Advanced Research in Psychology - Exam 1

Hypothesis

A statement that makes an assertion about what is true in a particular situation, and can be tested in an experiment. A hypothesis usually specifies relations between two or more variables (concepts) Examples - Males and females differ in their amount of drinking. - Taking quizzes improves long-term retention of information. - People's memory performance depends on their knowledge on the topic to be memorized.

What kind of IVs should I use? Studying whether making rhymes from word pairs improves memory encoding (IV: rhyming instruction: rhyme instruction vs. no rhyme instruction)

BETWEEN

What kind of IVs should I use? Studying whether exercise improves memory performance (IV1: exercise, IV2: pre/post)

BETWEEN IV1 WITHING IV2

What are the building blocks to an experimental design?

1. Matching vs. Blocking vs. Random Assignment 2. One-way vs. Factorial 3. Between groups vs. within groups vs. mixed factorial

Types of Manipulations

1. Straightforward 2. Staged

What is the simplest factorial design?

2 x 2 factorial design, has two IVs, each having two levels.

Dependent variable

a variable (often denoted by y ) whose value depends on that of another.

What does pretest vs. protest do?

allows for assessment of change

What is fidelity and responsibility?

"Psychologists establish relationships of trust with those with whom they work. They are aware of their professional and scientific responsibilities to society and to the specific communities in which they work." ex.) if participants agree to be present for a study at a specific time, the researcher should also be there, etc.

What is respect for people's rights and dignity?

"Psychologists respect the dignity and worth of all people, and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination. Psychologists are aware that special safeguards may be necessary to protect the rights and welfare of persons or communities whose vulnerabilities impair autonomous decision making. Participants can expect to be treated with respect in conduct of the research." ex.) Milgram study violated this principle because they did not know that they were participating in a study of obedience, this limited participants' rights to self-determination.

What is integrity?

"Psychologists seek to promote accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness in the science, teaching and practice of psychology. In these activities psychologists do not steal, cheat, or engage in fraud, subterfuge or intentional misrepresentation of fact"

Nuremberg Code

(197a set of research ethics principles for human experimentation set as a result of the subsequent Nuremberg trials at the end of the Second World War. - 10 rules of research designed to prevent future research atrocities. 1. Voluntary consent is essential 2. The results of any experiment must be for the greater good of society 3. Human experiments should be based on previous animal experimentation 4. Experiments should be conducted by avoiding physical/mental suffering and injury 5. No experiments should be conducted if it is believed to cause death/disability 6. The risks should never exceed the benefits 7. Adequate facilities should be used to protect subjects 8. Experiments should be conducted only by qualified scientists 9. Subjects should be able to end their participation at any time 10. The scientist in charge must be prepared to terminate the experiment when injury, disability, or death is likely to occur

How is Psychology a science?

- Systematic empiricism controlled and rule governed observation of human/animal behavior - Production of publicly verifiable knowledge finding needs to be subjected to public scrutiny (replication and peer evaluation) to increase objectivity - Examination of (empirically) solvable problems framing and conceptualizing a question that can be subjected to empirical testing

What is a reason to use multiple measures in a study?

- stems from the fact that a variable can be measured in a variety of concrete ways. - It is also useful to know whether the same independent variable affects some measures but not others.

What are the considerations for using the strongest manipulation?

1. Concerns of external validity → the strongest manipulation may entail a situation that rarely, if ever, occurs in the real world. ex.) an extremely strong crowding manipulation might involve placing so many people in a room that no one could move-a manipulation that might significantly affect a variety of behaviors 2. Ethics → a manipulation should be as strong as possible within the bounds of ethics. A strong manipulation of anxiety or fear might not be possible because of the potential physical and psychological harm to participants

What are solutions to expectancy effects/experimenter bias?

1. Experimenters should be well trained and should practice behaving consistently with all participants. 2. Run all conditions simultaneously so that the experimenter's behavior is the same for all participants. 3. Also minimized when the procedures are automated 4. Use the experimenters who are unaware of the hypothesis being investigated.

What are the advantages of experimental design?

1. High degree of control over variables 2. Cause and effect can be reinforced

What are the advantages of manipulation checks?

1. If the check shows that your manipulation was not effective, you have saved the expense of running the actual experiment. 2. If you get nonsignificant results-that is, if the results indicate that no relationship exists between the IV and the DV.

What are the 3 reasons for the decrease in the type of elaborate deception?

