psych test 1 ib

psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Psychology is based on what?

empirical evidence

how do u get empiricial evidence

frm experince or observation

ib psych focuses on 3 diff perspectives of knowledge wat r they?

biological, cogntiive, sociocultural

biological:

based on the physical body and genetics

cognitive:

based on unobservable mental processes

sociocultural

based on the role of others arnd us and our culture

what is reserach?

is a form of systematic investigation to establish facts by using the scientific method

to understand psycholgy wat must u do?

understand how psycholgists gather info abt human behavior

psycholgosy experiemnts never do what?

prove anything

what do psycholgy experiemtn sdo instead?

suggest rls

the data that psychologist collect may be either what or what?

qualitative or quantative

quantative data:

consists of numerical info or simple text da can easily be cnverted to numbers

qualitiative data:

expressed in risch data thru long blocks of text like interviws or field notes

what does it mean when studies us eboth quantaitve and qualitative approaches at the same time

methos triangulation

quanttaive data is generally collected?

quickly and easily

why si quantiaitve data collected easily/quickly

bcuz there is less interpetation by the researcher, there is less potential for bias

what is da goal of quantative research?

to obtain a reprsentative sample to genralize the population

quantative methos typically include what?

large sample sizes and probability based sampling techniques

quantative research is highly focused on what and what?

reliaility and validity

why si quantaive research highly focused on reliabilty and validity?

bcuz of the ease of collecting data leads to constant replication

reliability:

refers to the consistency of psychological research

what r 2 ways to asses reliability

test-retest and interobserver

test retest reliability:

scores r conssitent over time

interobserver relibilty:

different observers give consistent scores

validity

refers to the abiloity of research to measure what its supposed to measure

say 4 types of validity

internal,external,ecological, and population

internal validity

how well the environemtn is controlled to prevent confounds

external valifity

to what extent can data be generlaized outside the study

ecological validity

can the data be trandered to real life situations

populatin validity

do the results generalize to other groups

is a survey a quan or qual

quan

what is a survey

gathering info by asking a fixed set of questons to many ppl

wat is good abt surveys

– The ability to gather a lot of data very quickly
– Generally high in ecological validity as surveys measure real-
life variables
– Low potential for researcher bias
– Surveys can be filled out anonymously, decreasing demand
characteristics

wat is bad abt surveys

Strong potential for participant biases (such as social
desirability and acquiescence)
– Volunteer bias may occur as those who willingly take a survey
may not be “normal”
– Survey construction is sometimes poor and can suffer from
wording effects, leading questions, order effects, etc.
– No assurance that participants are telling the truth or
remembering events correctly
– Can only establish correlation

wat is a correlation?

the measure of a rls between 2 variables

wat do correlational studies do?

isolate 2 variables and perform stat analysis

is correlationals tudies quan or qual

quan

wat is good abt correlational studies?

High ecological validity
– Large sample sizes are used, which aids in generalization
– Quick statistical analysis

wats bad abt correlational studies?

Correlational studies cannot infer causation
– Directionality also cannot be inferred (A might cause B, but B
might also cause A)
– The correlation might be spurious or affected by a third
variable
– Correlational studies only work if the relationship between the
two variables is linear
– Researcher control is limited

is experiemnts quan or qual

quan

an exp occurs when wat?

one variable is changed and everything else is controlled to establish causation

what are three types of variables?

IV,DV,confounding

iv

wat is manipulated by the reasearcher

dv

the outcome varibale or wat is measured

confoduning

anything other than the iv tha moght affect the dv

a tru exp takes place where?

in a lab with meticulous control over confounds

field expeirments:

occur wen a reseacher manipulates variables in the real world

natural expeiremnts

involve nature (rather than a reaseracher) causing the manipulation of the IV

quasi/natural expeiremnts

involve an iv that cant be truly maniplauted

examples of quasi iv’s

gender, race, age, socoeconomic status, etc.

indepdnet samples:

seperate groups that each get a different level of the IV (the groups r typically randomly assgined)

matched pairs

seperate groups that are deliberalty made equal in a key trait

repeated measures

the same gorup gets each level of the IV

wat is the main experimental control?

random assignment into groups

wat is teh goal of random assignment

to make the 2 groups as equal as possible without introducing expeirenter bias

experiemntal group:

receives the treatment

control group

doesnt receive the treatment but is treated jus lik da exp gorup

wats good abt expeiremnts?

