable.

2.      There is the same amount of regression equations as there are dependent variables.

Every variable that is giving (going from) an arrow is the predictor

multiple regression equations describing arrows

Htg- atg

Atg- sre 

A path model is combing and putting together different regression models

Variables can be predictors or dependent variables but they cannot be both.

V3 is predicted by V1 and V2

V2 is predicted by V1

V4- is predicted by V1,V2,V3

3 EQUATONS- 6 arrows means 6 total predictors

Cross-lagged panel design- where you are taking a 1-2 variable design- measure them at least two time points- the idea with this design is to give you the knowledge of which one came first. A researcher measures relationships over time, and these are used to suggest a causal path. When making a judgment on the way the effects are going, you look at the cross and see which correlation is stronger, bigger in absolute value, and furthest from zero.

Time spent watching tv- my vocabulary goes down. If I watch less my vocab goes up.

Another example of a cross-lagged design

Smoking cigarettes – makes your time to run a mile longer- positive correlation

No causation either direction

Correlation would be close to zero or non-directional.\

A hypothesis

is an explanation/prediction of a relationship between two variables

Your hypothesis should communicate what the dependent and independent variable is, and a direction

which way the relationship is going

CBT and antidepressants

Treatment is the independent variable with CBT and antidepressants are the two levels of it and amount of relapse Is the dependent variable

How do you determine if a hypothesis is experimental and non-experimental?

you determine that if the independent variable and if it is manipulated.

Example of non-experimental

red hair patients receive less relief from pain medication than blonde patients.

another example of non-experimental study

iv- hair color; red or blonde, dv- relief. There is no manipulation within the study on who receives treatment and you cannot manipulate who has what hair

example of continuous IV ($) and continuous DV (death count)

The more ice cream that is sold, the more people will get killed

example of categorical IV (s) x continuous DV (height, inches)

men will be taller than women

Categorical IV (s) X Continuous DV (hair color, blonde y or N)

More men will report having blonde hair than women or men are more likely to have blonde hair than women

Always mention all categories of IV

do not need to mention all categories of DV.

Testable

ethics, resources, time, money, feasibility (cannot measure) prevents things from being testable.

Parsimony

means that we prefer a simple hypothsis over one requiring many supporting assumptions- simple hypothesis or better

Induction

is where we go specific to general principles to form a hypothesis; used to build theories. Build with induction; refine with deduction. Specific to broad.

Deduction

is reasoning from general principles to specific predictions; this approach is used to test the assumptions of a theory. Where it applies and where it does not- broad to specific