Experimental Psychology - Departmentals Exam

Psychology

Science of behavior

Scientific Evidence

Our knowledge about psychological processes is based on ___ accumulated through research

1. Science

2. Methodology

3. Data

The need for scientific methodology: Core concepts

Science

Content and process

Methodology

Scientific techniques used to collect and evaluate data

Data

Facts we gather using scientific method

Commonsense Psychology

Works well but limited by our inferential strategies (arriving at logical conclusions based on available information)

1. Confirmation Bias

2. Gambler's Fallacy

3. Stereotyping

4. Overconfidence Bias

5. Overusing Trait Explanations

Types of nonscientific inference:

Confirmation Bias

Once we believe we know something, we overlook instances that might disconfirm our beliefs and seek confirmatory instances of behavior

Overusing Trait Explanations

Perceiving others by their traits

Overusing Trait Explanations

Strong bias to overlook situational data

Overusing Trait Explanations

Lead to overestimations that they will act in trait-consistent ways in different situations

Gambler's Fallacy

People misuse data to estimate the probability of an event

Stereotyping

Falsely assume specific behaviors cluster together due to shared group membership

Overconfidence Bias

Our predictions, guesses, and explanations tend to feel much more correct that they actually are, and the more data we have available (accurate or not), the more confidence we have in our judgements about behavior

1. The Scientific Mentality

2. Gathering Empirical Data

3. Seeking General Principles

4. Good Thinking

5. Self-Correction

6. Replication

The characteristics of modern science:

Scientific Mentality

Assumption made by Alfred North Whitehead, which goes, "Behavior must follow a natural order (patterns/principles); hence, it can be predicted

Determinism

Belief by research psychologists that there are specifiable (through not necessarily simple/obvious) causes for the way people behave and that these causes can be discovered through research

Empirical Data

If order exists, then it can be described in a systematic way by collecting?

Empirical Data

Data that are observable or experienced

Empirical Data

Can be verified or disproven by investigation

Law

Principles that have the generality to be applied to all situations

Theory

Temporary explanation; a set of related statements used to explain and predict phenomena

Theory

Integrate diverse data, explain behavior, and predict new instances of behavior

Good Thinking

Critical to the scientific method; we engage in this when data collection and interpretation are systematic, objective, and rational

Parsimony

An important aspect of good thinking; preference for the simplest useful explanation

Self-Correction

Modern scientists accept the uncertainty of their own conclusion

Self-Correction

Changes in scientific explanations and theories are an extremely important part of scientific progress

Replication

An exact or systematic repetition of a study

Replication

Increases our confidence in experimental results by adding to the weight of supporting evidence

1. Description

2. Prediction

3. Explanation

4. Control

The objectives of psychological science:

Description

A systematic and unbiased account of observed characteristics or behaviors

Prediction

The capability of knowing in advance when certain behaviors should occur

Explanation

Knowledge of the conditions that reliably produce a behavior

Control

Use of scientific knowledge to influence behavior

Applied Research

Addresses real-world problems like how to improve student graduation rates / Latane and colleagues findings on factory worker productivity

Basic Research

Tests theories and explains psychological phenomena

1. Observation

2. Measurement

3. Experimentation

The tools of psychological science:

Observation

Systematic noting and recording of events

Measurement

Assigns numbers to objects, events, or their characteristics

Measurement

An inherent feature of quantitative research

Experimentation

The process we use to test the predictions (hypotheses) and establish cause-and-effect relationships

Experimentation

Not always possible because our predictions must be testable

Experimentation

We must be able to manipulate the independent variable IV and measure its effect on the dependent variable DV

Two treatment conditions

An experiment requires that we create at least ___ and randomly assign subjects to these conditions

Antecedent Conditions

Are created to test a hypothesis about a behavior

Non-Experimental Approaches

Do not create levels of an independent variable nor randomly assign subjects to these levels

Non-Experimental Approaches

Used where experiments are not ethical or practical, or where we want to test hypotheses in real-life settings

Internal Validity

Degree of manipulation of antecedent conditions

Internal Validity

The degree to which a researcher can establish a causal relationship between the IV and DV