True experiments establish causation
– More researcher control than any other method
– Often replicated to check for reliability

wats bad abt exp groups?

Only true experiments establish causation. The other types
cannot due to lack of control over confounds or no true
manipulation of the IV.
– Experiments can be time-consuming and expensive
– True experiments are often artificial and lack ecological validity
– True experiments often utilize convenience sampling, which
hurts their generalization

wat is unavoidable in research?

bias

what differs in quan and qualtivae methods?

the nature of bias

bias in quan research:

is a threat to internal validity

bias in qual research:

is present in both particpant responses and researcher interpretation

wen do demand characteristics occur?

wen the subject alters their behavior as a result of being studied

wat is an example of demand caractetics

hawthorne effect(wen ppl change their behavior bcuz they knw they r being observe dlike basically he was in a assembly line like obseving the workers bcuz he nwate dto figur eout how ot makw the more prodcutive for their boss and they were being super producitve only bcuz they knw he was watching them)

reseracher bias:

occurs wen the expeiremnter places their own beleifs into the research process

placebo effect

a change in behavior resulting from a beelif that da treatment will have an effect

wat is the main tehcnique used to control for placebo effect

the double vlind experiemnt

wat is a double blind experiemnt

both the subject and the reseatcher are unwaware of who is in what group

wat is research prone to and why?

sampling bias bcuz of using narrow groups

popukation:

the entire gorup that u wish to find out abt (usually very large and would be expensive and tiem consuming to test most populations)

sample:

a small gorups of p’s gathered frm the totla number available

wat is the goal of quantiitve research

for the sample to be reprsentative

wat r 2 ways to ensure that a sample is representative

random and stratified sampling

random sampling

gives each peros an equal chance to be selected

stratfied sampling:

deliberately sets up proportions for each subgroup

wat are samples often based on what which hurts the study’s validity?

conveneince

how many geenrlaizations is quan research concerned with?

one

wat is the one geenralization that quan research is concerned with?

statistical generlzation

statistical generalization is hindered by wat?

– Low sample sizes
– Only one gender (androcentric or gynocentric)
– Little cross-culture variability (WEIRD)
– Overreliance on college students
– Volunteer bias

correlation does not equal wat?

causation

correlation:

means that 2 factors r related in some way

causation

means one variable has a direct impact on another

wat is the only way to infer causation?

thru a controlled experiment

experiments do what to confounding factors that might affect the dv?

control them

Some considerations of causality include:

– Is there bidirectional ambiguity? (In other words, could the
other variable actually be the cause?)
– Are there potential confounding variables that might be
influencing the results?
– Is the effect temporary?
– Is there more than one causal event? (For instance, is there
domino causality where there is a chain or sequence of
events?)

perspective:

is a way of looking at things and in research perspective may change the way that results are interpreted

when analyzing research for perspective wat should u do?

look for alternative explnations that might give a different picture of the results

psychologists often begin wit wat?

a general thoery

general theory:

group pf ideas and assumptions

wat is da general theory used to form?

an experimental hypothesis

experimental hypothesis:

a statement about a perceived rls between 2 variables and the direction thereof

what must each variable be given?

an operational defination

operational defination:

a precise way of being measured

wat do poor operational definations lead to?

a lack of construct validity

There are several considerations that are relevant to a
study’s measurement:

– Is the chosen research method appropriate?
– Is the operationalization suitable for the construct that is
being measured?
– Are there any inherent limitations in the instruments being
used for measurement (i.e. brain imaging technologies)?
– Can the measurement be trusted or are there other potential
issues (i.e. a lack of statistical significance)?

There are two major types of change that might be
seen in research:

– Natural developmental change
– Change as the result of an intervention

wat is it important to do in change?

identify potential agents of change