unit 1b psychological research (full)

Basic Research

Builds psychology's knowledge base through exploration.

Applied Research

Addresses practical problems using psychological concepts.

Scientific Attitude

Curiosity and skepticism towards unsupported claims.

Hindsight Bias

Belief that outcomes were predictable after they occur.

Overconfidence (secret term!!)

Excessive confidence in one's own correctness.

Critical Thinking

Evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions critically.

Validity

Accuracy of a test in measuring intended concepts.

Reliability

Consistency of results across multiple trials.

Scientific Method

Systematic process for observing and testing theories.

Theory

Integrated set of principles predicting observations.

Hypothesis

Testable prediction derived from a theory.

Null Hypothesis

Assumes no relationship between studied variables.

Operational Definitions

Specific procedures to define research variables.

Replication

Repetition of study to confirm findings.

Descriptive Studies

Observational methods to describe behavior patterns.

Case Study

In-depth study of an individual to reveal principles.

Naturalistic Observation

Observing subjects in their natural environment.

Surveys

Questionnaires to gather data from a population.

Industrial Psychologists

Focus on workplace behavior and productivity.

Cognitive Psychologists

Study mental processes like perception and memory.

Personality Psychologists

Examine individual differences in behavior and traits.

Social Psychologists

Investigate how individuals influence and are influenced by others.

Developmental Psychologists

Study psychological growth and change across the lifespan.

Biological Psychologists

Explore the relationship between biology and behavior.

Patient H.M.

Subject with anterograde amnesia after hippocampus removal to treat his seizures.

Retrograde amnesia

Memory loss of past events.

Anterograde amnesia

Inability to form new memories.

Hippocampus

Brain region crucial for memory formation.

Hausa tribe

Cultural group studied for attraction preferences, deeper voices led to stronger attraction.

Case study

In-depth analysis of an individual or group.

False consensus effect

Overestimating others' agreement with personal beliefs.

Survey

Method for gathering self-reported attitudes or behaviors.

Framing effect

Influence of question wording on responses.

Naturalistic observation

Recording behavior in natural settings without interference.

Field experiment

Research in real-world settings with some control.

Subjects

Individuals or animals involved in a study.

Sample

Subset of a population for analysis.

Population

Entire group targeted for research.

Random sampling

Each member has equal chance of selection.

Stratified sampling

Dividing subjects into subgroups for representation.

Double-blind procedure

Neither researchers nor participants know treatment status.

Counterbalancing

Technique to control for order effects in experiments.

Correlation studies

Examine relationships between variables without control.

Correlation coefficient

Statistical measure indicating relationship strength.

Positive correlation

Both variables increase together.

Perfect positive correlation

+1.00 indicates direct proportional increase.

Negative correlation

One variable increases while the other decreases.

Perfect negative correlation

-1.00 indicates inverse proportional relationship.

Weak correlation

Near 0 indicates little to no relationship.

Direct relationship

One variable predicts another's behavior.

Inverse relationship

Two variables relate inversely to each other.

Scatterplots

Graph showing relationship between two variables.

Line of best fit

Minimizes distance between data points and line.

Illusory correlation

Perception of a relationship where none exists.

Correlation does not equal causation

Correlation does not imply one variable causes another.

Experimental studies

Controlled settings manipulate factors to show effects.

Laboratory experiment

Research method manipulating independent variables.

Experimenter bias

Researcher unintentionally influences experiment outcomes.

Independent variable (IV)

Factor manipulated to observe its effect.

Dependent variable (DV)

Measured factor that may change due to IV.

Confounding variable

Other factors that may interfere with results.

Random assignment

Assigning participants by chance to minimize differences.

Experimental condition

Group receiving the treatment or independent variable.

Control condition

Group that does not receive the treatment.

Hawthorne effect

Behavior changes due to awareness of observation.

Blind/subject bias

Participants' knowledge affects study outcomes.

Placebo

Treatment that appears real but has no effect.

Placebo effect

Improvement due to belief in treatment's efficacy.

Longitudinal study

Repeated measures over an extended time period.

Cross-sectional study

Analyzes data from different groups at one time.

Measures of central tendency

Summarizes data with mean, median, and mode.

Mode

Most frequently occurring score in a distribution.

Mean

Average score calculated by total divided by count.

Median

Middle score when data is ordered.

Extreme scores

Lowest and highest scores in a distribution.

Measures of variation

Show diversity and spread of data distribution.

Range

Difference between highest and lowest scores.

Standard deviation

Measure of score variability around the mean.

Z-score

Describes the value's relation to the mean. Indicates how many standard deviations a specific data point is from the mean of a normal distribution.

Normal distribution

Bell curve representation of data distribution.

Positively skewed

A distribution of scores in which scores are concentrated in the low end of the distribution (more low scores than high scores)

Negatively skewed

A distribution of scores in which scores are concentrated in the high end of the distribution (more high scores than low scores)

Variance

The spread between numbers in a data set

Statistical significance

A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance

P-value

A statistical measurement used to validate a hypothesis against obtained data.

IRB

Stands for Institutional Review Board; they review research in advance to ensure ethical considerations are met

Type I error

A false positive error, the incorrect rejection of a null hypothesis

Type II error

A false negative error, when they accept the null hypothesis when it failed (found more of type II than type I)

APA ethical guidelines

APA ethics code has research standards and guidelines established for protected the animal and human participant's well being

Animal research

1) clear scientific purpose

2) must house and care for the animals in a humane way

3) acquisition: animals acquired legally

4) least amount of suffering feasable

Human research

1) informed consent (very important)

2) coercion, must be voluntary

3) anonymity/confidentiality (eg. patient H.M)

4) no significant mental/physical risk (eg. Milgram)

5) must debrief the purpose of experiment