Psych Unit 0

Experiments are required to confirm ______ results

consistent and repeatable

Experiments confirm the _____ of psychological findings

validity

Humans are first guided by

intuition

Bias

tendency to favor a certain view (our own)

Hypothesis:

testable prediction

Operational definition

exact experimental procedures so the experiment is repeatable

theory

explanations that organize observations and predict outcomes

Experimental group

Group exposed to treatment

Control group

group not exposed to treatment

Double blind

where both subjects and staff are unaware of which

group has the placebo and which has treatment

single blinds

either the participants do not know the treatment they are receiving or the researchers do not know the treatment being given to participants

independent variable

Experimenters manipulate one or more factors

Dependent variable

observe the effect on behavior or mental process

To ensure statistical significance and bolster integrity, an experiment must have

Random selection and random assignment

Random selection

must be randomly selected from a diverse population in order to eliminate bias or skewed results

Random assignment

randomly selected subjects must be randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups, again, to eliminate bias or skew results

Small sample size can

can produce inconsistent or anomalous results

Confounding/lurking variables

undesired variables that can impact the data, and, unless controlled for, skew and/or ruin the research findings

Convenience Sampling:

Sampling technique where subjects are chosen because of their convenient accessibility and proximity to the researcher

Control variables

anything controlled by the experimenter in order to reduce confounding variables

Sampling Bias

Occurs when some members of the intended

population are less likely to be included in the sample compared to others

Experimenter Bias

A process where the scientists performing the research

influence the results, either consciously or unconsciously, to portray a certain outcome

Social Desirability Bias

The tendency of survey respondents to answer

questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others

Correlation study:

how two factors are linked and can predict one another. DOES NOT PROVE CAUSATION RAAH

Naturalistic observation

unhindered observations

of animals or people in their natural environment

Case study

one individual or group is studied in depth in

order to gain truth about a specific real-world phenomenon

Meta analysis

Statistical analysis that combines the results of

multiple scientific studies, providing a more precise estimate of the effect of those combined studies.

Cross-sectional Study

observing and collecting data from several individuals from one population at a one specific point in time. 

Longitudinal Study

any study that repeatedly collects the same sample of data from the same group of people at different points in time.

Bar graphs

a bar graph with gaps representing categories and numerical values

Histogram

a bar graph with no gaps depicting frequency distribution (all numerical)

Scatterplot

a graph cluster of two variables, with a slope suggesting a positive, negative, or no relationship

data will regress towards the mean

the phenomenon that if a variable is extreme on its first measurement, it will tend to be closer to the average on its second measurement

Qualitative measures

Data collection methods, such as structured interviews or observations, that provide in-depth and complex descriptions of phenomena without quantifying them

Quantitative measures

Tools for gathering data in numerical form, such as Likert scales, which can then be statistically analyzed

Correlation coefficient

measures how strong a relationship is

between two variables, ranging from -1 to 1 to represent the correlation

Positive correlations

Those above 0

Negative correlations

Those below 0

Positive skew

one where the bulk of information on the graph is skewed right

Negative skew

one where the bulk of information on the graph is skewed left

Bimodial

bell with 2 peaks

Terms used to analyze data:

Central tendencies

List the central tendencies

mode, mean, median, range

Mode

most frequently occurring score

Mean

the average score

Median

the middle score in a distribution (half above, half below)

Note: This does not mean the middle between the two most different values, but rather the middle of the set given. Ex: {14, 15, 18} the median is 15, not 16.

Range

difference between highest and lowest scores

Numbers that represent particular outcomes

Percentile, standard deviation, correlation coefficient

Percentile

A measure that indicates the value below which a given percentage of observations in a group of observations fall

Standard deviation

A measure of the amount of variation or dispersion

in a set of values, indicating how spread out the values are around the mean

Correlation coefficient (1 <= p >= -1)

A statistical measure that describes

the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables

experiments are always going to be judged, valued, or dismissed, based on their

statistical significance

for studies to be valid, they must generally be

replicable and peer-reviewed

Peer review

A process by which a scholarly work or research proposal is evaluated by other experts in the field to assess its suitability for publication or funding

replication

The process of repeating a research study under the same conditions as the original to validate the findings and increase reliability

APA

American Psychological Association

BPS

British Psychological Society

The American Psychological Association and British Psychological Society determine

the ethics and procedures, and require compliance from any prospective experimenters

The HIPAA Privacy Rule

among other laws, requires that U.S. physicians (mental & physical) keep patient information confidential

Local institutional review boards

screen research proposals and safeguard participant’s well-being at each institution according to the guidelines provided by the APA, BPS, government, etc.

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

is a federally-mandated committee in the U.S. that oversees animal programs, facilities, and procedures

While there is more detail involved in the regulations required by the APA and BPS, most can be reduced to these four fundamental ethics rules:

1) Obtain informed consent of the subjects

2) Protection from physical harm or discomfort

3) Confidentiality regarding subject information

4) A full debrief of the results for subjects afterwards

a process by which a person, typically a minor or someone unable to give legal consent, agrees to participate in a research study after having the study adequately explained to them

informed assent

An IRB, or Institutional Review Board:

Reviews an prospective experiment and either allows or disallows it depending on if it follows necessary guidelines