1. More researchers have become interested in cognitive variables rather than emotions and so use methods that are similar to those used by researchers in memory and cognitive psychology. 2. The general level of awareness of ethical issues as described has led researchers to conduct studies in other ways 3. Ethics committees at universities and colleges now review proposed research more carefully and elaborate deception is likely to be approved only when the research is important and there are no alternative procedures available.

Assumption of Scientific approach

1. Nature is orderly 2. nature can be known 3. all natural phenomenon have natural causes 4. nothing is self evident 5. knowledge is based on experiment

What are the disadvantages of experimental design?

1. Not everything can be studied using this type of design 2. Hard to make generalization from the lab to the real world

What are the risks in behavioral research?

1. Physical harm 2. Stress and Distress 3. Confidentiality and Privacy

Why increase the number of levels of an Independent variable?

1. Provides more information about the relationship of interest than two level design 2. get information about a "middle" group/condition 3. could have a nonlinear relationship (curvilinear "inverted-u" relationship, other kinds of nonlinear effects) and it does not systematically increase/decrease with the IV

What should observations be?

1. Reliable 2. Valid 3. Unbiased

What three things need to happen to conclude causation?

1. Temporal Precedence -- cause precedes effect 2. Covariation of cause and effect -- when cause is present, we get the effect. When cause is not present, effect does not occur. 3. Elimination of alternative explanations -- nothing other than the causal variable can be responsible for the observed effect

What are sources of expectancy effects/experimenter bias?

1. The experimenter might unintentionally treat participants differently in the various conditions of the study (ex. Certain words might be emphasized when reading instructions to one group, but not the other. 2. The other bias can occur when experimenters record the behaviors of the participants; there may be subtle differences in the way the experimenter interprets and records the behavior.

What is the content in an informed consent form?

1. The purpose of the research 2. Procedures that will be used including time involved 3. Risks and benefits 4. Any compensation 5. Confidentiality 6. Assurance of voluntary participation and permission to withdraw 7. Contact information for questions

What are some reasons that I should use a between-subject variable?

1. When a variable cannot be manipulated - most quasi-experimental variables are between-subject variables -Gender, handedness, young vs. old, ppl with PTSD vs. people w/o PTSD 2. When your manipulation could introduce an extraneous variable or participant strategy if implemented in a within-subject variable. ex.) manipulating the use of imagery as a study strategy when learning a list of words 3. For practical reasons - when manipulating a variable within-subjects is impossible 4. when resources to perform a longitudinal study are not available - cross sectional design easier and less expensive than longitudinal

What are some reasons that I should use a within-subject variable?

1. higher statistical power than between-subject variables - you should always shoot for designing experiments with within-subject variables unless any of the previous points prevail 2. Eliminate participant-level differences between conditions 3. When you want to make direct comparisons of processing changes ex.) pre vs. post

Types of Measures

1. self-report 2. behavioral 3. physiological

How do you control for demand characteristics?

1.) Deception 2.) ask participants about their perceptions of the purpose of the research 3. observational studies

What reasons are staged manipulation used for?

1.) The researcher may be trying to create some psychological state in the participant, such as frustration, anger or temporary lowering or raising of self-esteem 2.) may be necessary in order to simulate some situation that occurs in the real world ex.) Milgram Obedience study

What kind of information do factorial designs produce?

1.) information about the effect of each independent variable taken by itself aka the main effect → the direct effect of an independent variable on a dependent variable In a design with two independent variables, there are two main effects-one for each IV. 2.) Interaction: situation in which the effect of one independent variable on the dependent variable changes, depending on the level of another independent variable.

What possibilities do researchers deal with when analyzing results?

1.) there may or may not be a significant main effect for IV A. 2.) there may or may not be a significant effect for IV B. 3.) There may or may not be a significant interaction between independent variables.

Describe the study design and identify the assignment procedures (e.g. completely independent groups completely repeated measures or mixed factorial Study 2: On a single day, participants are assigned to one of two levels of one variable (extra protein with lunch: yes, no) and to one of the condition of another variable (caffeine with lunch: yes, no)

2 (extra protein: yes, no) x 2 (caffeine: yes, no) factorial design with completely independent groups

Describe the study design and identify the assignment procedures (e.g. completely independent groups completely repeated measures or mixed factorial Study 3: Over the course of 4 days, participants are assigned to both levels of one variable (extra protein with lunch: yes, no), and to both of the conditions of another variable (caffeine with lunch: yes, no). Day 1: extra protein/caffeine, Day 2: extra protein/no caffeine, Day 3: no extra protein/caffeine, Day 4: no extra protein/no caffeine

2 (extra protein: yes, no) x 2 (caffeine: yes, no) factorial design with completely repeated measures.

