RESEARCH METHODS
8-10%
WE WILL COVER
Experimental, Correlational, and Clinical Research
Statistics
 Descriptive
 Inferential
Ethics in Research
STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
Differentiate types of research with regard to purpose, strengths, and weaknesses
Describe how research design drives the reasonable conclusions that can be drawn
Identify independent, dependent, confounding, and control variables in experimental
designs
Distinguish between random assignment of participants to conditions in experiments
and random selection of participants, primarily in correlational studies and
surveys
STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
Predict the validity of behavioral explanations based on the quality of research
Distinguish the purposes of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics
Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing
graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics
Discuss the value of reliance on operational definitions and measurement in
behavioral research
STUDENTS SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
Identify how ethical issues inform and constrain research practices
Describe how ethical and legal guidelines protect research participants and promote
sound ethical practice
KEY TERMS
Hindsight Bias
Critical Thinking
Theory
Hypothesis
Operational Definition
Replication
Case Study
Survey
KEY TERMS
Population
Random Sample
Naturalistic Observation
Correlation
Correlation coefficient
Scatterplot
Illusory Correlation
Experiment
Random Assignment
KEY TERMS
Double-Blind Procedure
Placebo Effect
Experimental group
Control group
Independent Variable
Confounding Variable
Depending Variable
KEY TERMS
Mode
Mean
Median
Range
Standard Deviation
Normal Curve
Statistical Significance
Culture
Informed Consent
Debriefing
KEY PEOPLE
Kenneth Clark
Mamie Phipps Clark
Daniel Kahneman
James Randi
Amos Tversky
2 PHENOMENA IN RESEARCH THAT ILLUSTRATE WHY
WE CANNOT RELY SOLELY ON INTUITION AND
COMMON SENSE
Hindsight bias
Judgmental overconfidence
HINDSIGHT BIAS
The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it
 “I knew it all along”
Finding that something has happened makes it seem inevitable
HINDSIGHT BIAS
Just asking people how and why they felt or acted as they did can sometimes be
misleading- NOT because common sense is usually wrong, but because common
sense more easily describes what HAS happened that what WILL happen
EXAMPLE OF ERRORS IN CRITICAL THINKING
1995 Oklahoma City Bombings
 Alerts issued for suspicious-looking persons of Middle Eastern or Arabic decent
 Believed Muslim extremists were at fault
 Real perpetrator was Timothy McVay
 White male
 Disgruntled at the government’s involvement with the events in Waco, TX 5 years
earlier
TRUE OR FALSE?
If you want to teach a habit that persists, reward the desired behavior every time, not
just intermittently.
FALSE
TRUE OR FALSE?
Patients whose brains are surgically split down the middle survive and function much
as they did before the surgery.
TRUE
TRUE OR FALSE?
Traumatic experiences, such as sexual abuse or surviving the Holocaust, are typically
“repressed” from memory.
FALSE
TRUE OR FALSE?
Most abused children do NOT become abusive adults.
TRUE
TRUE OR FALSE?
Adopted siblings usually do not develop similar personalities, even though they are
reared by the same parents.
TRUE
TRUE OR FALSE?
The brain remains active during sleep.
TRUE
TRUE OR FALSE?
Most infants recognize their own reflection in a mirror by the end of their first year.
FALSE
TRUE OR FALSE?
Fear of harmless objects, such as flowers, are just as easy to acquire as fears of
potentially dangerous objects, such as snakes.
FALSE
TRUE OR FALSE?
Most of us use only about 10% of our brains.
FALSE
TRUE OR FALSE?
Lie detection tests often lie.
TRUE
PREDICTION TIME
Predict what grade you will get on your next quiz or test.
 Rate on a scale 1-10, how confident you are about your prediction.
WHAT KIND OF SCIENTIST WOULD ANSWER THESE
QUESTIONS?
What parts of our brain do we use to feel happy?
How do we see color?
What happens in the brain when we dream?
In what ways does background noise affect our ability to pay attention?
