Psych Unit 0

What is Psychology, and explain what those two parts are.

Psychology is the study of behavior and mental processes.

Behavior is anything that an organism does that can be seen,

mental processes are personal, internal experiences that we conclude from behavior,

What are perspectives in Psychology?

Different ways of understanding and explaining human behavior and mental processes.

What is the difference between the Psychodynamic and humanistic perspective?

Psychodynamic perspective explores how unconscious drives, conflicts, and childhood trauma/ experiences shape behavior. Ex: A person is afraid of animals due to childhood trauma

Humanistic perspective focuses on personal growth, free will, and the concept of self-actualization/ reaching potential. Ex: A student studies to reach full potential

What is the difference between the Behaviorism and Sociocultural perspective?

Behaviorism: Focuses on behaviors that are observable/ able to be seen, and how these behaviors are learned through interaction with the environment. Ex: Dogs keep preforming an action when they get a treat.

Sociocultural: Analyses how culture, social norms, and social environments influence behavior. Ex: Bowing as a greeting in nations that it is normal

Cognitive Vs Biological perspective

Cognitive: Studies how internal mental processes such as thinking, memory, problem solving. Ex: Figuring out how to fix a flat tire.

Biological: Studies the biological bases of behavior in human and animals/ how biology influences behavior. Ex: Lack of sleep results in crankiness.

Biopsychosocial Vs. Evolutionary Perspective

Biophysiological: Combines biological, psychological, and social factors to understand human behavior. ex: Depression caused by genetics, childhood trauma, and stress from school.

Evolutionary: how behavior and mental processes serve as a method of adaptation for survival and reproduction. ex: fear of snakes passed down evolutionary as ancestors protected themselves snake.

What is the difference between Confirmation vs Hindsight Bias?

Confirmation: People tend to remember, interpret, or look for information that confirms what they already believe. Ex: people who think active recall is the best study method only look at examples when it received high scores.

Hindsight: People believe they knew something was going to happen after it already occurred, even though they didn’t actually know beforehand. Ex: a man states he knew the other team would wine even though he bet on his team.

Overconfidence vs. Social desirability bias

Overconfidence: people have too much faith in their own abilities/ judgment, and think they know more than they actually do. Ex: A person believes that the exam/ unit is easy and doesn’t study before the test.

Social Desirability Bias: When individuals respond in a manner that is viewed favorably by others/ reflect social norms, rather than providing correct answer: a teacher asks whether they do their homework on time, and students say yes, even though they don’t.

Empirical evidence vs. Scientific Method, and what its used for.

Empirical Evidence refers to information gained through observation, experimentation, or measurement. It helps prevent cognitive bias by providing data that can oppose our tendencies to make biased judgments. Ex: Using an experiment to see how smoking effects the brain.

Scientific Method: is a systematic approach used to study human behavior and mental processes. Involves making observations, forming hypothesis, conducting experiments/ studies, analyzing data, and drawing conclusions based on evidence.

What is a Hypothesis, what is it based on?

Hypothesis: specific, testable prediction or educated guess about the relationship between variables/ or about the outcome of a study. It is based on existing theories, observations, and previous research findings. Ex: People who recall information on paper rather than reading notes recall more information.

What is a falsifiable, and how is it formulated?

A statement that can be tested and potentially proven false through observation, and experiments, and they are formulated in a way that allows for the possibility for evidence to contradict them. Ex: violent video games leads to higher levels of aggression.

What is the difference between Peer Review and Replication?

Peer Review is the process in which research articles and studies are checked and evaluated by experts before they are published, and these experts assess quality, validity, and significance of the research, and then they give feedback. Ex: a study is not allowed to be published as in peer review, an expert found a mistake in their math.

Replication: process of reproducing a research study to determine if its findings can be consistently found, and involves conducting the same experiment with new participants, and under similar conditions and procedures than the original one. Ex. Replicating the less sleep= worse grades study to see if it actually results in worse grades.

What is the difference between Reliability and Validity?

Reliability: a test is reliable when it produces consistent results when placed repeatedly under similar conditions. Ex: a test about sleep on exams is unreliable when the exam scores vary per study.

Validity: A study accurately measures what it intends to measure. Ex: Measuring a students math skills by giving them a math test.

What is the APA and what does it do?

The APA stands for the American Psychological Association, and is a leading professional organization dedicated to advancing the field of psychology and using psychological knowledge to improve human welfare. Ex. the APA has ethical standards and practices, whilst advocating for the profession of psychology, in order to protect participants.

