OFFICIAL Psych Exam Revision

Hypothesis

includes:

•variables - the independent & dependent

•the population - the group of people who are the focus of the research and from which the sample is drawn.

•a prediction about the 'direction' of results' - an outcome was 'more likely' or 'less likely'.

Aim

•a statement outlining the purpose of the investigation.

•It should be written as a succinct, straightforward sentence that clearly helps to narrow the parameters of the investigation.

dependent variable

the variable the researcher measures in an experiment for changes

independent variable

the variable for which quantities are manipulated (controlled, selected, or changed) by the researcher

Operationalising Variables

refers to specifying exactly how the variables will be manipulated or measured in a particular controlled experiment.

Controlled Variables

are variables other than the IV that a researcher holds constant in an investigation

scientific method

●a procedure used to obtain knowledge that involves hypothesis formulation, testing, and re-testing through processes of experimentation, observation, measurement, and recording.

●Importantly, it is centred around generating an informed hypothesis (a prediction) and then testing it to generate evidence that either supports or refutes it.

Controlled Experiments

a type of investigation which measures the causal relationship between one or more independent variables and a dependent variable, whilst controlling for all other variables.

Correlational Studies

a type of non-experimental study in which researchers observe and measure the relationship between two or more variables without any active control or manipulation of them

Case Studies

an in-depth investigation of an individual, group, or particular phenomenon (activity, behaviour, event, or problem) that contains a real or hypothetical situation and includes the complexities that would be encountered in the real world

Correlation

refers to the strength of relationship between variables; i.e. how likely it is that they would occur together in some predictable way (e.g. if one increases, the other decreases).

Classification

the arrangement of phenomena, objects, or events into manageable sets

Identification

a process of recognition of phenomena as belonging to particular sets or possibly being part of a new or unique set

Fieldwork

Research involving observation and interaction with people/environments in real-world settings

Literature review

Refers to collating & analysing secondary data related to other people's scientific findings

Controlled experiments Advantages

✔Allow researchers to infer causal relationships between, and draw conclusions about, specific variables.

✔Provide researchers with a high level of control over conditions and variables.

✔Follow a strictly controlled procedure so it can be repeated to check results.

✔Allow researchers to test hypotheses more quickly than in real-world settings.

✔High control of variables may mean prevention

Controlled experiments Disadvantages

•Often conducted in a laboratory setting so may not be reflective of real life.

•Experiments involve human control and manipulation of variables, they are open to researcher error or 'experimenter effects'.

•Can be time-consuming and expensive to manipulate and measure certain variables.

•Confounding or extraneous variables can still occur.

Case study Advantages

✔Provide highly detailed, rich information about a particular phenomenon under study.

✔Can provide new knowledge about other phenomena.

✔Allow phenomena to be examined in depth, which can provide ideas for future studies and hypotheses.

✔Can incorporate other scientific methodologies to gain data.

Case study Disadvantages

•Results cannot be generalised to a wider population - case studies often only involve a small group of people or One person.

•Subject to researcher bias and errors, as often one or only a few researchers.

•Can be difficult to draw conclusions about cause and effect.

•Case studies can be time-consuming.

Correlational study Advantages

✔No manipulation of variables required.

✔Can provide ideas for future hypotheses and research, as well as form the basis for theories.

✔Can provide information about the relationships and associations between variables.

✔Can be conducted in naturalistic settings, so findings are applicable to real work.

Correlational study Disadvantages

•Can over-simplify reality.

•Labels and language can be inaccurate and create bias.

Fieldwork Advantages

✔Can be conducted in naturalistic settings, so findings are more applicable to the real world.

✔This means it has high ecological validity.

✔Provides rich, detailed data.

✔Can use a broad range of different methodologies depending on the object of inquiry and resourcing needs.

✔Can occur over a longer time period, it can uncover information that may not be immediately obvious to researchers and participants.

Fieldwork Disadvantages

•Can be time-consuming and expensive to conduct and then record data.