Describe the study design and identify the assignment procedures (e.g. completely independent groups completely repeated measures or mixed factorial Study 1: Over the course of 2 days, participants are assigned to one of two different conditions in one variable (extra protein at lunch in the form of protein powder in the soup: yes, no), and to both conditions of another variable (caffeine with lunch: cola on day 1, caffeine-free cola on day 2)

2 (extra protein: yes, no) x 2 (caffeine: yes, no) mixed factorial design with repeated measures on caffeine.

placebo group

A control group of participants who believe they are receiving treatment, but who are only receiving a placebo.

Mixed Factorial Design

A design that includes both independent groups (between-subjects) and repeated measures (within-subjects) variables; combined

manipulation check

A measure used to determine whether the manipulation of the independent variable has had its intended effect on a subject - Provides evidence for the construct validity of the manipulation; particularly useful in the pilot study

What is a Theory?

A theory in science is an interrelated set of concepts that are used to explain a body of data and to make prediction about the results of future experiment. Theories need to be explicit, transparent, operationalizable, and structurally logical and coherent

What does the IV x PV design do?

Allows researchers to investigate how different types of individuals (participants) respond to the same manipulated variable. These participant variables are personal attributes such as age, ethnicity, participant sex, personality characteristics, and clinical diagnostic category.

Prediction

An expected outcome of an experiment in terms of the results, given the hypothesis. *predictions need to be precise E.g., condition A will have higher recall than B

science

An organized way of gathering and analyzing evidence about the natural world. *Systematic Empiricism

What is a main effect?

Effect of one IV, ignoring effects of other IVs - There is a main effect of degradation (name of variable) such that response times are faster for intact than degraded targets. (difference that you see)

What are some examples of one-way design?

IV: Type of Image 1. Ultra-thin 2. Neutral image 3. thin

Straightforward Manipulations

Manipulation of the independent variable through the use of direct stimulus presentations, types of instructions, and other simple procedures ex.) Stimuli presented verbally, in written form, via video tape, or with a computer → Goldstein et. al. (2008) 'Help Save The Environment' sign vs. a 'Join Your Fellow Guests In Helping To Save The Environment' sign; went from 35% to 44%

Staged manipulation (event manipulation)

Manipulation of the independent variable, using complex situations, often simulating real-life social interactions. Also called event manipulation.

Physiological Measures

Measures of physiological activity (e.g., heart rate, brain cell activity) Recordings of responses of the body; GSR (emotional arousal and anxiety), EMG (muscle tension or stress), EEG (brain cells/arousal), etc.

Self Report Measures

Measures that require participants to describe themselves (e.g., their own characteristics, past or planned behaviors, reactions to stimuli, etc.) - Can be used to measure attitudes, liking someone, judgements about someone's personality characteristics, etc.

What category does most research fall into?

Minimal Risk

What is respect for persons autonomy?

Participants are treated as autonomous; they are capable of making deliberate decisions about whether to participate in research. The associated application is informed consent-potential participants in a research project should be provided with all information that might influence their decision on whether to participate.

empirical reasoning

Rationalism is important, but you also want systematic and hopefully unbiased observation of phenomenon

Scientific Method Ways of obtaining knowledge

Reliance on authority Intuition Subjective Rationalism Logical Positivism/ Empirical Reasoning

What is beneficence?

Research should confer benefits and risks must be minimal. The associated application is the necessity to conduct a risk-benefit analysis.

How do I counterbalance the assignment of items to condition for a large number of items?

Stanfield & Zwaan (2001) Varied implied orientation (H vs. V) Match between implied orientation and picture orientation (match vs. mismatch) Need to make 4 lists of items - For first variable, randomly select which items (50% of them) will be in which orientation condition - Then, for second variable, randomly select out of those (50% of them) which will be in which condition

How many items do I need?

The #1 determining factor is you need enough items to get a stable estimate of the phenomenon - Law of large #'s The more observations you have, the closer the average get to the expected value (# in pop. that accurately represents)

Sensitivity

The ability to detect difference between groups - It is particularly important when measuring human performance

Research question

The first and most general step in designing and conducting a research investigation. A good research question must be specific so that it can be answered with a research project. ex.) Is depression related to unhelpful ways of thinking about the causes of success and failure?

