Psychological Research Flashcards

Experiment Analysis

  • Experiment vs. Natural Setting: Despite a natural setting, it's an experiment due to controlled variables and manipulations.
  • Independent Variable: Defined operationally, needs identification based on the specific experiment.
  • Dependent Variable: Defined operationally, needs identification based on the specific experiment.
  • Importance of a "Blind" Confederate: Prevents bias; the confederate's behavior isn't influenced by knowledge of the mood condition.
  • Random Assignment: Ensures groups are equivalent at the start, controlling for confounding variables.
  • Ethical Considerations: Requires weighing benefits (knowledge gained) against potential harm to employees (awareness of being studied).

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

  • Impact of Extreme Scores on the Mean:
    • Group 1 has earnings of five ordinary people.
    • Group 2 has earnings of four ordinary people plus Steven Spielberg's earnings.
    • The means are vastly different due to one extreme score.
  • Measures of Central Tendency:
    • Mean: Affected by extreme scores.
    • Median: The middle score when ranked; unaffected by extreme scores.
    • Mode: The most frequent score; useful for popularity or preference.
  • Median Explained:
    • Definition: The central score in a ranked distribution.
    • Odd Number of Scores: The median has an equal number of scores above and below it.
    • Example: Each group has a median income of 53,000.
    • Advantage: Unaffected by extreme scores.
    • Even Number of Scores: Average the two middle scores.
    • Usage: Income level data often use the median because the mean is sensitive to extremes.
  • Mode Explained:
    • Definition: The most frequently occurring score.
    • Example: The mode is 39,000, occurring twice in each group.
    • Usage: Useful for information on preference or popularity.
    • Example: Determining the most popular child in a classroom.
  • Common Use of the Mean:
    • The mean is the most common measure of central tendency in psychological research.
    • It is a key component in calculating measures of dispersion.

Measures of Dispersion

  • Definition: Descriptive statistics indicating the spread of scores in a sample.
  • Purpose: To understand the variability within the data.
  • Range:
    • Definition: The difference between the highest and lowest scores.
    • Example: Mood ratings of four students (Sarah: 7, Sun Mee: 6, Josh: 2, Rodney: 5).
    • Mean: The mean equals to \frac{20}{4} = 5.
    • Range Calculation: 7 - 2 = 5.
    • Limitation: Simplistic estimate, can be misleading if it only considers extremes.
  • Standard Deviation:
    • Definition: Measures how much scores vary around the mean.
    • Challenge: The sum of each person's difference from the mean is always 0.
    • Solution: Square each difference to remove negative numbers.
    • Calculation: Square root of the average squared deviation from the mean.
      • The standard deviation formula and calculation:
      • Step 1: Calculate the mean: \frac{(7 + 6 + 2 + 5)}{4} = 5
      • Step 2: Calculate the differences from the mean for each participant (Sarah: 7-5=2, Sun Mee: 6-5=1, Josh: 2-5=-3, Rodney: 5-5=0).
      • Step 3: Square the differences: (Sarah: 2^2=4, Sun Mee: 1^2=1, Josh: (-3)^2=9, Rodney: 0^2=0).
      • Step 4: Sum the squared differences: 4 + 1 + 9 + 0 = 14
      • Step 5: Divide by the number of participants minus 1: \frac{14}{(4-1)} = \frac{14}{3} = 4.67
      • Step 6: Take the square root: \sqrt{4.67} \approx 2.16
    • Interpretation: Small standard deviation means less variability; large means scores are far from the mean.
    • Reason for Subtracting 1: Accounts for using the sample mean to calculate variability.

Inferential Statistics

  • Purpose: To draw conclusions about observed differences or correlations and assess whether results are likely due to chance.
  • Definition: Mathematical methods to determine if data support a research hypothesis.
  • Example Study:
    • Research Question: Relationship between expressions of positive emotion and interpersonal success.
    • Method: Videotaping job candidate interviews and coding for Duchenne smiling.
    • Results: Mean smiles for not called back = 3.5, mean smiles for called back = 6.5.
    • Question: Is the difference of 3 smiles significant or due to chance?