•Can generally not inform conclusions about cause and effect.

•Due to lengthy procedures in a real-world setting, fieldwork is difficult to replicate in order to verify results.

•Difficult to control the environment and extraneous variables, as researchers do not precisely manipulate variables.

Literature review Advantages

✔Provides background information on specific phenomena that can inform new studies and hypotheses.

✔Allows researchers to understand the current 'state of play' for a specific object of inquiry and answer questions.

✔Through information synthesis, it may uncover patterns of knowledge or gaps of knowledge.

Literature review Disadvantages

•May be time-consuming.

•May be difficult to do if little research has been done on a topic.

Modelling Advantages

✔Can provide explanatory tools.

✔Physical modelling allows researchers to know, understand and problem solve.

✔Conceptual modelling can simplify and explain certain phenomena.

Modelling Disadvantages

•Models are often used to simplify and communicate ideas, they may over-simplify or inaccurately represent reality.

Product, process or system development Advantages

✔Creates products, processes and systems that may meet a human need.

Product, process or system development Disadvantages

•Can be expensive and time-consuming.

Simulation Advantages

✔Provides insight into potential circumstances and events.

✔Allows researchers to view micro, hard-tosee phenomena, such as neurons, in detail.

✔Allows researchers to see events that might otherwise be too time-consuming, dangerous or impractical to see in reality.

Simulation Disadvantages

•Can be time-consuming and expensive.

•Is subject to programming and human error so may not always be an accurate prediction or reflection of reality.

experimental group

○the group of participants in an experiment who are exposed to a manipulated independent variable (i.e. a specific intervention or treatment).

control group

the group of participants in an experiment who receive no experimental treatment or intervention in order to serve as a baseline for comparison

the Three experimental designs

○within subjects

○between subjects

○mixed design.

Within subjects

An experimental design in which participants complete every experimental condition.

Between subjects

An experimental design in which individuals are divided into different groups and complete only one experimental condition.

Mixed Design

An experimental design which combines elements of within-subjects and between-subjects designs. This allows experimenters to note differences that occur within each experimental group over time, and also compare differences across experimental groups.

Within Subjects Advantages

✔Ensures results of the experiment are more likely due to the manipulation of the

✔Independent variable than any differences between participants that would occur if they were in separate groups.

✔Less people are needed because each participant completes each experimental condition.

✔Good for real-world settings, phenomena & impact of certain teaching methods on learning (e.g. this could be assessed before with a pre-test, and after with a post-test when a teaching method is used on the same students).

Within Subjects Disadvantages

•It can produce order effects; eg completing one experimental condition first and then the other/s may influence how participants perform in the latter condition/s (eg. Due to fatigue, practice, participants' expectations,).

•A participant dropping out of a within subjects experiment has a greater impact on the study as the experimenter loses two data points instead of one.

Between Subjects Advantages

✔Less time-consuming than within-subjects design as different participants can complete the different conditions simultaneously and procedures do not need to be repeated.

✔Does not create order effects.

Between Subjects Disadvantages

•May require more participants than a within-subjects design.

•Differences between participants across groups can affect results (results may be due to the split of participants not the IV)

Mixed design Advantages

✔Allows experimenters to compare results both across experimental conditions and across individuals/participants/groups over time.

✔Allows multiple experimental conditions to be compared to a baseline control group.

Mixed design Disadvantages

•More costly and time consuming to plan, conduct, and then analyse results.

•Demanding for researchers and to be across multiple methods.

Yarning Circles

In Indigenous cultures, an approach to group discussion which involves talking, exchanging ideas, reflection and deep, considered listening without judgement to enables more culturally appropriate approach to research and data collection when working Indigenous cultures.