Expectancy effects (experimenter bias)

The impact an experimenter's expectations can have on the outcome of a research study

What is justice?

There must be fairness in receiving the benefits of research as well as bearing the burdens of accepting risks. This principle is applied in the selection of subjects for research. - All individuals and groups should have fair and equal access to the benefits of research participation as well as potential risks of research participation.

What kind of IVs should I use? Studying whether faces or places are recognized better (IV: picture of face or place)

WITHIN

Reliance on Authority

We may obtain knowledge about an issue, problem or phenomenon from someone we deem to be an expert or more knowledgeable than ourselves. ex.) taking information from a political leader that you agree with but info might be wrong

subject variable

a characteristic of the subjects, such as gender, that allows researchers to form contrast groups in quasi-experimental studies

cost

a factor in the decision about how to manipulate the IV, for example, researchers with limited monetary resources may not be able to afford expensive equipment, salaries for confederates, or payments to participants in long-term experiments.

Independent variable X participant variable

a factorial design that includes both an experimental independent variable and a non-experimental participant variable (PV)

Falsifiability

a feature of a scientific theory, in which it is possible to collect data that will prove the theory wrong

curvilinear relationship

a relationship between two variables whereby the strength and/or direction of their relationship changes over the range of both variables

expedited review

a review required for research that is minimal risk research, but does not match the exempt research categories Applies to research that is minimal risk research but does not match the exempt research categories

pilot study

a small study carried out to test the feasibility of a larger one - It will reveal whether participants understand the instructions, whether the total experiment setting seems plausible, whether any confusing questions are being asked, and so on.

factorial design

a study in which there are two or more independent variables, or factors

limited review

an IRB review that includes benign behavioral interventions for which sensitive data are collected from adult participants under circumstances where participants would need to be identified. Include benign behavioral interventions for which sensitive data are collected from adult participants under the circumstance where participants would need to be identified.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

an ethics review committee established to review research proposals. The IRB is composed of scientists, nonscientists and legal experts. (5 members)

double-blind experiment

an experiment in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know which participants received which treatment

single-blind experiment

an experiment in which the participants are unaware of which participants received the treatment

repeated measures design (within-subjects)

an experiment in which the same subjects are assigned to each group

Independent groups design (between subjects)

an experimental design in which different groups of participants are exposed to different levels of the independent variable, such that each participant experiences only one level of the independent variable

one-way design

an experimental design with a single independent variable that can have more than two levels

between-subject variable

an independent variable in which a different group of participants is used for each level of the variable ex.) hot and cold room

Within-subject variable

an independent variable in which the same group of participants is used for EACH LEVEL of the variable. ex.) comparing within people

What is an experimental design?

assigns participants to intervention and control groups in order to examine whether an intervention causes an intended outcome - allows us to assess cause and effect

What is the APA Ethics Code?

code of general ethical principles, including beneficence and nonmaleficence; fidelity and responsibility; integrity; justice; and respect for people's rights and dignity. Updated in 2017

Confidentiality and privacy

collected data are accessible only to people with permission; important when discussing sensitive information/topics ex.) asking participants about their sexual behavior, or personal questions about family history, or illegal activity may leave them vulnerable if their answers became known to others. Privacy refers to the participants' ability to maintain control of the information they provide and behaviors that may be observed.

Replication

conduct study and then conduct it again to see if results are the same also another way to assess the validity of a study

Latin square

controls for the first order carry-over effects - A, B, L, C, L-1, D, L-2, E,... L means last Items: A B C D A B C D B C A D C D B A D A C B Even numbers require 1 latin square, odd numbers require 2.

Demand characteristics

cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected ex.) if you were studying homophobia, participants might figure out the hypothesis and behave according to what they think you want, instead of being truthful

what is an example of a subject variable?

different ethnic people come in and each is assessed: X number of whites, X number of African Americans, X number of Hispanics, and so on

Exempt Review Research

exempt from the more rigorous review requirements of federal regulations ex.) research conducted in educational settings that does not have an adverse effect on learning opportunities.