What is the difference between research design and research methods?

Research Design provides a blueprint/ overall or broad plan for how a research question will be solved, and it includes trying to find out what to study, what you want to find out and how you will analyze information. Ex. Naturalistic observation, case study, naturalistic observation, correlational, meta-analysis

Research Methods- Specific: Tools and methods you use to collect data, and specific ways to gather information. Ex: surveys, interviews, questionaries, observations, field studies, focus groups.

What is the difference between Quantitative vs Qualitative data?

Quantitative data is numbers-based information gathered from surveys, tests, or experiments, and it allows patterns and relationships to be understood precisely. Ex. Qualitative: 90% of the students passed.

Qualitative: gives deeper insights into complex topics, and information collected through methods like interviews and observations, focusing on people’s experiences and behaviors. Ex: The hotel customer felt that the service was good, but the bed was too uncomfortable.

What is a Likert Scale?

A measurement tool used in surveys and questionnaires to discover and test people’s attitudes, opinions, perspectives/perceptions. Ex: respondents are presented with statements or questions, and the individuals level of agreement or disagreement is measured on a scale from Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree.

What is the difference between a Structured Interview and Survey technique?

Structured interviews are a research method in which predetermined questions are asked in the same order to all participants to allow for consistent data collection, and ensures no bias. Ex. Question 1: What is ___. Question 2: How often____

Surveys is a research method used to collect data from a sample of individuals through self report measures and typically involve asking participants open-ended questions about their attitudes, opinions, or behaviors, and can result in qualitative or quantitative questions. Ex. On a scale of 1 to 5, how effective was this?

What is the difference between wording effect and social desirability bias?

Wording effect are subtle changes in the phrasing or wording of survey questions, and can influence participants’ interpretations and responses, leading to biased or inaccurate data.

Social Desirability Bias: tendency of individuals to respond in a manner that is viewed favorably and conforms to social norms, rather than giving honest answers.

What is a naturalistic observation, and what is it used for?

Research method in which researches observe and record behavior in real-word settings without any intervention or manipulation, and is used ot generate a hypothesis, identify patterns, and gain a deeper understanding of human behavior in its natural context, but it cannot lead to a conclusion.

What is a case study, and can it always be generalizable and why?

A case study is a research method that involves a detailed and in-depth examination of a single person, group, or situation. It may not always be generalizable to broader populations as they normally focus on specific cases.

What is correlation research and third variable problem?

Correlation research is a scientific method used to examine the relationship between two or more variables, and it does not involve the manipulation of variables, instead it focuses on observing and measuring naturally occurring relations between variables. Ex. Correlation between sugar and hyper kids.

Third Variable Problem: the possibility that a third, unmeasured variable is influencing the relationship between the two variables being studied, and the presence of a correlation does not mean a cause-effect relationship due to other factors. Ex. Excitement may cause hyper kids, not only the sugar.

Correlation is not causation

What is a scatterplot and correlation coefficient?

A scatterplot is a visual representation used in correlational research to display the relationship between two variables, and allows researches to find out the strength and direction of the correlation between the variables, and discover any outliers or unusual patterns in the data.

Correlation Coefficient: statistical measure used in correlational research to display the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables. It is represented by the symbol r and ranges from -1 to +1. The closer the correlational coefficient is to -1 or +1, the stronger it is.

What is the difference between positive and negative correlation

A correlation coefficient of +1 indicates a perfect positive relationship, and the variables move in the same direction. Ex. less sleep = worse grades or more sleep= better grades.

A correlation coefficient of -1 indicates a perfect negative relationships, and the variables move in the opposite direction. Ex: Less homework= more free time.

What is the experimental method?

A research technique used to investigate cause-and-effect relationship between variables, and the researcher manipulars one variable and measures its effect on another variable. Ex: how will the amount of soccer training lead to how skilled the player is?

What is the difference between the independent and dependent variable?

The independent variable is the one that gets deliberately manipulated in an experiment for researchers to see if it causes changes in behavior/ outcome.Ex. Amount of time studying

The dependent variable is the variable that is observed and measured for changes in an experiment, and the outcome/ response of this variable may be affected by the independent variable. Ex. Test scores

What is an operational definition?

