PSYC210 midterm test

What three things are needed in order to have an approach to anything?

Rules, tools and theory

What are rules (needed for approach to anything)?

principles of good design to set up for data collection. e.g. it needs to be reflective of the population. this is a research method.

What are tools (needed for approach to anything)?

summarising and describing data you've collected. e.g. how can the thing that you're interested in be measured correctly? this is a research method.

What is theory (needed for an approach to anything)?

the math behind rules and tools for example, an average. these are the statistics.

What is psychology?

the scientific study of behaviour and mental process.

What used to be not well separated from psychology but is now the alternative way that we look at the mind?

Philosophy

What are the two approaches to thinking about the mind?

Philosophy and science.

Through science, the first 'approach' to looking at the mind was via

Structuralism

structuralism

founded by Wilhelm Wundt is where he thought that mental events can be broken down into their components (apple example).

Pros to structuralism

it shows that people can perceive things in different orders which in turn shows the difference in people.

Cons to structuralism

- it is completely subjective - it is dealing with individuals not group behaviour so it is hard to generalise this and make conclusions for everyone.
- you don't have any information about how the brain is involved.
- it also might not be super relevant to the real world - we do not sit there and examine an apple to the point where it is exhaustive.

What did William James say that was revolutionary?

Psychology is the science of mental life, both its phenomena AND THEIR CONDITIONS.

\= began to consider the context in which things occurred.

Scientific method simple assumption about the world

that there is order to the universe

scientific method over-riding goal

to understand (behaviour)

What are the four goals of science

description, explanation, prediction and control

What is description? (goal one)

being able to accurately state what happened (describing a behaviour and the conditions under which it occurred).

What is explanation? (goal two)

stating why it happened (finding out the cases of a behaviour).

What is prediction? (goal three)

Given what we know, can we predict what will happen next? (our ability to predict behaviour will only be as good as our ability to explain - if our explanation is wrong, we will not be able to predict what will happen accurately).

What is control? (goal four)

How to make something happen. if we understand the first three steps enough, we can use that to control what a person does.

Can be controversial but can be good for mental disability as if people are acting in self injurious ways we can study that and leverage the information to make positive behavioural changes.

What are the four approaches to understanding?

authority approach, analogy approach, Rule approach and Empirical approach

What is the authority approach?

Seeking knowledge from sources thought to be reliable and valid.

good as it saves time - we don't have to gain all this information for ourselves. But can be misleading if the source is not accurate or lacks authority. \= need to evaluate critically.

What is the analogy approach?

analogy between some new event and a more familiar understandable event.

Have to be careful not to buy into this too much or it can confuse you more. example \=economics and invisible guiding hand.

What is the rule approach?

Try to establish laws or rules that cover a variety of different observations

Can save time and effort but if followed blindly can also threaten advancement of understanding.

Theories, models and hypotheses are tied to this approach.

What is the empirical approach?

When you test ideas against the actual events and then decide if your idea was accurate or not. \= observing behaviour and drawing conclusions.

What is a hypothesis?

an idea or tentative guess. specifically in psychology it is a formally stated expectation about a behaviour.

What are the two criteria that must be met for a hypothesis to be valid?

1. testable - can derive a test from it.
2. falsifiable - test can show it is incorrect.

In psychology, do we prove ideas to be true or false?

false as ideas are always on probation and subject to constant testing.

what happens when a hypothesis is shown not to be false.

we say that the theory giving rise to the hypothesis is confirmed - this doesn't mean its true, it just means it is still not falsified.

What are the four steps of the flow of scientific research?

1. generate hypothesis
2. devise and conduct study
3. analyse results
4. disconfirm or confirm hypothesis

correlational research

the study of the naturally occurring relationships among variables - when something changes something else.

Correlation is not equal to what?

causation

To show causation, what are the two things we must demonstrate?

1. changing the first thing produces a change in the second; and

2. there is no other possible cause for the change in the second thing (if this is not proven, then you only have a correlational relationship)

What is the population?

members of a specific group. e.g. 80+

what is a sample?

a subset of the population that is selected to represent the population.

How is a representative sample achieved?

random sampling

What is random sampling?

everyone in the population has an equal chance of being studied. you select members in an unbiased manner.

Descriptive statistics

mathematical summaries of results - e.g. averages.

Inferential statistics

when you can generalise stats from sample to population - show that the data is applicable to the real world.

Dependent variable

the measure that is taken/recorded. depends on what the participant does/how they respond to the way you manipulate the IV.

Operational definition

when there is no direct way to measure what you want; e.g. happiness/intelligence. it is a specification of how the property of interest will be measured.

so, you need to think about two things:
1. the property of interest
2. the dependent variable (must indirectly reflect the property of interest)

Property of Interest

What you are trying to measure e.g. intelligence

what is the DV of an operational definition?

a measurable value that is indirectly reflective of the Property of interest - e.g. scores on an IQ test for intelligence.

Reliable (reliability)

a DV is \_______ if under the same conditions it gives the same measure and contains a minimum of measurement error.

Valid (validity)

a DV is \_______ if it measures what it is supposed to measure.

