Psych Ch. 2

what is data

all the information (all those numbers) researchers collect in a study

how do psychologists gain knowledge about mind and behavior

by the scientific method

the mode can be useful when

can be useful in cases in which info is desired about preference or popularity

definition of experiment

carefully regulated procedure in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables that are believed to influence some other variable

the ____ _____ _____ (_____) has a code of ethics that instructs psychologists to protect their participants from mental or physical harm

american psychological association (APA)

what is a hypothesis

an educated guess that derives logically from a theory. an expectation that can be tested.

one problem with surveys and interviews is the tendency of participants to

answer questions in a way that will make them look good rather than in a way that communicates what they truly think or feel

what is a variable

anything that can change

a control group in an experiment is

as much like the experimental group as possible and is treated in every way like the experiment group EXCEPT for that change

sometimes the best and quickest way to get information about people is to

ask them for it

what is experience sampling method (ESM)

assess people in their natural settings

what is the third variable problem

at times some other variable that has not been measured accounts for the relationship between two others

theories tell us about the relations between

between variable on a conceptual level...... also: seek to explain why certain things have happened and can be used to make predictions about future observations

examples of moments that might inspire a scientific inquiry:

1) current events (protests) 2) social issues (low # of women in engineering professions) 3) personal experiences (interaction with child)

the APA's guidelines 4 important issues

1) informed consent 2) confidentiality 3)debriefing 4) deception

five steps of scientific method

1) observing some phenomenon 2) formulating hypotheses and predictions 3) testing through empirical research 4) drawing conclusions 5) evaluating the theory

why can research not a good idea in labs with participants?

1) participants know they are being studied 2) participants can behave unnaturally because the lab is not the real world 3) individuals willing to go to labs may not represent groups from diverse backgrounds 4) some aspects of mind and behavior are difficult to examine in a lab

examples of negative correlation

1) the longer the lecture, the lower your attentiveness 2) the more you party, the lower your test grade

examples of positive correlation

1) the longer the lecture, the more you yawn 2) the more you study, the higher your test grade

correlation does NOT

DOES NOT equal correlation

empirical researchers gain knowledge from observation of objective evidence, not

NOT simply relying on belief or theory

descriptive statistics reveal the

"big picture"--the overall characteristics of the data and the variation among them

data analysis means

"crunching" those numbers mathematically to see if they support predictions

the independent variable is the one that is

manipulated

as a good indicator of the central tendency for a group of scores, the ______ is the measure that is used most often

mean

what are the three measures of central tendency

mean, median, and mode

definition of standard deviation

measures how much scores vary, on average, around the mean of the sample

descriptive statistics can also give us

measures of disperion, which describe how much the scores in a sample differ from one another

independent variable is the

cause

what is the self-determination thoery

people are likely to feel fulfilled when their lives meet three important needs: relatedness (warm relations with others), autonomy (independence), and competence (mastering new skills)

a meta-analysis allows researchers to

conclude whether a result is consistent in the literature and to estimate the magnitude of the relationship between variables

in psychological research the standard is that if odds are 5/100 or less that the differences are due to chance, the results are what

considered statistically significant

an experimental group

consists of the participants in an experiment who are exposed TO the change that the independent variable represents

the degree of relation between two variables is expressed as a numerical value called a

correlational coefficient

a key aspect of the process of testing hypotheses is

data analysis

descriptive research is about

describing some phenomenon--determining its basic dimensions and defining what this thing is, how often it occurs, etc.

what are the two basic categories of statistics

descriptive and inferential statistics

what are the three types of research

descriptive, correlational, and experimental

media reports of psychological info often leave out _____ about the nature of the sample used in a given study

details

the way you study your question of interest (ex.: butterflies, happiness) determines

determines whether your approach is scientific

what is external validity

refers to the degree to which an experimental design actually reflects the real-world issues it is supposed to address

what is internal validity

refers to the degree to which changes in the dependent variable are genuinely due to the manipulation of the independent variable

definition of validity

refers to the soundness of the conclusions that a researcher draws from an experiment

a key step after a study has been published is

replication

in experimental designs, what are the two types of validity that matter?

external validity and internal validity

descriptive research involves

finding out about the basic dimensions of some variable (ex.: average level of happiness for men in USA)

a case study provides information about one person's

goals, hopes, fantasies, fears, traumatic experiences, family relationships, health, etc.

one CANNOT apply conclusions from a

group to an individual

all the different things psychologists study are variables, including experiences like

happiness, gratitude, aggression, belongingness, conformity

what has James Pennebaker done

has conducted a number of studies that converge on the same conclusion: that writing about one's deepest thoughts and feelings concerning one's most traumatic life event leads to a number of health and well-being benefits

a theory can generate many what?

