DP1 Psychology: Unit 0 Terms & Questions

Question and answer flashcards covering key terms, research methods, biases, and psychological perspectives from DP1 Psychology Unit 0.

What is bias in psychological research?

A limitation in objective thinking: a tendency to experience information though a cognitive filter, including experience or preference

What is causality in psychology studies?

The relationship between variables. Goals of most studies are a cause-and-effect relationship, but most of the time it is a correlation

What is meant by change in psychological research?

How to apply theory and finding with the goal of changing human behavior

What is measurement in psychology?

Objectively quantify variables or results of an experiment/study, can be difficult in psychology since we are measuring human behavior

How is perspective defined in psychology?

An approach to the understanding of human beings from different viewpoints

What is responsibility in the context of psychological research?

The relationship between parties involved - typically researchers and participants - and the need to act within certain social parameters

What is participant bias?

A tendency for research participants to behave in a certain way because they know they are being observed or they believe they know what the researcher wants

What is publication bias?

The possibility that published studies are not representative of all work done on a particular phenomenon. Only publishing favorable, statistically significant results

What is researcher bias?

A tendency for researchers to engage in behaviors and selectively notice evidence that supports their hypotheses or expectations

What is confirmation bias?

A tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

What is sampling bias?

A flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

What is gender bias?

Behavior, sampling, results, etc that shows favoritism toward one gender over the other

What is cultural bias?

An outlook influenced by the beliefs, social norms, and traits of a particular group - overrepresentation of one particular group of people over an another

What is causation?

A cause and effect relationship in which one variable controls the changes in another variable - very rare if not impossible in psychology

How is correlation defined?

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other - a relationship between two variables, could be strong, weak, positive, or negative

What is determinism?

The philosophy that holds that every event, action, and decision results from cause and effect - there is no choice

What is free will?

The idea that human beings are free to make their own choices - nothing is cause and effect

How is agency defined?

The ability to think, act, and make choices independently

What is locus of control?

A person's tendency to perceive the control of rewards as internal to the self or external in the environment

What defines a true experiment?

Experiment in which subjects are assigned randomly to an experimental group that receives manipulated IV and a control group that does not receive manipulation. Outcomes are then measured

What is an independent variable (IV)?

The variable that a researcher actively manipulates

What is a dependent variable (DV)?

The variable that is measured by the researcher

What are control variables?

The variables you keep the same in an experiment

What is linear causality?

The idea that one event is the cause and another is the effect; in behavior, the idea that one behavior is a stimulus, the other a response

What is domino causality?

A cause and effect relationship where the effects become causes and there is a sequential unfolding of effects over time

What is cyclical causality?

The cause leads to an effect that causes the original cause - a circle of cause and effects

What is qualitative data?

descriptive data drawn from non statistical sources, including participant observation, personal stories, interviews, and life histories

What is quantitative data?

Data associated with mathematical models and statistical techniques used to analyze spatial location and association - numerical data

What does it mean to operationalize a variable?

To turn a conceptual definition of a variable into a specific measured variable or manipulated variable in order to conduct a research study

What is a hypothesis?

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory

What is a null hypothesis?

The hypothesis that there is no significant difference between specified populations, any observed difference being due to sampling or experimental error - this is what we are trying to prove wrong

What is a construct in psychological research?

An abstract, unobservable concept used to describe and measure internal mental processes, traits, or behaviors

How is objective measurement defined?

Unbiased, unprejudiced measurement - typically quantitative

How is subjective measurement defined?

Influenced by personal feelings, experiences, or opinions - typically qualitative

What is reflexivity in research?

Analyzing and critically considering the researchers own role in, and effect on, the results of research

What is anecdotal data?

A method of descriptively recording the behavior emitted by the learner, the response of others, and information about the environment - stories from participants

What is empirical data?

Information gathered from direct observation or experimentation

What is self-reported data?

Data that are based on personal disclosures

What is overconfidence bias?

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

What is social desirability bias?

A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself

What does retrospective mean in research?

Looking backward over a period of time

What is triangulation in psychological research?

The use of multiple methods to study one research question

What is data triangulation?

Conducting more than one form of data analysis to enhance your results

What is method triangulation?

Use of multiple methods of study to research the same phenomenon

What is researcher triangulation?

Involves the use of several observers, interviewers, or researchers to compare and check data collection and interpretation

What does the biological perspective of psychology emphasize?

Emphasizes studying the physical bases of human behavior, including the nervous system, endocrine system, immune system, and genetics

What does the cognitive perspective of psychology focus on?

Focuses on the important role of mental processes in how people process and remember information, develop language, solve problems, and think

What does the sociocultural perspective of psychology focus on?

Focuses on the relationship of social behaviors within cultures

What does the psychodynamic perspective of psychology focus on?

Focused on how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

What does the humanistic perspective of psychology focus on?

Focuses on free will and the motivation of personal development as people

What does the evolutionary perspective of psychology explore?

Explores how natural selection affects the expression of behavior and mental processes to increase survival and reproductive success

What does the behavioral perspective of psychology focus on?

How we learn observable responses - typically focuses on reward and punishment

What does the ecological perspective of psychology focus on?

Focuses on the relationship between human behavior and the real world environment

What does the cross-cultural perspective of psychology study?

How interacting cultural factors influence patterns of behavior

What is interpretivism?

A research perspective in which understanding and interpretation of the social world is derived from one's personal intuition and perspective

What is positivism?

The application of the scientific approach to the social world

What does a holistic approach in psychology concern?

Concerning the whole rather than the parts - trying to look at the interaction of everything and how it could have an effect on behavior

What is a reductionist approach?

Approach that seeks to define a complex set of facts by a simpler set of facts - trying to narrow down behavior to one action or symptom

What is inductive reasoning?

specific to general - starting with one or two data points, and using them to create a broad generalization or theory

What is deductive reasoning?

general to specific - starting with a broad generalization, then using it to collect specific data

What are the 6 Contexts in DP1 Psychology?

Bias, Causality, Change, Perspective, Measurement, Responsibility

What are the 3 Content Areas in DP1 Psychology?

Biological, Cognitive, Sociocultural

What are the 4 Contexts listed in DP1 Psychology?

Human Development, Learning & Cognition, Health & Well Being, Human Relationships

What are the characteristics of agency?

Intentionality, self-regulation, self-efficacy, and responsibility

How is self-efficacy defined?

An individual 's belief that he or she is capable of performing a task

What is biological determinism?

Explanations that attribute complex social phenomena to physical characteristics

What is environmental determinism?

The view that the natural environment has a controlling influence over various aspects of human life including cultural development

What is soft determinism?

A version of determinism that allows for some element of free will.

What are the 4 aspects of researcher responsibility to a participant?

Protection from harm, informed consent, right to withdraw, maintain confidentiality

What is cultural competence?

The ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures

What does cultural competence in the Indigenous community involve?

Incorporating traditional knowledge, holistic healing, acknowledging historical trauma, focusing on a community centered approach, and avoiding pathologizing beliefs.