Although they have been compared to Western focus groups, this type of fieldwork is unique in its emphasis on a lack of judgement, letting go of preconceived notions, and key cultural principles such as respect, inclusion, and sharing. The role of the researcher is also different, as they must become an active member of the discussion, not just a neutral facilitator. The focus of the facilitator is not to obtain knowledge or information for themselves, but to contribute to a circular information exchange that can potentially produce new knowledge for all members.

Types of Fieldwork

Direct observation

Qualitative interviews

Focus Groups

Questionnaires

Yarning Circles

Direct observation

A researcher watches and listens to the participants of a study, with no direct intervention and involvement, or manipulation of variables.

Qualitative interviews

A researcher asking questions to gather in-depth information about a particular topic, theme, or idea. It can be structured or semi-structured, questions are open ended so that participants can provide lengthier, more detailed answers. This provides rich, qualitative data for the researcher to analyse.

Focus Groups

A qualitative research method which involves a researcher conducting a discussion with a small group of people on a specific topic. Groups are formed on the basis of some shared characteristics (e.g. participants' background) relevant to the discussion.

Questionnaires

A set of questions or prompts given to participants to answer digitally or with pen and paper. Questions may be open-ended, where participants can freely answer a question, or closed (a given set of responses). The answers of respondents are then analysed by a researcher

population

●refers to the group of people who are the focus of the research and from which the sample is drawn.

sample

refers to a subset of the research population who participate in a study

Representative

means that the people in the sample represent the wider population by having the same characteristics

Sampling Techniques

Stratified Sampling

Convenience Sampling

Random Sampling

Convenience Sampling

Any sampling technique that involves selecting readily

available members of the population, rather than using a random or systematic approach.

Random Sampling

Any sampling technique that ensures every member of the population has the same chance of being selected.

Stratified Sampling

Any sampling technique that involves selecting readily available members of the population, rather than using a random or systematic approach.

The process involves:

1.Dividing the research population into different strata based on characteristics relevant to the study.

2.Selecting participants from each stratum in proportion to how they appear in the population

Convenience sampling Advantages

✔The most time-effective and can be cost-effective.

Convenience sampling Disadvantages

•Most likely to produce an unrepresentative sample, thereby making it harder for researchers to generalise results to the population.

Random sampling Advantages

✔The sample generated can be more representative than convenience sampling.

✔Reduces experimenter bias in selecting participants.

✔Can make a fairly representative sample if the sample is large.

Random sampling Disadvantages

•May be time-consuming to ensure every member of a population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample.

•May not create an entirely representative sample when the sample is small.

Stratified sampling Advantages

✔Most likely to produce a representative sample.

Stratified sampling Disadvantages

•Can be time-consuming and expensive.

•Can be demanding on the researcher to select the most appropriate strata to account for.

Allocation

●refers to the process of assigning participants to experimental conditions or groups.

random allocation

ensures every sample participant has an equal chance of being placed in any group within the experiment

Extraneous Variables

any variable that is not the independent variable but may cause an unwanted effect on the dependent variable.

Confounding Variables

a variable that has directly and systematically affected the dependent variable, apart from the independent variable

This can only be identified at the end of the experiment

placebo

an inactive treatment such as a sugar pill

placebo effect

refers to when participants respond to an inactive substance or treatment as a result of their expectations or beliefs

Order Effects

oTendency for the order in which participants complete experimental conditions to have an effect on their behaviour.

oOccurs primarily in within-subjects experimental designs.

oPractice effects, which mean that participants perform better in later conditions due to having done it before.

ofatigue effects, which mean that participants perform worse in later conditions due to being tired or bored from completing a prior task.

Experimenter Effects

orefers to when the expectations of the researcher affect the results of an experiment.

Demand Characteristics

refer to cues in an experiment that may signal to a participant the intention of the study and influence their behaviour.

Examples of Extraneous & Confounding Variables

Non-Standardised Instructions & Procedures

Demand Characteristics

Order Effects

Placebo Effects

Experimenter Effects

Situational Variables

Participant Related Variables

Preventing Extraneous & Confounding Variables

Single & Double Blind Procedures

Counterbalancing

Using a Placebo

Single & Double Blind Procedures

Preventing Extraneous & Confounding Variables by sampling

●Large sample sizes increases the sample's representativeness of the population, similar diversity as in the population.