WHAT KIND OF SCIENTIST WOULD ANSWER THESE
QUESTIONS?
Psychologists!!!!
OVERCONFIDENCE
We tend to be overconfident and think we know more than we do
Consider these three anagrams people were asked to unscramble:
 WREAT = WATER
 ETRYN = ENTRY
 GRABE = BARGE
How many seconds do you think it would have taken you to unscramble them?
OVERCONFIDENCE
Knowing the answer, hindsight makes it seem obvious, and people think it would only
take about 10 seconds, when in reality, people spend about 3 minutes to solve
the problem.
OVERCONFIDENCE
OCHSA
OVERCONFIDENCE
CHAOS
Hindsight bias and overconfidence often lead us to overestimate our intuition. But
scientific inquiry can help us sift reality from illusion.
SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE
Putting a scientific attitude into practice requires not only skepticism but also humility- an
awareness of our own vulnerability to error and an openness to surprises and new
perspectives.
Curiosity
Skepticism
Humility
 These 3 attitudes helped make modern science possible
GENERALIZABILITY
Degree the results of a study can be applied to different types of populations
CRITICAL THINKING
The scientific attitude prepares us to think smarter. Smart thinking, called critical
thinking, examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and
assesses conclusions.
HOW DO PSYCHOLOGIST ASK AND ANSWER
QUESTIONS?
Scientific Method
 Psychological science evaluates competing ideas with careful observation and
rigorous analysis.
 Attempts to describe and explain human nature
 Welcomes hunches and plausible-sounding theories
 Then puts it to the test
 If data support its prediction- so much the better for the theory
 If the predictions fail, the theory will be revised or rejected
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Scientific Method
 A self-correcting process for asking questions and observing nature’s answers.
Theory
 An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and
predicts behaviors or events
Hypotheses
 A testable prediction, often implied by a theory
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
A hypothesis is a statement of relationship between or among variables.
 Psychologists generate these statements after researching what other scientists
have learned and observing variables in the environment
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Theories are generally highly researched, rigorously tested frameworks that organize
multiple studies under one umbrella of ideas.
 Theories are tested ideas and not just educated guesses
 Theories are NOT the product of guesswork as hypotheses are
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
There are too many facts about behavior to remember them all. By linking facts and
bridging them to deeper principles, a theory offers a useful summary.
As we connect the observed dots, a coherent picture emerges.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
A good theory produces testable predictions, called hypotheses.
By enabling us to test and to reject or revise the theory, such predictions five
directions to research.
Hypotheses specify what results would support the theory and what results would
disconfirm it.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Theories
Research
and
observations
Hypotheses
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Hypothesis leads to research which leads to theories which lead to more hypotheses.
The scientific process is a creative process because of the feedback loop.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Good theories explain by
 Organizing and linking observed facts
 Implying hypotheses that offer testable predictions and, sometimes, practical
applications
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Operational definition
 A statement of the procedure (operations) used to define research variables.
 Ex: human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test
measures
 The most important part of the research study, because it defines what the
researcher will be observing and manipulating
 Needs to be 1) measurable and 2) manageable
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Operational definitions help psychologists to keep a check on their biases
 These carefully worded statements would allow others to replicate the original
observations.
 If other researches re-create a study with different participants and materials and
get similar results, then our confidence in the finding's reliability grows.
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
Happiness
A smile
Intelligence
Popularity
Good music
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
****Replication is the main goal of all good research*****
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
We test our hypotheses and refine our theories using descriptive methods (which
describe behaviors, often using case studies, surveys, or naturalistic
observation), correlational methods (which associate different factors) and
experimental methods (which manipulate factors to discover their efforts.
