Unit 1.2: Research Methods and Critical Thinking with Psychology

Unit 2

Research Methods and Critical Thinking with Psychological Science

The Overconfidence Test

Everyone is really overconfident

Example

Elections

Example

Zodiac Signs

Example

abilify has been proven to reduce schizophrenic symptoms

Vs. a random sample

Random assignment is randomly assigning groups in an experiment, whereas random sample is randomly choosing subjects to participate in an experiment

Hindsight bias

finding that something has happened makes it seem inevitable; "I knew it all along"

Overconfidence

causes us to think we know more than we actually do and overestimate our abilities

Curiosity

underlies all science

Curiosity, skepticism, and humility

three attitudes that make modern science possible

critical thinking

smart thinking that examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and asses conclusions

scientific method

evaluates competing ideas with careful observation and analysis; welcomes hunches and theories, and puts them to the test

theory

intgrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events (mere hunch)
effectively organizes a range of self-reports and observations and implies clear predictions that anyone can use to check the theory or to derive practical problems

hypothesis

testable predictions (can be confirmed or refuted)

operational definitions

describe concepts with precise procedures or measures; statement of the procedures used to define research variables

replication

repeating the essence of a study; if you get similar results, then the confidence in the finding grows

descriptive methods

method for testing hypotheses that describes behaviors, often using case studies, surveys, or naturalistic observations

correlational methods

method for testing hypotheses that associate different factors -correlations

experimental methods

method for testing hypotheses that manipulates factors to discover their effects

case study

examines one individual in depth in hopes of revealing things that are true of all of us; suggest direction for further study; can be misleading if individual is atypical

survey

random representative sample; an accurate picture of a whole population's attitudes and experiences

wording effect

in surveys, the subtle change in the order or wording of the questions that can have major effects

population

the whole group being studied

random sample

every person in the entire group has an equal chance of participating

naturalistic observation

records behavior in a natural environment without trying to manipulate or control the environment

case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observations

studies that do not explain behavior, but describe it

correlation

showing how one thing is related to another; predicts cause-effect relationship but does not prove causation

correlation coefficient

the statistical measure of a correlation; shows how well one thing predicts another (-1.0 to +1.0)

scatterplots

illustrates the range of possible correlations from a perfect positive to a perfect negative

positive correlation

two sets of scores that rise and fall together

negative correlation

two sets of scores that relate inversely

illusory correlation

a percieved but nonexistant correlation

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, minimizing preexisting differences; different from random sample in that already have participants, just putting into groups

experiments vs correlational studies

manipulate the variable vs study natural occurances

double blind procedure

both the researcher and the participants are ignorant as to whether or not the particpant has recieved the treatment or the placebo

placebo effect

experiemental results caused by expectations alone; recipient assumes an active agent

experimental group

group that is exposed to the treatment (form of independent variable)

control group

group that is not exposed to the treatment; serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

independent variable

experimental factor; part you are studying

dependent variable

the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the other variable; what is being measured

confounding variable

other factors that can potentially influence the results of an expirement; part you are not testing

measure of central tendency

a single score that represents a whole set of scores

mode

most frequently occuring score

mean

the arithmetic average

median

the middle score

range

the difference between the highest and the lowest scores

variation

how similar or diverse scores are

standard deviation

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

normal curve

normal, bell shaped curve

statistical significance

a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occured by chance; does not say anything about the importance of the result

purpose of an experiment

not to recreate the exact behaviors of real life but to test theoretical principles

culture

the attitudes and behavior that are characteristic of a particular social group or organization

four ethical principles

1) obtain informed consent
2) protect participants from harm or discomfort
3) treat information confidentially
4) fully debrief(explain) study to participants afterwards