Psych2: Research Methods

things that can be observed

systematic procedure of observing and measuring phenomena to answer questions about what happens, when it happens, what causes it, and why.

theory > hypothesis > research >support theory or refute theory (discard or revise & retest)

model of interconnected ideas and concepts that explains what is observed and makes predictions about future events

• a specific prediction of what should be observed in the world if a theory is correct
• must be testable

scientific process that involves the systematic and careful collection of data

• objective observations or measurements
• provides a test for whether the hypothesis is likely to be supported

repetition of an experiment to confirm the results

• The Interpretation of Dreams:
• theory that all dreams represent the fulfillment of an unconscious wish
• (but it was not testable)

proposed a theory of infant and child development that suggested that cognitive development occurs in a fixed series of "stages" from birth to adolescence

• (seredipity - findings by accident)
• cats' nerve cells in brain areas associated with vision by having cats look at dots
• wasn't producing any activity in that area of the brain until the projector jammed and the visual "edge" on the screen stimulated these brain cells

• something in the world that can be measured and can vary
• defined by operational definitions that identify and quantify variables so they can be measured (like what each number represents in a rating scale (not satisfied, satisfied, etc.))

• (observational studies)
• involve observing and classifying behavior, either with no intervention by the observer (naturalistic observation) or with intervention by the observer (participant observation)

advantages: good for early stages of research, to determine whether a phenomenon exists

disadvantages: errors in observation can occur due to observer expectations (observer bias) or observer's presence changes behavior being witnessed (reactivity)

a passive descriptive study in which observers do not change or alter ongoing behavior

a type of descriptive study in which the observer/researcher is actively involved in the situation

involve observing and classifying developmental changes that occur in the same people over time, either with no intervention by the observer or with intervention by the observer

advantages: provide information about effects of age on same people, allowing researchers to see developmental changes

disadvantages: expensive, take a long time, and may lose participants over time

involve observing and classifying developmental changes that occur in different groups of people at the same time

advantages:faster and less expensive than longitudinal studies

disadvantages: unidentified variables may be involved (third variable problem)

systematic errors in observation that occur because of an observer's expectations

actual change in the behavior of the people or animals being observed that is due to observer bias 

(like students training rats - one group thought they had trained rats, the other did not - "trained" rats were taught faster

• research method that examines how variables are naturally related in the real world, without any attempt by the researcher to alter them
• can not assume casual connection

(ex: comparing soldiers' performance learning something new after some have had traumatic experiences and some have not)

advantages: rely on naturally occurring relationships, may take place in a real-world setting

disadvantages: cannot be used to support casual relationships, directionality problem, third variable problem

when researchers find a relationship between two variables in a correlational study, they cannot determine which variable may have caused changes in other variables

(ex: does sleeping more cause less tress of does less stress cause better sleep?)

when experimenter cannot directly manipulate the independent variable and therefore cannot be confident that another, unmeasured variable is not the actual cause of the differences in the dependent variable

(ex: maybe having a high energy level causes women who work longer hours to still want to have fun after work)

a study that tests casual hypotheses by measuring and manipulating variables

advantages: can demonstrate casual relationships

disadvantages: often take place in an artificial setting

participants in a study that receive no intervention or an intervention different from the one being studied

participants in the study that receive the intervention

in and experiment, the variable that is manipulated by the experimenter to determine its impact on the dependent variable

in an experiment, the measure that is affected by manipulation of the independent variable

anything that affects a dependent variable and may unintentionally vary between the experimental conditions of a study

(ex: number of hours worked may be confounded with how much money the women have to spend on fun activities after work)

everyone in the group the experimenter is interested in

a subset of a population

random sampling: each member of populations has an equal chance of being chosen to participate

convenience sample: people who are conveniently available for the study

when participants in different groups in an experiment differ systematically

(ex: age differences in women working 5 hr shifts and 10 hr shifts, etc.)

the procedure for placing research participants into the conditions of an experiment in which each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any level (or groups) of the independent variable

a"study of studies" that combines findings of mulitiple studies to arrive at a conclusion

studies that take into account the ways culture affects thoughts, feelings, and actions

research method of careful and systematic assessment and coding of overt behavior

• 1. Should it be conducted in the real world or in a lab?
• 2. How should data be collected? (tallies, notes on what is observed, etc.)
• 3. Should observer be visible?

(Hawthorne Effect - result of studying workers' productivity in Hawthorne Works plant. Workers were more productive when they knew they were being watched.)

when the knowledge that one is being observed alters the behavior being observed

involves the intensive examination of one person or a few individuals or one or a few organizations, typically people or organizations that are somehow unusual

usually when they are doing something well (making lots of money) or something poorly (loosing lots of money)

advantages: can provide extensive data about one or a few individuals or organizations

disadvantages: can be very subjective (cannot generalize from an individual to a populations)

a method of data collection in which people are asked to provide information about themselves, such as in questionnaires or surveys

advantages: easy to administer, cost efficient, etc.

disadvantages: people can introduce biases into their answers (self-report bias) or may not recall information accurately

researchers take several samples of participants' experiences over time

person responds in a way that is most socially acceptable rather than the truth

people believe things about themselves that are not necessarily true

a research method in which researchers quantify perceptual or cognitive processes in response to a specific stimulus

• -reaction time: longer time = more time for brain to process information
• -response accuracy: (ex: flashing shape on side of screen the subject was told to pay attention to)
• -stimulus judgement: comparing two stimuli

researchers examine how bodily functions (physiology) change in association with behaviors or mental states (psychology)

lie detectors - measure bodily states to try and determine if the person is lying or not

data collection method that measures electrical activity in the brain

device that measures electrical activity in the brain is called an electroencephalogram (EEG)

a range of experimental techniques that make brain structures and brain activity visible

• positron emission tomography (PET)
• magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

method of brain imaging that assesses metabolic activity by using a radioactive substance injected into the bloodstream

method of brain imaging that produces high-quality images of the brain

imaging technique used to examine changes in the activity of the working human brain

the use of strong magnets to briefly interrupt normal brain activity as a way to study brain regions

groups of people responsible for reviewing proposed research to ensure that it meets the accepted standards of science and provides for the physical and emotional well-being of research participants

extent to which the data collected addresses the research hypothesis in the way intended

the extent to which a measure is stable and consistent over time in similar conditions

the extent to which an experimental measure is free from error

• random error: value of error differs every time
• systematic error: value of error is constant

overall summary of data

a measure that represents the typical behavior of the group as a whole

in a set of numbers, how widely dispersed the values are from each other and from the mean

the statistical measure of how far away each value is, on average, from the mean

a set of procedures used to make judgements about whether differences actually exist between sets of numbers

when results from a study would be very unlikely to occur if there really were no differences among the groups of subjects