DESCRIPTION
The starting point of any science is description
Describes behaviors using:
 Case studies
 Surveys
 Naturalistic observation
Describes behavior; does not Explain behavior
CASE STUDY
Among the oldest research methods
Examines one individual in depth in hopes of revealing things true of us all
Often suggest directions for further study
Show us what can happen
CASE STUDY
Some of the most famous psychological phenomena are based on case study research
Psychoanalysis
 Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung developed much of their theories on human personality
based on case studies
Behaviorism
 John Watson and Rosalie Rayner conducted an intensive experiment knows as the “Little
Albert” study to demonstrate classically conditioned emotions.
 Little Albert was trained to fear white, furry objects by associating those objects with a
loud noise
CASE STUDY (CON’T)
Neuroscience
 Paul Broca had a patient who could only utter one syllable: “Tan” Upon Tan’s death,
Broca studied the patient’s brain, hypothesizing that the damaged area was where
our ability to speak lies.
SURVEY
Looks at many cases in less depth
Use this method when wanting to estimate, from a representative sample of people,
the attitudes or reported behaviors of a whole population
SURVEY
Wording Effects
 Even subtle changes in the order or wording of questions can have major effects
 Phrasing of a question might affect people’s expressed opinions
Random Sampling
 For an accurate picture of a whole population's attitudes and experiences
 Involves choosing at random participants from a larger population
 Takes the randomly chosen sample and assigning them, at random, to either the experimental
or control group (in experiments)
RANDOM SAMPLE
Typically generates a representative sample
Random sample and representative sample are similar and often are referring to the
same group of participants in a research study
SURVEY
Point to remember: The best basis for generalizing is from a representative sample of
cases.
Point to remember: Before accepting survey findings, think critically. Consider the
sample.
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
Records behavior in natural environments.
Range from watching to unobtrusively videotaping
Offers interesting snapshots of everyday life, but it does so without controlling for all
the factors that may influence behavior.
DESCRIPTION
Describing behavior is the first step toward predicting it.
CORRELATION
What are positive and negative correlations, and why do they enable prediction but
not cause-effect explanation?
CORRELATION
When one trait or behavior is related to another, we say the two correlate.
A statistical measure (correlation coefficient) helps us figure how closely two things
vary together, and thus how well either one predicts the other.
CORRELATION
Positive Correlation
 Two sets of scores tend to rise or fall together
 Ex: Height and weight
Negative Correlation
 Two sets of scores relate inversely
 Exercise and weight
Weak Correlation
 Indicating little relationship
 Near zero
CORRELATION
Positive correlations are also knows as direct correlations. The variables have a
direct relationship between them
 As one increases or decreases, so does the other in the same direction
Negative correlations are also knows as inverse correlations.
 Inverse relationship, as one increases the other decreases
POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE?
The more young children watch TV, the less they read.
The more sexual content teens see on TV, the more likely they are to have sex.
The longer children are breast-fed, the greater their later academic achievement.
The more often adolescents eat breakfast, the lower their body mass.
PERFECT POSITIVE CORRELATION (+1.0)
3,5
3
2,5
Column2
Series 2
Column1
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Category 4
PERFECT NEGATIVE CORRELATION (-1.0)
4,5
4
3,5
3
2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
Series 1
Column2
Column1
Category 1
Category 2
Category 3
Category 4
NO RELATIONSHIP
Y-Values
3,5
3
2,5
2
Y-Values
1,5
1
0,5
0
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
2,5
3
CORRELATION
Point to remember: A correlation coefficient, which can range from -1.0 to +1.0,
reveals the extend to which two things relate.
Correlations help us to predict
Point to remember: Correlation indicates the possibility of a cause-effect relationship,
but it does not prove causation. Knowing that two events are associated need
not tell us anything about causation.
CORRELATION
Correlation does not mean causation.
Correlation tells you that certain variables are related but not why they are related
The number represents the strength of a relationship, the sign represents the
direction of the correlation.
ILLUSORY CORRELATION
A perceived but nonexistent correlation
When we believe there is a relationship between 2 things, we are likely to notice and
recall instances that confirm our belief
Often influenced by confirmation bias.
 We tend to look for evidence that confirms our beliefs and ignore evidence that
disconfirms our beliefs.