High Internal Validity

We are certain that the changes in behavior observed across treatment a conditions (different groups in a study) were actually caused by differences in treatments

External Validity

Degree of imposition of units

External Validity

The degree to which research findings can be generalized to other settings and individuals

Degree of Manipulation of Antecedent Conditions

Letting things (antecedent conditions) happen as they will vs setting up carefully controlled conditions

Degree of Imposition of Units

The extent to which the researcher limits the responses a subject may contribute to the data

1. Phenomenology

Five common nonexperimental approaches used by psychologist:

Phenomenology

Involves the description of an individual's immediate experience

Phenomenology

Source of data = personal experience

William James' Principle of Psychology

Approached most ideas from the phenomenological perspective of his own experiences

William James' Principle of Psychology

No manipulation of antecedent variables and no comparison of behaviors under different treatment conditions. We simple attend to our own experience

Phenomenology

A frequent component of qualitative research

Case Studies

A compilation of a descriptive study or a detailed account of a subjects experiences, observable behaviors, and archival records kept by an outside observer

Case Studies

An in-depth study and analysis of an individual, group, community, or phenomenon

Phineas Gage

A classic example of frontal brain damage affecting personality

Genie Wiley

A case of language acquisition beyond critical period

Retrospective Data

Recollection of past events that are collected in the present

Field Studies

Nonexperimental studies conducted in the field (real-life settings). The experimenter does not manipulate antecedent conditions

1. Naturalistic Observation Studies

2. Participant-Observer Studies

Field studies are also called as:

Naturalistic Observation Studies

Examines subjects spontaneous behavior in their actual environments and may obtain more representative behavior than experiements

Alter | Observed

In reactivity, subjects ___ their behavior when they know that they are being ___

Participant-Observer Studies

Involves field observation in which the researcher is part of the studied group

Participant-Observer Studies

Contrasts with naturalistic observation, where the researcher does not interact with research subjects to avoid reactivity

Field Experiments

Are experiments conducted in real-life settings

Archival Studies

Already existing records are reexamined for a new purpose

Qualitative Research

Obtains data consisting words instead of numbers

Survey Research

Obtains data about opinions, attitudes, preference, and behaviors using questionnaires or interviews

Closed Questions

Can be answered using a limited number of alternatives and have a high imposition units

Open-ended Questions

Require participants to respond with more than a yes or 1-10 rating and have a low imposition units

Double-barreled Questions

Questions that require responses about two or more unrelated ideas

Response Style

Are tendencies to respond to questions or test items without regard to their actual wording

1. Willingness to answer

2. Position Preference

3. Yea-saying

4. Nay-saying

People's response style differ in their?

Willingness to Answer

Is the tendency to guess or omit items when unsure

Position Preference

Is selecting an answer based on its position

Yea-saying

Is agreeing with an item regardless of its manifest content

Nay-saying

Is disagreeing with an item regardless of its manifest content

Context Effects

Are changes in question interpretation due to their position within a survey

Social Desirability Response Set

Is representing oneself in a socially appropriate fashion when responding to a question's latent content

Latent Content

Underlying meaning

Interviews

One of the best ways to gather high-quality survey data is to conduct it face-to-face, but it's the most expensive method for collecting survey data

Structured Interviews

Questions are asked the same way each time. This provides more usable, quantifiable data

Unstructured Interviews

The interviewer can explore interesting topics as they arise. These data may not be usable for content analysis or statistics

Target Population

Where does our data come from?

Population

Consists of all people, animals, or objects that share at least one characteristics

Sample

Is a subset of the population

Sampling

Deciding who the subjects will be, and then selecting them

Representativeness

How well a sample "represents" the larger population

Probability Sampling

Selecting subjects in a way that the likelihood of their being in the study are known or can be calculated

Random Selection

Meaning that any member of the population has an equal opportunity to be selected

1. Simple Random Sampling

2. Systematic Random Sampling

3. Stratified Random Sampling

4. Cluster Sampling

The four main probability sampling methods:

Simple Random Sampling

Most basic form of probability sampling