What is debriefing?

explanation of the purposes of the research that is given to the participants following their participation in the study; deal with issues of withholding information, deception, and potential harmful effects of participation. REQUIRED TO EXPLAIN WHY THE DECEPTION WAS NECESSARY

Fraud

fabrication of data

Floor Effect

failure of a measure to detect a difference because it was too difficult ex.) effect of crowding

ceiling effect

failure of a measure to detect a difference because it was too easy - the independent variable appears to have no effect on the dependent measure only because the participants quickly reach the maximum performance level.

What is a problem with intuition?

how do we separate accurate from inaccurate knowledge

Unfalsifiable

hypothesis stated in a way so that it couldn't be proven wrong. ex.) Rush's hypothesis that leeches cure yellow fever.

What is the simplest IV x PV?

includes one manipulated IV that has at least two levels and one participant variable with at least two levels. - The two levels of the subject variable might be two different age groups, groups of low and high scorers on a personality measure, or groups of males and females.

What is deception?

intentionally providing misinformation to or withholding information from a participant. Milgrams' study was conducted before routine informed consent was required weighs costs vs. benefit

scientific theory

it is a description of "reality" as we currently understand it. It isn't an educated guess, or just an idea.

Physical harm

many medical procedures such as, administering a drug such as alcohol or caffeine, can cause physical harm to participants. Physical stressors such as loud noise, extreme hot or cold temperatures, or deprivation of sleep for an extended period of time also categorize as physically harmful

What is beneficence & nonmaleficence?

maximize benefits and minimize any possible harmful effects of participation

What does a strong manipulation do?

maximizes the difference between the two groups and increases the chances that the independent variable will have a statistically significant effect on the dependent variable

Behavioral measures

measures based on systematic observation of people's actions, either in their normal environment or in a laboratory setting - It is possible to measure an almost endless number of behaviors. Often the researcher needs to quantify observed behaviors: - Rate of behavior-how many times the behavior occurs in a given time period - Reaction time-how quickly a response occurs after a stimulus (e.g., a sound, a light, a word) - Duration-how long a behavior persists

What is counterbalancing?

method to control for any effect that the order of presenting stimuli might have on the dependent variable ex.) Holding a pencil in the teeth causes you to smile, whereas holding a pencil in the lips causes you to frown - rate cartoons as funnier when smiling than frowning - several blocks to change the order

What is the format for describing factorial designs?

number of levels of first IV X number of levels of second IV X number of levels of third IV

Stress and Distress

physical or psychological stress (Milgram participants were exposed to high levels of stress) is it different from everyday life? Fear or Anxiety When using procedures that may create psychological distress, the researcher must ask whether all safeguards have been taken to help participants deal with stress. Using a debriefing session following the study is designed in part to address any potential problems that may arise during the research process.

What is justice? APA

refers to fairness and equity. ex.) Tuskegee Syphilis Study was in violation of this principle

Plagiarism

refers to misrepresenting another's work as your own.

Belmont Report (1979)

summarizes the basic ethical principles and guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research. (Respect for persons autonomy, beneficence and justice)

Declaration of Helsinki (1964)

the World Medical Association established recommendations guiding medical doctors in biomedical research involving human participants.

What is a simple effect?

the effect of one independent variable at a single level of the other independent variable

validity

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

informed consent

the principle that participants in an experiment be informed in advance of all aspects of the research that might influence their decision to participate. - Risks, benefits and their rights to refuse or terminate participation in the study

Pseudoscience

the use of seemingly scientific terms and demonstrations to substantiate claims that have no basis in scientific research -hypotheses generated are typically not testable - supportive evidence tends to be anecdotal ex.) Ghost hunting

Positive Monotonic relationship

there is a positive relationship between the variables, but it is not a strictly positive linear relationship

independent variable

variable that is manipulated

rationalism

we gain "truth" through logical reasoning

subjective experience

we gain knowledge about the world from our direct or indirect experiences with the world

intution

we think we gained knowledge about a phenomenon when something is feeling right in their gut

What is an interaction?

when the effect of one IV depends on the level of another IV - There is an interaction BETWEEN degradation and relatedness (name of two variables interacting) SUCH THAT the difference between related and unrelated is larger for degraded targets than intact targets.

semantic priming

words that are semantically related to each other make each other faster during lexical decision *Borowsky & Besner (1993) -DOCTOR-NURSE (related-intact) -BUTTER-NURSE (unrelated-intact) -DOCTOR-NURSE (related-degraded) -BUTTER-NURSE (unrelated-degraded) Varied: Prime relatedness; stimulus degradation