psychology module 4-8 unit 1

three roadblocks to critical thinking

hindsight bias, overconfidence, percieving patterens in random events

Hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we could have predicted the very outcome. “I knew it all along”

Overconfidence

the tendency to think that we know more than we do

in our natural eagerness to make sense of an unpredictable world we are prone to

perceive patterns

three elements of the scientific attitude

curiosity, skepticism, humility

curiosity

a desire to explore and understand without misleading or being mislead

skepticism

doubting and questioning without judgement

humility

be willing to put aside one’s own ideas if evidence is to the contrary

Critical thinkers

do not accept arguments and conclusions blindly, examine assumptions, discern hidden values, evaluate evidence and assess conclusions. They ask questions

Psychologists use scientific methods to support their scientific attitude. It is a self-correcting process using

observation and analysis to evaluate ideas

theory

is an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

hypothesis

is a testable prediction, often implied by a theory, to enable us to accept, reject, or revise the theory

Falsifiable hypothesis

is a research prediction that can be potentially proven false through experimentation or observation

operational definition

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in research study

operational definition

what we mean by “sleep loss” or “caffeine” or “smiling” we can repeat the experiment replication precisely as it was conducted the first time

replication is

confirmation

population

consist of ALL individuals in a group being studied

sample

is a subset of the population. The are the individuals being studied to represent the population

random sample

represents a population without bias because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

sampling bias occurs

when there is a flaw in the sampling process that produces a sample that does not fully represent the population

representative sampling

has the same distribution of demographic qualities as the population

stratified random sampling

allows a researcher to ensure that the sample represents the population

the proportion of each group in the sample should be the same as the

proportion of each group in the population

systemic sampling

researchers select members of the population and at a regular interval

individuals in a convenience sample are selected

not because they are most representative of the population, but because they are most easily accessible to the researcher

the three scientific methods

descriptive, correlational, and experimental methods

the three descriptive methods are

cause studies, naturalistic observations, surveys, and interviews

case study

an intensive observational technique descriptive and analysis in which 1 person or small group of individuals is studied in depth to reveal underlying behavior principles

clinical study

is a form of case study in which the therapist investigates the problems associated with a client

strengths of the case study method

allows for examination of unusual behavior, provide a large amount of qualitative data, suggest directions for further study

limitations of the case study method

atypical case studies can be misleading, results form one study may not be generalized to the larger group. Cannot determine cause and effect

naturalistic observation

researcher is watching and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation

strengths of naturalistic observation

subjects behave normally outside of lab setting, data collection is unobtrusive (doesn’t disturb the subject)

limitations of Naturalistc observation

independent variable cannot be isolated. observations by researchers may be subjective. Cannot determine cause and effect

survey

is a technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people usually done by questioning a representative, random sample of people

Linkert scale

respondent are asked to rate the level to which they agree with a statement. such scales are often used to assess personality, attitudes, and behaviors

Strengths of survey

avle to quickly obtain people’s beliefs, behaviors or opinions, able to include many cases

limitations to survey

response bias, wording effects can skew the outcome, acquiring a random sample is difficult, cannot determine cause and effect

response bias

when people give answers that hey believe the researchers want to hear or to purposefully distort the result of the study

non-response

occurs when people chosen for a survey select not to provide feedback

social desirability

a type of response bias that occurs when survey respondents provide answers according to society’s expectations rather than their own beliefs or experiences

wording effects

occurs when the wording of the question can influence how people answer the question

cohort occurs

when the development or perception of a particular group is influenced by their same shared life experiences

False consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which other share our beliefs and behaviors

self-report bias

refers to the incapability of human beings to accurately evaluate themselves

honesty

subjects may make the more socially acceptable answer rather than being truthful

introspective ability

the subject may not be able to assess themselves accurately

interpretation of question

the wording of the questions may be confusing or have different meanings to different subjects

rating scales

rating something yes or no can be too restrictive, but numerical scales also can be inexact and subject to individual inclination to give an extreme or middle response to all questions

variable

any attribute of an individual (person, animal, or thing) being studied. can take different values for different individuals

quantitative variable

is a numerical variable that are count or measurements

qualitative

is a categorical variable that divides the individuals into distinct groups (it can be numerical)

correlational method

looks at the relationship between two variables without establishing cause and effect relationships. Goal is to measure the extent to which two factors vary together and how well either factor predicts the other

scatterplot

a graph comprised of points that are generated by values of two quantitative variables

slope of the points depicts the

direction (positive or negative) of the relationship between the two variables

the amount of scatter suggest

the strengths of the correlation

values on the x and y axis must be

quantified

correlation coefficient

a statistical measure of the relationship between 2 variables

positive correlation

the variables increase tougher or decrease together

negative correlation

as one variable increase the other decreases

no correlation

as one variable increases or decreases, the other increases or decreases randomly

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exist or perceiving a stronger-than-actual relationship

correlation does not imply

causation

experiments isolate

causes and effects

treatment

a specific condition applied to the individual in an experiment

independent variable

is the factor manipulated by the experimenter. only given to the experimental group.

dependent variable

is the factor (outcome) that is measured. Manipulated (measured) in both the experimental and control group

in psychology the dependent variable is usually a

behavior or a mental process

in the experimental Group

subjects receive the treatment

in the control group

subjects do not receive the treatment or they recieve a dummy treatment

Random assignment

ensures that each participant has an equal chance of being place into any group

random assignment

statistic method that uses a chance process to place the participants to the experimental group or the control group

random sampling

is a statistical method that uses a chance process to choose a representative sample of the population being studied

quasi-experiment research

does not randomly assign participants into groups. the participants are in pre-existing groups

confounding variables

extraneous factors (not the independent variable being studied) that might influence a study’s results (dependent variables)

directionality problem

when two variables correlate and might actually have a causal relationship, but it’s impossible to conclude which variable causes change in the other

third variable problem

occurs when a factor (another variable- NOT the independent or dependent variable) leads to a mistaken casual relationship between the 2 variables in a study

experimental bias

occurs when a researcher expectations or presences about the outcome of a study influence the result obtain

placebo effect

a psychological response to a treatment simply from expectionations of the procedure/medication

to avoid the placebo effect subjects should

NOT be aware of whether they received an inert/dummy treatment (placebo), or an experimental treatment

single-blind procedure

the participate in the study are not informed about the treatment, if any, that they are receiving

double-blind procedure

participants and the researcher are not informed about which group receives the treatment, and which does not

experimental validity

is the tent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what is supposed to

5 main research methods are

case study, naturalistic observation, correlation study, experiment, meta-analysis

meta-analysis

is a type of statistical analysis where researchers review, combine, and analyze the result of multiple studies

psychologist study animals

animals are fascinating to study, animals teach us about humans, animals often have simpler systems

ethical guidelines

safeguard animals research subjects

ethical guidelines were establish to

protect human and non-human animals in research studies. Participants give informed consent, protection form harm, debriefing, confidentiality, right to withdrawal, approval from institutional review board

institutional review board

a committee stablished to evaluate the risks and benefits of human participants and non-human animals, research, ensuring the rights and welfare of the participants are protected

statistics

are the tools that allow researchers to measure variables and interpret results

bar graph

shows a frequency distribution of a qualitative (categorical) variable

descriptive statistics use

numerical data to measure and describe characteristics of groups

measures of central tendency

mean median and mode

mean

the mathematical average of a set of numbers. add the scores and divide by the number (n) scores

median

the score in a distibution. arrange scores from highest to lowest with half of the data above and half below this number

mode

the most frequently occurring data point in a distribution

regression to the mean

the tendency for extreme scores or events to fall back towards the average

skewed distribution

most of the cores or data fall on one side of the scale and there are very few scores on the other side

the median will be a better descriptor when the

mean is impacted by outliers