●Therefore, if a study has a large sample, the findings from that study are more likely to be unbiased, compared to a small sample which may lack diversity,

●If a participant's data is an outlier there will be more pronounced effects on the results than in a larger sample

●using more objective sampling procedures, like random or stratified sampling also ensures a more representative sample, which again, helps to ensure a sample which is unbiased.

Counterbalancing

●a method to reduce order effects that involves ordering experimental conditions in a certain way.

●A common example may involve splitting the participants in half:

○one half completes one experimental condition (A) first, followed by the other condition (B).

○The other half of participants complete the conditions in reverse order (B, then A).

Single-Blind Procedure

is a procedure in which participants are unaware of the experimental group or condition they have been allocated to. This minimises demand characteristics

Double-Blind Procedure

is a procedure in which both participants AND the experimenter do not know which conditions or groups

Accuracy

●refers to how close a measurement is to the true value of the quantity being measured

True value

refers to the value, or range of values, that would be found if the quantity could be measured perfectly.

Precision

how closely a set of measurement values agree with each other

a separate consideration to accuracy

Measurement Errors

Systematic errors

Random Errors

Systematic errors'

Errors in data that differ from the true value by a consistent amount

Repeating measurements will not improve them

Eg. a broken scale

Random Errors

Errors in data that are unsystematic and occur due to chance which result in measurements that differ from the true value, they do not occur in a consistent way like systematic errors

●Random errors may be reduced by

○repeating and conducting more measurements

○calibrating measurement tools correctly

○refining measurement procedures

Repeatability

the extent to which successive measurements or studies produce the same results when carried out under identical conditions within a short period of time

Reproducibility

is the extent to which successive measurements or studies produce the same results when repeated under different conditions

Validity types

Internal and external

Validity

refers to the extent to which psychological tools and investigations truly support their findings or conclusions.

Internal validity

is the extent to which an investigation truly measures or investigates what it claims to.

External validity

●is only considered when internal validity is present.

It is the extent to which the results of an investigation can be applied to similar individuals in different settings

●External validity can be improved by:

○using sampling procedures that create a more representative sample;

○having broad inclusion criteria (characteristics of people in the sample);

○using a larger sample size, which makes it more likely to be representative of the population.

Ethics

moral guiding principles that people should consider when conducting research, practising psychology, or when analysing a psychological issue or debate

ethical concepts

○beneficence

○integrity

○justice

○non-maleficence

○respect.

Beneficence

refers to the commitment to maximising benefits and minimising the risks and harms involved in taking a particular position or course of action

Integrity

•the commitment to searching for knowledge and understanding, and the honest reporting of all sources of information and results, whether favourable or unfavourable, in ways that permit scrutiny and contribute to public knowledge and Understanding

Justice

the moral obligation to ensure that there is fair consideration of competing claims; that there is no unfair burden on a particular group from an action; and that there is fair distribution and access to the benefits of an action.

Nonmaleficence

the principle of avoiding causing harm

If this is unavoidable, the harm resulting from any position or course of action should not be disproportionate to the benefits from any position or course of action

Respect

the consideration of the extent to which living things have an intrinsic value and/or instrumental value; giving due regard to the welfare, liberty and autonomy, beliefs, perceptions, customs and cultural heritage of both the individual and the collective; consideration of the capacity of living things to make their own decisions; and when living things have diminished capacity to make their own decisions, ensuring that they are empowered where possible and protected as necessary

Ethical Guidelines

○confidentiality

○informed consent procedures

○use of deception

○debriefing

○voluntary participation

○withdrawal rights.

Confidentiality

refers to the privacy, protection and security of a participant's personal information in terms of personal details and the anonymity of individual results, including the removal of identifying elements