Critical Evaluation of Psychological Research

  • Media Limitations:
    • Journalists and media personnel lack training in psychological research.
    • They may struggle to evaluate information and focus on sensational findings.
    • Media reports often lack detail and qualifications.
  • Overgeneralization:
    • Media reports often omit details about the sample.
    • Sample characteristics (number of participants, gender, ethnicity) are crucial for interpretation.
    • Example: Original "fight or flight" research only included men.
  • Group vs. Individual:
    • Group statistics may not apply to every individual.
    • Consumers may misinterpret their experience if it doesn't match group averages.
    • Example: Developmental milestones do not characterize all children equally.
    • Albert Einstein did not start talking until he was 3 years old.
  • Single Study Limitations:
    • No single study provides definitive answers.
    • Conflicting results are common in psychological research.
    • Answers emerge from multiple studies with similar conclusions.
  • Causation vs. Correlation:
    • Avoid drawing causal conclusions from correlational studies.
    • Correlation does not imply causation.

Sources of Psychological Information

  • Academic Journals:
    • Findings are submitted for peer review.
    • Peer review ensures higher scrutiny compared to popular media.
  • Media Reliability:
    • Respected newspapers (e.g., The New York Times, The Washington Post) and magazines (e.g., Time, The Atlantic) are more trustworthy.
    • Tabloids (e.g., National Enquirer) and unverified online sources are less reliable.

The Scientific Method and Health and Wellness

  • Expressive Writing:
    • James Pennebaker's research shows that writing about traumatic life events leads to health and well-being benefits.
    • Initial correlational study compared survivors of spousal suicide and accidental death.
    • Survivors of spousal suicide were more likely to get sick because they were less likely to talk about their loss.
  • Experimental Studies:
    • Participants were randomly assigned to write about either their most traumatic event (experimental) or an uninteresting topic (control).
    • Wrote for 20 minutes on three or four consecutive days.
    • Results: The trauma writing group had better physical health.

Ethical Principles in Research

  • Balancing Act: Ethical principles seek to balance the pursuit of knowledge, and the well-being, rights, and dignity of participants.
  • Key Issues Addressed by APA Guidelines:
    • Informed consent
    • Confidentiality
    • Debriefing
    • Deception
  • Informed Consent:
    • Participants must know what their participation will involve.
    • Example: In a dating study, participants should be informed that a questionnaire might stimulate thoughts about their relationships that they have not considered.
    • Participants can withdraw at any time.
  • Confidentiality:
    • Researchers must keep individual data confidential and anonymous when possible.
    • Confidential data can be linked to participants' identities; anonymous data cannot.
  • Debriefing:
    • Researchers inform participants of the study's purpose and methods after completion.
    • Preliminary information can be given beforehand but should not affect behavior.
  • Deception:
    • Used when revealing the study's purpose would alter behavior.
    • Example: Risk-taking and trust study where participants interacted with a confederate.
    • Deception must not harm participants, and debriefing is essential.
    • Researchers can never deceive participants about actual harms that may occur in a study.
    • Informed consent is violated in deception studies, so participants should have the option of withdrawing consent after debriefing.
  • Federal Oversight:
    • The Office for Human Research Protections ensures participant well-being.
    • Addresses ethical issues in research on vulnerable populations.

Ethical Treatment of Research Animals

  • Animal Research:
    • Used to understand and solve human problems.
    • Animal studies have produced important benefits to human life.
  • Ethical Considerations:
    • Using nonhuman animals poses an ethical dilemma since they cannot provide consent.
    • APA members using animals account for about 5 percent of all psychological research.
    • 90 percent of animal research involves rats and mice.
  • Guidelines:
    • Researchers follow standards for housing, feeding, and maintaining well-being.
    • They weigh potential benefits against possible harm and avoid unnecessary pain.