It specifies how a researcher will measure and manipulate variables in a study, and provides the exact steps/ procedures used to define or observe abstract concepts to make them able to study. They ensure consistency and clarity, whilst allowing other researches to replicate the study in order to ensure the findings are true. Ex: amount of time studying= the number of hours actively engaged in studying a specific topic or subject.

What is the difference between the experimental group and control group?

The Experimental groups are the participants who a re exposed to the independent variable to see its effect on the dependent variable. Ex. People get medicine

Control group is the group of participants who were not exposed to the independent variable, providing a baseline comparison for the experimental group (checking results for how things were at the start). Ex. People who don’t get medicine

What is the difference between the placebo effect, and the placebo condition?

The Placebo effect is the phenomenon when individuals see improvement in their condition as they believe that they are receiving a beneficial treatment, instead of an active ingredient in the placebo. Ex. People feeling better when receiving placebo medication.

Placebo Condition: Administering the placebo to one group of participants, and the other receives the actual treatment, and the placebo is typically given to the control group. Ex: one receives placebo, other receives pill.

What is random assignment and its purpose, and what is experimenter bias?

Random assignment is a research method used to assign participants to different groups in an experiment randomly, and makes sure that each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any group in order to minimize bias and to ensure the groups are comparable. Ex. 4 people, 25% chance one group 25% chance another.

Experimenter bias: The researcher’s expectations or beliefs about the outcome of a study influences the results, and can affect how the study is conducted or data is interpreted, making it inaccurate.

What is the difference between a single-blind and double-blind study?

In a single blind study, its a research design where participants are unaware of whether they belong to either the experimental or control group, but the researches conducting the study know.

Double blind: research design where both the participants and researches conducting the study don’t know who belongs to which group.

What is a sample?

A part of individuals or cases selected from a larger population to be used in research to make inferences about the whole population.

What is the difference between a representative sample and random sample?

Representative: a group of individuals selected from a larger populations that reflect the demographics, characteristics, and diversity of the population in order to minimize bias and increase the likelihood that the results can be generalized.

Random sample: Ensures that each participant in the study has an equal opportunity to be included to reduce bias by the reasercher’s influence and increase generalizability to the population as a whole. Ex. lottery

What is sample bias and generalizability?

Sample Bias is a type of bias that occurs when the sample is not representative of a larger population leading to inaccurate results, and minimizing sample bias is essential for validity and to be able to generalize research findings.

Generalizability: extent to which research findings obtained from a sample can be generalized to a larger population, and reflects how much confidence a researcher has in their conclusions beyond specific individuals and case studies. Ex. sample on 30 students = generalizability to entire school population

What are IRBS?

IRBs= Institutional Review boards, and they are committees responsible for reviewing and approving research proposals to make sure they meet ethical standards and protect the rights and welfare of participants, and IRBs normally have a diverse group of professionals, including researchers, community members, and ethicists.

Name the steps in an IRB review

1: proposal submission- researches submit research proposal for IRB to review

2: initial review- IRB conducts an initial review to make sure proposal meets ethical guidelines and regulations

3: Ethical Assessment- IRB evaluates research’s potential risks and benefits to participants

4: Feedback + revision= researches may need to revise their proposal based on feedback from IRB

5: Final approval= Once satisfied, IRB grants final approval for research to proceed

6; IRB continues to monitor research to make sure ethical standards are still followed.

What does it mean to protect participants from harm

Protect Participants form harm emphasizes the obligation of researches to minimize risks and ensure the well-being of research participants throughout the study, and researchers must carefully assess any risks an take steps to remove or minimize these risks.

Informed Consent Vs Informed Asset

Informed Consent: Process where individuals voluntarily agree to participate in a research study after being provided with the complete/ most information about the study and its purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, and their rights, and participants may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty.

Informed Asset: Similar to informed consent but applies to research involving children or mentally-challenged individuals/limited decision-making capacity.

Confidentiality vs Deception

Confidentiality requires researches to handle sensitive data and personal information obtained during the study with discretion and confidentiality, and means that researches must take measures to protect participants identities and responses (keep confidential_

Deception: Misleading participants about the true purpose/ nature of the study, or the involved procedures and expected outcomes. it is sometimes necessary to achieve research goals, but it must be used sparingly and justified by ethical reasons or scientific reasons.

What is are confederates, and what is debriefing?

Confederates are individuals apart of a research study, but are also working in collaboration with the researcher and are aware of the true purpose of the study.