A poor operational definition can result in what?

an invalid DV.

reliability and validity

can be reliable but not valid. but if something is not reliable, then it cannot be valid.

bias

a biased DV is constenty inaccurate in one direction.

a good DV is what (three things)

Reliable, valid and unbiased.

if not, \= no confidence in claims derived from its data.

Floor effect

the task is so difficult that everyone scores low/bad

ceiling effect

the task is so easy that everyone scores high/well

Two types of data are..

1. numerical
2. categorical

Two types of categorical data are...

1. ordered
2. unordered

unordered data is measured on what type of scale?

nominal scale - e.g. gender - 1 \= girl, 2 \= boy, 3 \= other. numbers mean nothing.

ordered data is measured on what type of scale?

ordinal scale. the bigger means more, just can't tell how much more. e.g. rugby team rankings.

numerical data is measured on what type of scale?

interval or ratio scales

Interval scales do what?

categorise, orders and established an equal unit of measurement on a scale.

ratio scales do what?

categorise, orders and established an equal unit of measurement on a scale and contain a true zero point.

Independent variable

the experimental factor that distinguishes your groups. this is manipulated by the experimenter.

how many independent variables do you need to have an experiment?

two or more.

manipulated variable is...

the variable directly manipulated by the experimenter.

subject variable is...

a factor/variable nor directly manipulated by the experimenter but they are interested in them because of that thing. e.g. gender, RH or LH etc.

when you have a manipulated variable it \=

a true experiment. can have prediction and explanation from this.

when you have a subject variable \=

quasi-experiment. can have prediction but not explanation from this.

what is the critical distinction for true experiments and quasi-experiments?

for quasi-experiments you may not conclude that there is a causal relationship between IV and the results. can only do this for a true experiment as you need a random assignment of participants.

if you have IV X and result Y, what are the four possible explanations

1. X causes Y
2. Y causes X
3. there is a third factor Z causing both X and Y
4. chance

X does cause Y - explain

your manipulation of IV does directly cause the result you see (Y).

Y causes X - explain

happens when the experimenter is not manipulating a IV directly.

\= the observed difference on the DV (Health/illness) is determining what level of IV (own home/institution) the participants are in. so the Property of interest (how much responsibility) is having little to do with the overall outcomes.

Some third factor Z causes both X and Y - explain

some unknown 3rd factor is determining which level of the IV participants are in, and also determining the observed differences between groups on the DV.

If participants are not randomly assigned there could be differences between the groups - known as confounding factors.

how do you eliminate confounding factors like differences between participants?

random sampling.

confounding factor

A 'hidden' variable that is responsible for the observed association (not the IV or the DV).

control group

In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

placebo effects

The fact that subjects' expectations can lead them to experience some change even though they receive an empty, fake, or ineffectual treatment.

why is it important to chose the levels of your IV properly?

because an incorrect choice of levels can obscure the IV.

What did the Yerkes-Dodson curve tell us?

need medium stress to perform optimally. if there is too little stress participants don't case, but if there is too much they 'crack' under the pressure.

single-blind study

study in which the subjects do not know if they are in the experimental or the control group

double-blind study

An experiment in which neither the participant nor the researcher knows whether the participant has received the treatment or the placebo

demand characteristics

cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behaviour is expected. this can come from participants attitudes, the environment or the experimenter.

between-subjects design

each participant is only tested under one level of the IV.

within-subjects design

each participant is tested in every level of the IV.

Control Variables (constants)

things you keep the same in an experiment - need to recognise and control these ASAP, because if they change during the course of the experiment you cannot attribute the changes to the IV.

what are three important variables that need to be controlled?

participant variables, demand characteristics and experimental materials.

multiple independent variables

when you manipulate/control the levels of more than one variable.

What is the relationship between multiple IV's and the DV

the relationship between one IV and DV may change as the levels of the other IV change.

Factorial design

When you have 2+ IV's and you collect data in all combinations of the levels of your IV's - aka a fully crossed study.

What are different IV's called?

Factors

number of levels of one IV x number of levels of other IV \= ??

total number of possible conditions

between-subjects design (multiple IV)

each participant is assigned to only one of the possible conditions

within-subjects design (multiple IV)

each participant is exposed to each of the possible conditions

mixed-design (multiple IV)

when there are within-subjects IV's and between-subjects IV in a study.

Each participant recieves each level of the within-subjects IV and one level of the between-subjects IV.

Main effects

the effect of one IV on the DV ignoring the other IV's in the study.

this occurs for each IV.

Interaction effects

the effects of one IV on the DV taking into account the other IV's in the study

to look at the interaction effect means to...

look at the relationship between one IV and DV and see hoe it changes as the levels of the other IV change.

2x2 factorial matrix have how many IV's and how many interactions?

two independent variables
one interaction

There is an interaction when the lines on the graph...

Diverge or intersect

There is no interaction when the lines on a graph...

are parallel.

measures of central tendency

this summarises a data set with a single value that is representative of the whole data set
- mean
- median
- mode

mean

the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores

median

Middle score in a distribution

mode

the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

if data is normally distributed, which measure of central tendency is preferred?

mean