Psych key concepts

Bias

“In Psych bias refers to systematic error in research design, sampling, or even measurement” - Ms. Lee

“bias refers to systematic errors that distort judgement or decision-making”

Bias refers to a limitation in objective thinking, where information is interpreted through a filter of experience, expectations or preferences.

Key terms:

• Bias in research process:

  • researcher bias

  • participant bias

    • social desirability bias

  • sampling bias, confirmation bias, publication bias

  • Credibility, reflexivity, inter-rater reliability

  
  

• Bias in perspectives: Determinism (biological and environmental)

  • Nature vs. Nurture

  • Reductionism vs Holism

  • Diathesis-stress model

• Cognitive biases

  • Cognitive patterns in MDD

    • BECK’S COGNITIVE TRIAD

      • Beck's theory of depression has three components:

        1. Negative cognitive triad: 

        • Negative view of self

        • Negative view of world

        • Negative view of future

        2. Negative schemas

        • Mental frameworks formed through negative life experiences

        3. Cognitive biases 

        • Patterns of “Irrational thinking”

Causality

Causality refers to establishing cause-and-effect relationships between variables.

“Whether one variable directly produces changes in another”

• Human behaviour is complex, so causality is often not the direct effect of one variable on another (ambiguity,

Key terms:

• Reductionism

• Correlation vs. causation; Bidirectional ambiguity

• Validity: internal vs. external validity; mundane realism

• Controls: extraneous variables, placebos, double-blind (nobody knows experimental group), wait-listing (control participants get treatment / experimental condition eventually)

• Significance, limited extraneous variables

• Complexity, multivariate (extraneous variables)

• Influence vs. interaction

• Agency, motivation → (STI, bandura’s)

Change

Change refers to how behaviour develops, adapts or is altered over time.

• Arguments of to what extent we have free will over our behaviour and what is determined

• Change is constant, from human development to mood changes

• We focus on evaluating the effectiveness of interventions at individual, community, and global levels

  • TYPES OF CHANGE: gradual, sudden, planned (from deliberate / intentional action (therapy)), unplanned (happens without intention (trauma, mental illness, biological changes)

    • Distinction of [ a) time b) agency ] in types of change

Key terms:

• Prevalence of behaviours

• Barriers to change

• agency & motivation, barriers to change, prevalence of behaviours, intervention & prevention, health promotion strategies, effectiveness of treatments, longitudinal & repeated-measures designs.

• Intervention & prevention; health and promotion

• Effectiveness of treatments

• Longitudinal & repeated measure designs.

Measurement

Measurement refers to how psychologists observe, define and quantify behaviour (VARIABLES).

Concerns how psychological variables are operationalised and assessed

• Human behaviour is often: difficult to observe directly, context-dependent, influenced by interpretation

• To measure effectively, psychologists must: operationalise variables, choose appropriate methods, ensure reliability and validity

• Measurement benefits from triangulation to increase credibility

Key terms:

• Choice of research method

  • Experiments, interviews (structure, semi structured), surveys, observations, case studies

• Constructs and variables

  • Abstract constructs (self esteem) vs. measurable variables

• Operationalisation of variables

  • How is MDD or obesity operationalised?

    e.g.) serotonin hypothesis - does serotonin = cause of MDD?

    e.g.) BMI = good measurement? Why or why not?

• Types of data (self-reported, anecdotal, empirical)

• Correlation studies

  • Statistical significance, type I (false positive) and type II (false negative) errors

• Prospective approach = follow participants forward in time, BEFORE OUTCOME

• Retrospecive approach = looking backwards for cause and effect (Eg. childhood & current mental health)

  
  

Perspective

A perspective refers to a particular way of understanding and explaining behaviour.

• IB DP Psychology uses three main perspectives: biological, cognitive, sociocultural

• Each perspective is based on different assumptions, uses different methods, and offers different explanations

• No single perspective fully explains behaviour — a multi-perspective approach provides a more complete understanding

Key perspectives:

• Biological — genetic predisposition & environmental factors; reductionist; less individual agency

• Cognitive — recognises role of thought patterns; individuals have agency

• Sociocultural — holistic; understands how social & cultural groups influence behaviour; etic & emic methodology

Key terms:

• Reductionism vs. holism

• Emic (culture-specific) vs. etic (cross-cultural) approaches

• Deductive vs. inductive reasoning & data analysis

• Alternative explanations & interpretations

• Cultural & indigenous perspectives

• Psychological theories & models

Responsibility

Responsibility refers to the ethical and social obligations of psychologists in their research and practice. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS influence research design

Key terms:

• Ethical standards in research — respect, dignity, protection throughout the research process

• Informed consent — voluntary, informed participation

• Right to withdraw — at any time, without penalty

• Protection from harm — physical, psychological, social

• Deception & debriefing — justification for deception; full explanation afterwards

• Anonymity & confidentiality

• Cost–benefit analysis

• Use of animals & child participants — additional safeguards; reduce/refine/replace

• Socially sensitive research, stigma, advocacy — avoid stereotypes; communicate findings carefully