Research Methods and Data Interpretation Ap Psych

How is psychology a Science?

Psychology is a science because it employs the scientific method to study human behavior and mental processes

What are the three Key elements of the Scientific Attitude?

Curiosity, Skepticism, and Humility

What is Critical Thinking

thinking that does not automatically accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and asses conclusions

What can Critical Inquiry do?

Surprise us and debunk popular assumptions, by checking intuitive fiction with scientific fact.

What do we need to overcome to think critically?

Hindsight Bias, Overconfidence, Perceiving Order in Random Events

Hindsight Bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (also known as the I knew it all along phenomenon)

Overconfidence

the tendency to be more confident than correct - to overestimate the accuracy of our belief and judgments

Perceiving Order in Random Events

the tendency to make sense of a random, unpredictable world.

What components does the scientific process have?

Theory (mere hunch) , Hypothesis (can be confirmed or refuted), Replication (can be repeated), and Peer Review (feedback before and after)

Peer Reviewers

scientific experts who evaluate a research article’s theory, originality, and accuracy

Theory

an explanation using integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predict behaviors or events

Hypothesis

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Falsifiable

the possibility that an idea, hypothesis, or theory can be disproven by observation or experiment

Operational definition

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations used in a research study.

Replication

repeating the essence of research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced

These terms are examples of constructing. ______

Theories

Descriptive Methods

describe behaviors -methods are the Case Study, Naturalistic Observation and Surveys

Case Study

A descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the home of revealing universal principles.

What are examples of case study?

Brain damage, Children’s minds, and Animal intelligence

Naturalistic Observation

a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation

A natural observer

“observations, made in the natural habitat, helped to show that the societies and behavior of animals are far more complex than previously supposed” Jane Goodall. 1998

Survey

a descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative random sample of the group.

Wording Effects

subtle changes in wording can have major effects. Examples., People prefer aid to the needy rather than welfare. Gun safety laws rather than gun control laws.

Sampling bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample.

Population

all those in a group being studied, from which sample may be drawn. (Note: except for national studies, this does not refer to a country’s whole population)/

Random Sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Sampling Bias

a flawed sampling process that produces unrepresentative sample

Social Desirability Bias

bias when people report their behavior inaccurately

Correlation

a measure of the event to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.

Correlation Coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two things ( from -1:00 to +1.00_

Variable

anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure

Scatterplot

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents two variable. The amount of scatter suggest the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation).

Illusory Correlation

perceiving a relationship where none exits, or perceiving a stronger than actual relationship

Regression toward the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back (regress) toward the average

Experimentation

Different from description… the uses manipulation of a variable

can Isolate cause and effect

Control of factors (variable)

What you need to set up an experiment

Hypothesis, Operational definition, population sample

Experimental Group

Receive the treatment (the variable)

Control Group

Does not receive the treatment

Random assignment

Eliminated alternative explanations different from random sample

Blind

Uninformed

Single-Blind Procedure

the person being experimented is unaware the person doesn’t know the circumstances

Double-Blind procedure

neither subjects nor people in direct contact with subjects know

Placebo

Experimental results cause by expectation alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent.

Independent Varibale

It’s what is being manipulated

Confounding variable

a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s result

Experimenter Bias

bias caused when researchers may unintentionally influence results to confirm their own beliefs

Dependent Variable

what is being measured

Validity

the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Qualitive Research

a research method that relies on in-depth, narrative data that are not translated into numbers

Quantitative Research

a research method that relies on quantifiable, numerical data.

How do psychologist predict everyday behavior?

They intend to make a simplified reality environment. this environment should stimulate and control important everyday life features and researches principles to help explain many behaviors

Confederates

People who pretend to be fellow participants but are actually part of the experiment

Placebo effect

“I took a pill so I’ll get better”

What to do to watch out for placebo effect

Write it up…get it peer reviewed…watch people replicate it

Mode

the most frequently occurring score in a distribution

Range

difference between highest minus lowest (can be misleading)

Mean

the arithmetic average of a distribution; obtained by addding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores

median

the middle score in a distribution’; half the scores are above it and half are below it

Standard Deviation

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

Skewed Distribution

a representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value

Percentile Rank

the percentage of scores that are lower than a given scores

Normal curve

a symmetrical, bell-shaped cure that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean (about 68 percent fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer near the extremes

What does statistical significance mean in psychology

The odds need to be at least 5%

Informed consent

Know enough to participation

Debriefing

The post experimental explanation of a study’ including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants.

Ensuring Scientific Integrity

Honesty often cited as most important scientific value. Fraud and fake science can do enormous harm. Example the discredited Lancet article that purported to link the MMR vaccine to autism. Despite retraction and disbarment of the physician, the damage has led to declining vaccine rates

Values in Psychology

Values inform psychological science and psychological science has the power to persuade.

Statistical Reasoning in Everyday life

Use critical thinking when presented with big, round, undocumented numbers

Descriptive Statistics

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups. Includes the measure of central tendency and measures of variation

Histograms

a bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

What are parts of ethics in human research

Informed consent, Protect from harm and discomfort, maintain confidentiality, Debriefing

Descriptive Methods

describe behaviors - methods are the Case Study, Naturalistic Observation and Surveys

Case Study

a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Interferential Statistics

numerical data that allows one to generalize - to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population

Meta-Analysis-

a statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion. When deciding whether it is safe to infer a population difference from a sample difference, keep three points in mind:

Representative Sample are better than biased samples. more bigger samples are better than smaller ones

More estimates are better than fewer estimates

Statistical Significance

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

Effect Size

the strength of the relationship between two variables. The larger the effect size, the more on variable can be explained by the other.