Debriefing provides participants with the full information about the true purpose, nature, and procedures of a research study immediately after their participation, and allows participants to reflect on their experience, ask questions, and provide feedback.

What are statistics?

A large amount of data can be collected in research studies, and the data needs to make sense for the psychologists. Statistics is a tool to turn data into information by organizing it and describing it in a meaningful way, and used to make predictions about a population of interest.

What is the difference between descriptive and inferential statistics

Descriptive: refers to numerical measures used to summarize and describe the characteristics of a data, and help in organizing and presenting large amounts of data in a meaning and concise way.

Inferential: involves using data from a sample to make inferences or predictions about a larger populations, and allow researchers to draw conclusions and make generalizations about the population.

What are measures of central tendency and the three examples?

Measures of central tendencies are statistical tools used to describe the central or average value of a set of data, and provide a single value that represents the “center” or typical value of a distribution.

Mean: Sum of all values/then dividing by total numbers, and represents average value

Median: data is ordered, middle value is identified, and represents middle value

Mode: represents most frequently occurring value in a data set.

What is the range and normal curve/ bell curve?

Range, difference between highest and lowest values in a data set, to assess the spread or variability of the data.

Bell curve/ normal curve: majority of data falls near the center, or mean, and progressively fewer values occurring further away from the mean (of the distribution).

What is regression to the mean?

When extreme scored tend to get closer to the average when measured again because extreme scores are often due to temporary factors, not lasting characteristics. Its important to understand that extreme behaviors/ performances may not be as consistent over time.

What is the difference between a positive and negative skew

Majority of data clusters on the left side, with the tail extending toward the right, suggesting there are outliers or unusually high values.

Negative: Bulk of data clusters on the right side, with the tail extending toward the left, suggesting there are outliers or exceptionally low values.

What is standard deviation, and what does it show?

Standard deviation is a way to measure how spread out or close together numbers are in a group, and it measures how spread out the scores are from the average. Small standard deviation means scores are close to the average, and large means the scores are more spread out.

What is a percentile rank and a normal curve?

Percentile rank is a statistical measure that shows what percent of people scored the same or lower than you, and is commonly used to compare an individual’s score with those of a larger group or population. In a normal curve, most scores fall around the mean.

Name the percentages from 1 SD to 4 SD from the mean

1 SD from the mean = 68.27%

2 SD from the mean = 95.43%

3 SD from the mean = 99.73%

4 SD from the mean = 99.994%

What is Bimodal Distribution and Statistical Significance?

Bimodal distribution- type of data distribution in which there are two distinct peaks on a histogram or graph, and indicates that the data has two modes, and that it is not evenly distributed, which may represent two distinct groups within the dataset.

Statistical Significance: likelihood that observed results in a study are not due to chance, and typcially assessed using statistical tests (t-tests) and p-value, which tells you the likelihood that the results are due to chance

P-value<0.05= unlikely to have occurred by chance alone, therefore statistically significant (strong enough)

P-Value>0.05 more than 5% chance it happened due to chance, not statically different. (more likely)

What are effect sizes and meta analysis?

Effect sizes reflect the difference or relationship between IV and DV, large effect size= substantial difference or relationship, suggesting that the IV has a considerable impact on dependent variable

Small effect size: minimal difference or relationship, indicating that the IV has a limited effect on DV.

Meta Analysis: statistical of multiple research studies on the same topic to draw overall conclusions, and it combines data from various studies to increase the overall sample size and statistical power.

What is a null hypothesis?

It predicts that there will not be a significant relationship, and the goal of research is to disprove the null hypothesis, which predicts the results cannot be applied to larger population.

What is the difference between a theory and hypotheses?

A theories are explanations that apply a set of principle to organize observation and generate hypothesis, which are testable predictions.

What is correlation?

degree to which two variables are related, and how well one predicts the other

What are illusory correlations?

Random events that we notice and falsely assume are related.

How do psychologists find out which research design to use, and then what do they do?

Psychologists generate testable questions, and then carefully consider the best design to use in studying those questions, then measure the variables they are studying, and interpret their results.

How do values affect psychological science?

They affect psychologists’ choice of research topics, their theories and observations, their labels for behavior, and their professional advice, and many of the applications of psychology’s principles have been used mainly for humanity.

What is Samping Bias?

A flaw in research when the sample is not representative of the population, harming generalizability

What is a histogram?

A bar graph that displays the frequency distribution of data, and how often scores or values fall within certain range