ILLUSORY CORRELATION
Point to remember: When we notice random coincidences, we may forget that they
are random and instead see them as correlated. Thus, we can easily deceive
ourselves by seeing what is not there.
 Couples getting pregnant after adopting
EXPERIMENTATION
How do experiments, powered by random assignment, clarify cause and effect?
EXPERIMENTS
Experiments enable a researcher to focus on the possible effects of one or more
factors by
 Manipulating the factors of interest and
 Holding constant (“controlling”) other factors
**The only type of study that can determine cause-and-effect
KEY TERMS
Experimental group
 The group exposed to the treatment
Control group
 The group that is not exposed to the treatment
Independent variable
 The experimental factor that is being manipulated
Dependent variable
 The outcome factor
Confounding variable
 A factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment
RANDOM ASSIGNMENT
Assigning participants to experimental or control groups by chance, thus, minimizing
preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups
 Also helps to control for confounding variables
 Helps us generalize to a larger population
 Controls extraneous influences, which helps us infer cause and effect
TWO MAIN WAYS TO GROUP PARTICIPANTS IN AN
EXPERIMENT
Within-subjects design
Between-subjects design
WITHIN-SUBJECTS DESIGN
•
Involves comparing participants to themselves. Typically the research will give the
participant a pre-test. All of the participants will be exposed to the independent
variable and the will take a post test. In this design, the participants serves as
their own control group.
 Less efficient, but more resistant to the effects of individual differences,
because participants are compared to themselves
BETWEEN-SUBJECTS DESIGN
Involves comparing one group of participants to another. This is the most common
experimental set up. Only one group in this design is exposed to the independent
variable.
 Can conduct the research in one sitting
 However, individual differences are more likely to influence
POINT TO REMEMBER:
Unlike correlational studies, which uncover naturally occurring relationships, an
experiment manipulates a factor to determine it’s effect.
PLACEBO EFFECT
A phenomenon in which people believe a treatment will work simply because their
care provider tells them it will. In these cases, being treated by a trusted source
seemingly derives a health benefit
EXPERIMENT
EXAMPLE
To test the effect of perceived ethnicity on the availability of a rental house, 2
researchers sent identically worded e-mail inquires to 1115 Los Angeles-area
landlords. The researches varied the ethnic connotation of the sender’s name
and tracked the percentage of positive replies.
RESULTS
Patrick McDougall
Said Al-Rahman
Tyrell Jackson
Patrick McDougall- 89%
Said Al-Rahman – 66%
Tyrell Jackson – 56%
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
In this experiment:
 What was the independent variable?
 What was the dependent variable?
RECAP:
A variable is anything that can vary
Experiments aim to manipulate an independent variable, measure the dependent
variable, and control confounding variables.
An experiment has at least 2 groups
 Experimental group
 Control group
Random assignment works to equate the groups before any treatment effects
RECAP:
Case studies and naturalistic observations only describe behavior.
Correlations can be used to predict future phenomena
Experiments determine cause and effect
DESCRIPTIVE
 Basic purpose
 Observe and record behavior
 How?
 Case studies, surveys, naturalistic observation
 What is manipulated?
 Nothing
 Strengths
 Can use only one, done quickly and inexpensive, don’t require manipulation
 Weaknesses
 No control of variables, single case may be misleading.
CORRELATIONAL
 Basic purpose
 Detect naturally occurring relationships; assess how well one variable predicts another
 How?
 Compute statistical associations
 What is manipulated?
 Nothing
 Strengths
 Works with large groups of data, may be used in situations where an experiment
would not be ethical or possible
 Weaknesses
 Does not specify cause and effect
EXPERIMENTAL
 Basic purpose
 To explore cause and effect
 How?
 Manipulate one or more factors; use random assignment
 What is manipulated?
 The independent variable
 Strengths
 Specifies cause and effect, and variables are controlled
 Weaknesses
 Sometimes not feasible; results may not generalize to other contexts; not ethical to
manipulate certain variables
STATISTICAL REASONING IN EVERYDAY LIFE
In Descriptive, Correlational, and Experimental research, statistics are tools that help
us see and interpret what the unaided eye might miss.
