Psychological research: Intro Psych Exam 1

What is psycology?

The science of behavior and mental processes

Is scientific info or conjecture more important when determining beliefs?

it doesnt matter, repeated exposure is the key regardless of source

What is a case study? What are its advantages(2) and disadvantages(1)?

observing one or a few subjects in depth usually over a long period of time.

Advantages: best method for unusual cases, good for collecting lots of info

Disadvantages: problems with generalizing results

Advantages(4) and disadvantages(3) to surveys

Advantages: easy to conduct, can collect info like attitudes and belief, fast, content is flexible

Disadvantages: subjects may lie/mislead, data has limited usefulness unless sample is representative, wording can effect the answers given

What are observational studies and what are the Advantages(1) and disadvantages(1)?

Naturalistic observation, observing in the natural setting without influencing

Advantages: good way to get normative data (data of the average person, not outliers)

disadvantages: must wait until behavior occurs naturally

What is correlation and what is pos and neg correlation?

Relationship between two variables. Pos correlation is both variable change in the same direction. Neg correlation is variables change in opposite directions (Run MORE = LOSE weight, running goes up, weight goes down so neg correlation)

Why cant correlation imply causation(2)?

Directionality problems: A can cause B or B can cause A, we dont know

Third variables: may be another variable causing it that is not being measured

What is the experimental control

control for variables that could influence the outcome of the experiment

Advantages(1) and disadvantages for experiments (2)

Advantages: can establish cause and effect

disadvantages: artificially made, random assignment is sometimes impossible

What are the types of research (2) and what do they do?

Basic research: pure science, aim is to increase knowledge base

Applied research: study to solve problems

What are the ethical guidelines (4)

Privacy: privacy of participants must be respected

Confidentiality: participants info must be kept a secret

Informed consent: people must be told about the research and choose whether to participate

Protection from harm: participants cannot be asked to endure unreasonable pain/discomfort