Chapter 2 - Research Methods

CHAPTER 2 - RESEARCH

 METHODS

• Hindsight Bias - The tendency to believe, after learning the outcome that you knew all along.
• Overconfidence - We tend to think we know more than we actually do.
• The Barnum Effect - It is the tendency for people to accept very general or vague characterization of themselves and take them to be accurate.
• Applied vs. Basic Research:                                                                                                                                           -Applied research is clear, practical applications                                                                                                      -You can use it                                                                                                                                                                  -Basic research explores questions that you may be curious about but not intended to be immediately used
• Hypothesis:                                                                                                                                                                       -Expresses a relationship between 2 variables                                                                                                         -A variable is anything that can vary among participants in a study                                                                   -Participating in class leads to better grades then not participating 
• Independent Variable- Whatever is being manipulated in the experiment.
• Dependent Variable:                                                                                                                                                       -Whatever is being measured in the experiment                                                                                                       -It is dependent on the independent variable

        

• Operational Definition:                                                                                                                                                   -It is a statement of the specific methods used to measure a variable                                                                 -Explain what you mean in your hypothesis sampling
• Sampling:                                                                                                                                                                           -The sample mus be representative of the population you want to study                                                           -Get a random sample                                                                                                                                                     -Stratified sampling- it allows the researcher to ensure that the sample represents the population on some criteria                                                                                                                                                                         Ex. Race
• Experimental Method:                                                                                                                                                    -Looking to prove casual relationships                                                                                                                        -Cause = Effect
• Experimental Group vs. Control Group:                                                                                                                     -Experimental- the group receiving or reacting to the independent variable in an experiment                      -Control- It is the group that doesn't receive the independent variable in an experiment
• Hawthorne Effect- Just the fact that you know you are in an experiment can cause change.

      Experimenter Bias

• Another confounding variable 
• not a conscious act 
• Double-Blind Procedure- neither the researcher or participant is awake of whose receiving the treatment or whose receiving the placebo.

      Other Confounding Methods

• Placebo Effect- it is a harmless pill, medicine, or procedure prescribed for in psychological effect and physiological effect.
• Correlation Method- Correlation expresses a relationship between two variables , it doesn't show causation
• Types of Correlation:                                                                                                                                                       -Positive Correlation- The variable go in the same direction.                                                                               -Negative Correlation- The variables go in opposite direction.
• Survey Method:                                                                                                                                                                -Most common type of study in psychology                                                                                                                -It measures correlation, it's cheap and fast                                                                                                                -Need a good random sample                                                                                                                                        -Low response rate
• Naturalistic Observation:                                                                                                                                               -Watch subjects in their natural environment                                                                                                           -Do not manipulate the environment                                                                                                                           -The good is that there is Hawthorne effect                                                                                                               -The bad is that we can never really show cause and effect
• Correlation Coefficient is  a number that measures strength of a relationship, it ranges from -1 to +1. The relationship gets weaker the closer you get.
• Case Studies:                                                                                                                                                                     -A detailed picture of one or a few subjects                                                                                                                 -Tells us a greater story...but is just descriptive research                                                                                         -doesn't give us correlation data                                                                                                                                   -Cross Section- Analyzes a sample of the population at one point in time                                                         -Longitudinal- Analyzing the same people over a period of time                                                                         -Descriptive Statistics- describe sets of data
• Other Measurements:                                                                                                                                                       -Range- distance from highest to lowest scores                                                                                                         -Standard Deviation- the variance of scores around the mean                                                                               -The higher the variance or SD, the more spread out the distributor is 

       Ethics

• Animal Research:                                                                                                                                                             -Clear Purpose                                                   -Acquire animal legally                                                                      -Treated in a humane way                              -Least amount of suffering possible
• Human Research:                                                                                                                                                             -No coercion- must be voluntary                   -Informed consent anonymity                                                         -No significant risk                                           -Must debrief 

Chapter 1 - Psychology's History and Approaches

Chapter 1 - Psychology's

 History and Approaches

Psychology is a science of behavior and mental processes.

• Science is based on research 
• Mental processes are thinking and dreaming
• behavioral is both observable and miserable 

Psychology changes:

• Stability vs. Change: personality traits, physical appearances 
• Continuity vs. Discontinuity
• Nature vs. Nurture: biology vs. experience

5 Goals of Psychology:

1. Observe
2. Predict
3. Explain
4. Describe 
5. Control

History of Psychology

• Socrates and his student Plato believed the mind was separate from the body, the mind continued to exist after death and ideas were innate.
• Aristotle suggested that the soul is not separated from the body and that knowledge grows from experience. 
• Hippocrates - "father of medicine"                                                                                                  - Stressed illnesses and abnormal behavior were caused by natural causes, not supernatural
• Descartes, like Plato, believed in soul (mind)- body separation, but wondered how the immaterial mind and physical body communicated. 
• John Locke - Locke held that the mind was a tabula Rosa, or blank sheet, at birth, and experiences wrote on it.

Structuralism:

• The first school of psychology 
• Broke down mental processes into the most basic components (structures) of conscious experience.
• Introspection- What you hear? See? Taste? Smell? Feel? Based on this how you behaved?

Functionalism:

• Focused less on the how of sensation and perception, but rather on the way. Emphasized the process of how thoughts formed, changed, and how they adapted.     

   7 Perspectives 

1. Neuroscience or Biological: Focus on how the physical body and brain creates our emotions, memories, and sensory experiences.
2. Evolutionary: Focus on Darwinism                                                                                                - We behave the way we do because we inherited those behaviors.                                                - Thus, those behaviors must have helped ensure our ancestors survival.
3. Psycho-dynamic: Fathered by Sigmund Freud                                                                                - Usually stemming from our childhood.                                                                                        - Our behavior comes from unconscious drives
4. Behavioral: Focuses on our OBSERVABLE behaviors 
5. Cognitive: Focuses on how we think or encode information
6. Socio-Cultural: Focus on how your culture affects your behavior
7. Humanistic: Focuses on positive growth                                                                                         - Attempt to seek self-actualization