Chapter 1

Research in Psychology

LEQ’sWhat are the positive and negative traits

that interfere with research?How do psychologists gather and interpret

data?What role does psychology play in research

in other fields?

Psychological ScienceThis is the method of looking at a problem

from a scientific standpoint, eliminating human fallacies.

This section looks at methods of gauging experiments and the use of science to search unbiased truths

Dangers to Scientific StudyIntuition, or ability to judge something based

on our instincts, is a phenomenal tool that allows us to use our value system to tell us how to respond to challenging stimuli.

Common sense is known as the ability to see things for what they are, not what we want them to be, and respond rationally.

Hindsight Bias-the tendency to believe that someone had foreseen something happening after it happened (aka I know it all along)

Overconfidence-the tendency to think we know more than we really do or are more capable than we really are.

Dangers and RealityNone of these four human characteristics, all

valuable in their own way, can be depended on to help with a scientific study on psychology.

Each has a specific drawback that causes it to be excluded from the research processCommon sense-not always scientificIntuition-does not allow for consistent proceduresHindsight bias-leads to overconfidence and

errorsOverconfidence-leads to false conclusions and

errors

The Scientific AttitudeScientists believe their work should be

RepeatableSubject to scrutinyAttempting to answer questions about lifeHumble Inspired by curiosityInvolve Critical Thinking

This Has Proven-Massive brain tissue loss at an early age

can be minimizedBabies recognize their mother’s smell and

voice within daysBrain damage can leave people able to

learn new skillsDiverse people show a relatively

comparable amount of happiness with lifeElectric shock therapy can relieve severe

depression

This Has DisprovenSleepwalkers are acting out their dreams

and sleep talkers are verbalizing their dreams

Our past experiences are recorded verbatim in your brain

Most people suffer from low self esteemOpposites attract generally

The Scientific MethodTheory- and idea or belief you with to proveHypothesis- how your idea or belief is

tested in a predictable mannerOperational definitions-the procedures

used to define the variablesReplication- repeating the main

components of a research program.

Types of TestsCase Study-observing one person in depth to

obtain universal principalsSurvey-gaining the self-reporting attitudes of

people in a random sampleWording Effect-the way a question is worded can

effect the answer outcomeFalse Consensus Effect-the tendency to overestimate

the extent that others share our beliefsPopulation-all the cases in a group used for a studyRandom Sample-a sample that attempts to

represent the population equallyNaturalistic Observation-watching a subject in

their natural environment to see how they react to stimuli

Correlation

What is correlation and how does it effect research?

CorrelationIs a measure of the extent to which two

factors vary together and how well they predict each other.

The correlation is measured by a correlation coefficient. It is measured between -1 and +1. -1 means there is a negative correlation0 means that there is no correlation+1 means there is a positive correlation

All three of these are represented on a scatterplot manner.

Negative CorrelationWhen the X axis

value goes up, the Y axis value goes down.

An example would be if you have a test comparing miles ran with age, the higher the age, the lower the number of miles you can run.

Positive CorrelationIf the X axis value

increases, the Y axis value increases as well.

If you are measuring days of training and miles ran, as the training days increase, so do the miles ran.

No CorrelationThere is no

relationship between values on X and Y axis

Your IQ and your weight have no relationship.

Correlation and CausationCorrelation allows us to predict possibilities,

and eliminate intuition.An important point to remember is that

correlation does not mean causation. One facet does not cause the other to happen.

An example, low self esteem and depression have a correlation, but one does not cause the other. Why?

Illusory CorrelationThe perception of a correlation where none

exists. Superstitious beliefs are a good example of

illusory correlationIt is easy for many people to apply

correlations to random events.

Order and Random EventsWe attempt to seek order in random

sequences, where no order exists.Random sequences can appear to not be

random. Our experiences and biases allow us to

think that we can predict how coin flips will go in a pattern.

If you toss the coins enough times, patterns may be seen intermittently. This is also a random act.

ExperimentationCause and EffectTherapyIndependent and Dependent Variables

ExperimentationThis is the research method used to

manipulate factors to observe the effect on behaviors or mental processes.

This is accomplished byManipulating the factors of interestHolding control of the variables

Therapies Experimentation can take on several forms

Double blind procedure-keeping the research staff and participants ignorant of whether they have received treatment or a placeboExperimental condition- the condition of the experiment

that exposes people to treatmentControl condition-the condition of an experiment that

contrast the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effectiveness of treatment.

Placebo effect-results are judged by expectations alone.

Random assigning-people are assigned to control groups and experimental groups by chance

VariablesIndependent variables- the factor that is

manipulated or tested to prove or disprove a theory.

Dependant variables-the outcome factor, the one that changes based on the response to manipulation of the independent variable.

StatisticsData is the most essential component of

proving a theoryHow does data show correlations?

Measure of Central TendencyMeasure of Variation

Central TendencyTo describe data, you need to organize it.

Then you need to put them in perspectiveMode-the most frequently occurring scoreMean-the average of a distributionMedian-the middle score in the distribution

VariationThis method looks at how to measure the

similarities and differences in data scoresRange-the gap between the lowest and

highestStandard deviation-a measure of how much

scores vary around the mean score.Statistical significance-how likely it is the

results were obtained by chance.

Ethics in Psychology

What are ethics? Why do they matter?

EthicsThe set of moral guidelines that control our

decision making and guide us when we are not sure how to act.

The psychological tests conducted in any situation has ethical considerations to evaluateParticipants must give their concentParticipants must be comfortable and safeInformation is confidentialFully explain the results

Final QuestionAre value judgments dangerous to

psychological research?