psych final

• Psychology


  The scientific study of behaviour and cognitive processes
• Scientific study


  • Involves systematic and objective methods of observation
  • Carried out by using step-by-step procedures
  • Uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices
• Behaviour


  Any activity that can be observed, recorded and measured
• Cognitive processes


  Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing and remembering. Cannot be observed directly
• Authority


  Accepting unquestioningly what someone tells you about behaviour
• Authority doesn't always provide valid answers
• Intuition


  Accepting as true our own judgement about behaviour and the world
• Ways we can't trust our own intuition

  • Confirmation bias
  • Fundamental attribution error
  • Availability heuristic
  • Hindsight bias
  • Mood effects
• Scientific method


  • Insists that all ideas concerning behaviour be subjected to an empirical test
  • Helps us avoid biases when we are observing behaviour so we can get valid info concerning behaviour
  • Is based on empiricism
  • Emphasizes the role of experience and evidence over intuition
• Empirical


  • Based on objective and systematic observation
• Rational


  • Follow the rules of logic and are consistent with known facts
• Testable


  • Placed under conditions in which they can be supported or refuted
• Parsimonious


  • Have few assumptions when explaining behaviour
• General


  • Account for a wide variety of behaviours
• Tentative


  • May be replaced in the future
• Rigorously evaluated


  • Constantly being tested and evaluated
• Essential components of the scientific method

  • Accuracy
  • Objectivity
  • Skepticism
  • Open-mindedness
• Procedures in the scientific method

  1. A theory is formulated based on existing evidence

  2. The theory organizes existing information and allows one to make predictions

  3. The predictions (hypotheses) are tested by observation or research

  4. If the results are consistent with the theory, confidence is increased, if they are not, the theory is modified and further tests are conducted

  5. Ultimately, the theory is either accepted or rejected, but even if accepted, it remains open to further refinement with additional research
• Hypothesis


  A specific, testable prediction
• Theory


  An organized set of principles that describes, predicts, and explains some phenomenon
• Independent variable (IV)


  The variable that is manipulated
• Dependent variable (DV)


  The variable that is measured
• Operational definition


  Defining variables in terms of how they are measured or manipulated
• Characteristics of a good operational definition

  • Describe how a variable will be measured or manipulated
  • Be replicable
  • Use objective, simple and concrete language
• Basic research


  Attempts to answer fundamental questions about the nature of behaviour; the major goal is to acquire general info about a phenomenon
• Applied research


  Is concerned with immediate practical application or with the solution to a particular problem; the major goal is to generate information that can be applied to a "real world" problem
• Primary source


  Contains the full research report
• Secondary source


  Summarizes information from primary sources
• Problems with secondary sources: The author may interpret the findings incorrectly, they often lack detail
• Research ethics boards (REBs)

  They judge the ethicality of proposed research based on the TCPS guidelines
• Informed consent


  • That they are participating in a research project
  • The purpose of the research
  • Identity of the researcher
  • Expected duration of session
  • Nature of participation
  • Description of procedures
  • Description of harms and benefits
  • They have a right to withdraw
• Partial disclosure


  When you actively mislead or purposely withhold information from the participant
• Problems with partial disclosure: Once participants have been misled they may react differently, may feel duped and experience a loss of self esteem
• When to use partial disclosure: The risk is minimal, does not affect the rights and welfare of the participant
• Debriefing


  After any experiment the experimenter explains the purpose of the research so questions are answered and misunderstandings are removed
• Measures


  Devices or procedures that researchers use to gauge the dependent variable
• Reliability


  The consistency of your measure
• True score


  The real score on the variable
• Measurement error


  The difference between the measured value of a variable and the true value
• Types of reliability


  • Test-retest reliability
  • Split half reliability
  • Inter-rater reliability