hypotheses

what is longitudinal design

involves obtaining measures of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time

what is a meta-analysis

is a statistical procedure that summarizes a large body of evidence from the research literature on a particular topic

what is a case study/case history

is an in-depth look at a single individual

what is the institutional review board (IRB)

it evaluates the ethical nature of research conducted at their institutions

what is a demand characteristic

it is any aspect of a study that communicates to participants how the experimenter wants them to behave

what is empirical method

it means gaining knowledge by observing objective evidence

what is replication of a study

it means repeating it and getting the same results

what is an operational definition

it provides an objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study

what should people know about internal validity

know whether the experimental methods are free from biases and logical errors that may render the results suspect

correlational research is

interested in discovering relationships between variables (ex.: whether being married predicts greater happiness for men)

random assignment means

researchers assign participants to groups by chance

example of quasi-experimental

researchers comparing individuals who have been exposed to a natural disaster to a similar group not so exposed

descriptive research allows

researchers to get a sense of a subject of interest, but it cannot answer questions about how and why things are the way they are

about _____ percent of APA members use nonhuman animals in their research

5%

rats and mice account for how much of all psychological research with animals

90%

Science is defined not by ____ investigates but by _____ it investigates

WHAT....HOW

what is a theory

a broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain observations

what is a confederate

a confederate is a person who is given a role to play in a study so that the social context can be manipulated

the mean is NOT helpful when

a group of scores contains a few extreme scores

definition of placebo

a harmless substance that has no physiological effect

because operational definitions allow for the measurement of variables, researchers have

a lot of numbers to deal with once they have conducted a study

definition of independent variable

a manipulated experimental factor

one special type of study involves

a meta-analysis

what is a random sample

a sample that gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected

what is a measure of central tendency

a single number that indicates the overall characteristics of a set of data

what is a prediction

a specific expectation for the outcome of a study

what is the correlation coefficient

a statistic that tells us two things about the relationship between two variables-- its strength and direction

although correlational studies cannot show a casual connection between variables, they

do allow us to use one variable to predict a person's score on another

direct replications means

doing the study precisely as it was conducted in its original form

conceptual replication means

doing the sudy with different methods or different types of samples

based on the results of the data analyses, scientists then

draw conclusions from their own research

what is the fourth step in the scientific method

drawing conclusions

dependent variable is the

effect

experimental research concerns

establishing causal relationships between variables (ex.: whether women perceive men more attractive when men smile)

what is the 5th and final step in scientific method

evaluating the theory

establishing an operational definition ensures that

everyone agrees on what a variable means (like one set definition of being kind to someone)

the purpose of correlational research is to

examine whether and how two variables CHANGE TOGETHER

random sampling ______ the chances that the sample is representative of the population

improves

dependent variable definition

in an experiment is the variable that may change as a result of manipulations in the independent variable

what is a double-blind experiment

neither experimenter administering the treatment nor the participants are aware of which participants are in the experimental or control group until results are calculated

the final step in the scientific theory, evaluating the theory, is one that

never really ends

descriptive research methods include

observation, surveys, interviews, and case studies

the first step in conducting a scientific inquiry involves

observing some phenomenon in the world

definition of placebo effect

occurs when participants' expectations, rather than the experimental treatment, produce a particular outcome

what is research participant bias

occurs when the behavior of research participants during the experiment is influenced by how they think they are supposed to behave or by their expectations about what is happening to them

experimenter bias definition

occurs when the experimenter's expectations influence the outcome of the research

what are Likert scales

on survey: select a number from 1 (indicating not at all) to 7 (indicating very much)

in statistical language, 5/100 is a 0.05 level of statistical significance, or what

or the 0.05 confidence level

the dependent variable is the

outcome

people participating in psychological research should be what

should be no worse off coming out of the study than they were going in

the second step in the scientific method is

stating a hypothesis

ways to get information about people by asking is using

surveys and interviews

in order to _____ _______ about a sample, the researcher needs inferential statistics

test predictions

in empirical research, we learn about what?

we learn about the world conducting systematic inquiries, collecting data, and analyzing the information

what is the mean

the average (add all up then divide by the amount)

definition of population

the entire group about which the investigator wants to draw conclusions

correlational research tells us about

the relation between two variables

what makes psychology a science

the scientific method

what is the median

the score that falls exactly in the middle of the distribution of scores from lowest to highest

what is mode

the score that occurs most often in the dataset

definition of sample

the subset of the population chosen by the investigator for the study

if more and more hypotheses related to a theory turn out to be true, then

the theory gains in credibility

when scientists consider to answer questions, they develop

theories

case studies can be very valuable as the first step of the scientific method because

they often provide vivid observations that can then be tested in a variety of ways through psychological research

the third step in the scientific method is

to test the hypothesis by conducting empirical research

correlation means only that

two variables change together

descriptive statistics definition

used to describe and summarize data---the mathematical procedures researchers have developed to describe and summarize sets of data in meaningful way

definition of inferential statistics

used to draw conclusions about data--- mathematical methods used to indicate whether the data sufficiently support a research hypothesis

the phenomena that scientists study are called

variables

what is naturalistic observation

viewing behavior in a real-world setting

when psychologists conduct a study, they usually want

want to be able to draw conclusions that will apply to a larger group of people than the participants they actually study

the researcher assesses external validity to see

whether the experimental methods and the results GENERALIZE--whether they apply to the real world