Scientific Method and Experimental Design

Neuropsychology

Studies the relationship between cognition, behaviour and the bran

Behavioural psychology

Emphasises the study of observable behaviours

Fundamental unit in psych

Response

Developmental psychology

How humans grow and change through their lives

Cognitive psychology

How people acquire, process and store information

Social psychology

How peoples thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by social contexts and structures

Clinical psychology

Focus on diagnosis and treating mental health disorder, incorporates scientific research with clinical practises

Dualism

Theory that the mind and the body are two separate things

Materialism

All mental phenomena are reducible to physical phenomena

Realism

That our perception are a faithful copy of the information that enters our brains

Idealism

Our brains best interpretation if the physical world

Empiricism

Coming to a conclusion through our own personal experiences

Nativism

That we have some innate knowledge

Introspection

The internal examination of one’s own thoughts and feelings

Case studies

No variable manipulation therefore no interference. Cannot determine cause and effect.

Correlational studies

Examines how two variables are related and how strongly they’re related.

Experimental

To determine cause and effect. IV and DV. Strongest evidence for causality

r²

Explains how much the variation in one variable can be explained by its relationship with the other

Problems with interpreting correlations

1. Correlation≠ causation

2. Directionally (cant tell how they effect eachother)

3. Hidden factors 3rd variable

4. Outliers, extreme outliers distort data

5. Nonlinear relationships

6. Limited variability

7. Multiple causes

IV

The manipulated variable

DV

The variable that changes based on how the IV changes

Confounding variable

A variable that affects the other variables, a third variable