Doubt big, round, undocumented numbers. Rather than swallowing top-of-the-head
estimates, focus on thinking smarter by applying simple statistical principles to
everyday reasonsing
DESCRIBING DATA
**Think smart. When viewing figures in magazines and on television, read the scale
labels and note their range**
TYPE OF STATISTICS COMPUTED FOR A SET OF DATA
DEPENDS ON WHAT TYPE OF DATA IS COLLECTED
Nominal
 Simply identifies categories
Ordinal
 Identifies the order in which data falls in a set
Interval
 Includes data that falls within a number line that has a zero point
Ratio
 Includes data that falls in a number line where zerio is just another number on the line
MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
Must summarize data after it has been collected
 Measures of central tendency is a single score that represents a whole set of
scores
Mode
Mean
Median
MODE
The most frequently occurring score or scores
MEAN
The average of the scores
Most commonly reported
Most susceptible to extremes in the data
 This is the number that gets pulled up or down depending on how extreme the data
points are
MEDIAN
The midpoint (arrange scores from highest to lowest)
The 50th percentile (half will be above and half will be below)
CENTRAL TENDENCY
Refers to how the data measure the center of a set of data
Mode, median, mean all point to where the middle of the data should be
If mode, median, mean are all the same number, the graph of the data will look like a
normal curve
 If different, the curve will be skewed
SKEWED CURVES
Positive
 Occurs when scores pull the mean toward the higher end of the scores
 The mean is more “positive” or greater than the rest of the scores
Negative
 Occurs when scores pull the mean toward the lower end of the scores
 The mean is more “negative” or less than the rest of the scores
CREATE YOUR OWN FREQUENCY TABLE AND CHART
Collect heights of your peers
Create a table
 In one column, put in all the various possible height in inches
 In another column, put how many students are at each specific height
Create a graph
 Plot the points using a bar graph
POINT TO REMEMBER:
Always note which measure of central tendency is reported. Then, if it’s the mean,
consider whether a few atypical scores could be distorting it.
MEASURES OF VARIATION
Knowing the value of an appropriate measure of central tendency can tell us a great deal
But the single number omits other information.
It helps to know something about the amount of variation in the data- how similar or
diverse the scores are.
Averages derived from scores with low variability are more reliable than averages based on
scores with high variability
STANDARD DEVIATION
A more useful standard for measuring how much scores deviate from one another is
the standard deviation
Uses information from each score
Can tell if scores are packed together or dispersed.
STANDARD DEVIATION
Tells us how different the scores are from each other
Less variability is better than greater variability
If a group of scores has a smaller standard deviation, then you can draw more stable
conclusions from that data set.
 If set of scores has a large standard deviation, the conclusions you can draw are
less stable
STANDARD DEVIATION
Knowing the Standard Deviation for a set of data can reveal how similar the scores
are.
The higher the Standard Deviation, the less similar the scores are
Standard Deviation = The square root of- Sum of (deviations)2/ number of scores
**Unlikely that you will have to calculate this on the AP Exam, but you may be asked
to interpret it
STANDARD DEVIATION
Normal curve
 68% of the scores fall within one standard deviation on either side of the mean
 95% of the scores fall within 2 standard deviations
MAKING INFERENCES
When is an observed difference reliable?
 When deciding when it is safe to generalize from a sample, keep 3 principles in
mind
 Representative samples are better than biased samples
 Less-variable observations are more reliable than those that are more variable
 More cases are better than few
 Averages based on many cases are more reliable (less variable) than averages
based on only a few cases
POINT TO REMEMBER:
Don’t be overly impressed by a few anecdotes. Generalizations based on a few
unrepresentative cases are unreliable
MAKING INFERENCES
When is a difference significant?
