Unit 0 - An Introduction to Psychological Science Practices: Research Methods and Data Interpretation

case Study

in depth analysis of individuals or groups

naturalistic observations

recording the natural behavior of many individuals

surveys/interviews

asking people questions

self-report bias

when people don’t report or remember their behaviors

wording Effect

subtle changes in the order of wording can have major effects on a survey

social desirability bias

people answering in a way to please the reporter

sampling bias

temptation to generalize from a few vivid but unrepresentative cases

random sampling

every person in the entire population has an equal chance of being included in the sample group

representative sample

makes an accurate picture of a whole populations attitudes and experiences

convenience sampling

sampling from a group readily available

correlation

relationships between 2 or more variables

experimental

establishes cause and effect connections

third variable problem

influences 2 other variables making it seem like they have a casual relationship when they do not

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship where no relationship actually exists

regression towards mean

uncontrollable events correlating with our actions is also fed by statistical phenomenon

experiments

to isolate the effects of one or more factors by manipulating the factors of interest and holding constant for other factors

experimental group

group that receives the treatment

control group

is not exposed to the treatments

random assignment

to minimize differences between two groups this is done to equalize the groups

placebo

inert substance which its purpose is to trick a person

single blind procedure

study participants are unaware of which treatment they are receiving

double blind procedure

neither the participants nor the research assistants collecting the data will know which group is receiving the treatment

placebo effect

well documented in reducing pain, depression, anxiety, and auditory hallucinations

independent variable

factor manipulated by the experimenter and can vary independently of other factors

dependent variable

change in response to an independent variable

confounding variable

potentially influence a study’s result

experimental bias

researchers may unintentionally influence results to confirm their own beliefs

hindsight bias

the “I knew it all along” phenonmenon

overconfidence

tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our judgement. We tend to think we know more than we do

theory

explanation that includes principles and predicts behavior or events

hypothesis

prediction that can be testable

falsifiability

the possibility that an idea can be disproven

validity

the experiment tests what it is supposed to test

quantitative research

uses numerical data to represent degrees of a variable

qualitative research

relies on in dept narrative data

descriptive statistics

a way for researchers to measure and describe characteristics of the group under study

histogram

to show descriptive statistics a simple bar graph is used

mode

most frequently occurring scores

bimodal distribution

occurring when there are two frequently occurring scores

mean

arithmetic average; most familiar measure of central tendency (obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores that were added together)

median

midpoint of the data distribution in order

percentile rank

percentage of scores that are less than the given rank

variation

how similar or diverse the scores are

range

gap between the highest and lowest scores

standard deviation

how much scores deviate from one another

normal curve

bell-shape distribution

inferential statistics

helps us determine if results can be generalized to a large population

generalize

to make inferences

meta analysis

a statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion

null hypothesis

statement that there is no significant effect, difference, or relationship between variables in a population

how can we differentiate between uninformed and examined conclusions?

The science of psychology helps make these examined conclusions which leads to our understanding of how people think or feel

critical thinking

does not accept arguments and conclusions blindly

case studies and brain damage

early knowledge of brain damage comes from case studies of people who suffered from damage to certain regions of their brains

case studies and children’s minds

Jean Piaget taught us about children’s thinking after observing several children in case studies

why are case studies important?

intensive case studies will be very revealing and give directions for further studies (can also mislead)

what does natural observation do?

it describes behavior not explain it

what do surveys do?

looks at many cases in less depth asking people to report their behaviors or opinions

negative correlation

relates inversely

positive correlation

relates directly

the need for psychological science

many people believe intuition and common sense are enough to bring forth answers but this is not free of error

what is the scientific method used for?

to evaluate ideas and construct theories

what are artificial laboratories for?

conditions created to study behavior in simple terms to help explain daily behaviors

deception

temporarily stress people when they believe it is essential to a justifiable end

what do our values do?

values influence psychological science and although can be deceiving it can also enlighten

positively skewed

more values concentrated on the left side of the graph

negatively skewed

more values concentrated on the right

skewed distribution

lopsided; does not paint an accurate picture

what types of data will form a bell shaped distribution

large numbers of data like heights, IQ scores, and life expectency

when is a observed difference reliable: principles

bigger samples over smaller ones; representative samples over biased ones; and more estimates over fewer estimates