 When averages from 2 samples are each reliable measures of their respective
populations (as when each is based on many observations that have small
variability) then their difference is likely to be reliable as well
 When the difference between the sample averages is large, we have even more
confidence that the difference between them reflects a read difference in their
populations.
LET ME RESTATE THAT
When the sample averages are reliable, and when the difference between them is
relatively large, we say the difference has statistical significance. This means that
the observed difference is probably not due to chance variation between the
samples.
Proof beyond a reasonable doubt means not making much of a finding unless the
odds of its occurring by chance are less than 5%
STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Refers to how 2 groups’ means are different.
 If you graphed the data from 2 groups and the graphs did not overlap or only overlapped
a little, then the difference would be significant.
 If the graphs overlapped a lot, then the difference would not be significant
Significance allows you to say how likely the difference in means is due to chance.
 Usual goals is to get a significance level of .05, which says that the results are only 5%
due to chance
EFFECT SIZE
The measure of the strength of a relationship between variables is becoming the new
way for researches to report their results
POINT TO REMEMBER
Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a result will happen by chance.
But this does not say anything about the importance of the result
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT
PSYCHOLOGY
CAN LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS ILLUMINATE
EVERYDAY LIFE?
The experiment intends the laboratory environment to be a simplified reality- one that
simulates and controls important features of everyday life
A lab experiment lets psychologists re-create psychological forces under controlled
conditions
Purpose to not to re-create the exact behaviors of everyday life but to test theoretical
principles
 It is the resulting principles, not the specific findings, that help explain everyday
behaviors
IMPORTANT!!!
Controlling for cofounding, or extraneous, variables is the goal of the experimental
method
A highly-controlled experimental environment is not much like reality, but it does help
simplify the complexity of the real world and helps provide a clearer picture of
how variables in the real world work together
IMPORTANT!!
Experiments are more likely to be replicated effectively if clear operational definitions
are used
Operational definitions attempt to clearly define the behaviors that the researchers
are looking for
If the operational definitions are clear enough, then others can more easily and
accurately replicate the study.
POINT TO REMEMBER
Psychologists concerns lie less with unique behaviors than with discovering general
principles that help explain many behaviors.
DOES BEHAVIOR DEPEND ON ONE’S CULTURE AND
GENDER?
We are each in certain respects like all others, like some others, and like no other.
Studying pole of all races and cultures helps us discern our similarities and our
differences, our human kinship and our diversity.
Even specific attitudes and behaviors vary by gender or across culture, as they often
do, the underlying processes are much the same.
ETHICS IN RESEARCH
Why do psychologists study animals, and is it ethical to experiment on animals?
ETHICS
The animal protection movement protests the use of animals in psychological, biological,
and medical research.
Researches remind us that the animals used worldwide each year in research are but a
fraction of 1% of the billions of animals killed annually for food.
 And yearly, for every dog or cat used in an experiment and cared for under humane
regulations, 50 are killed in humane animal shelters
ETHICS
Is it right to place the well-being of humans above that of animals?
If we give human life priority, the second issue is the priority we give to the well-being
of animals in research.
ETHICS
Is it ethical to experiment on people?
ETHICS
People are deceived and stressed only sparingly and when necessary
 Wanting to be helpful, the participants might try to confirm the researcher’s
predictions
ETHICAL PRINCIPALS URGE INVESTIGATORS TO:
Obtain informed consent
Protect them from harm and discomfort
Treat information about individual participants confidentially
Fully debrief people
 Explain the research afterwards
ETHICS
The ideal is for a researcher to be sufficiently informative and considerate so that the
participants will leave feeling at least as good about themselves as when they
came in.
 Teachers provoke much greater anxiety by giving and returning class tests than do
researchers in a typical experiment
POINT TO REMEMBER
Confidentiality refers to keeping participants information private
Anonymity refers to participating in a study without providing identifying information
VALUE FREE SCIENCE
The methodology of psychology defines it as a science, and using the scientific
method to examine “soft” topics (such as values) enhances our understanding of
these types of topics.
The method is value-free but the conclusions are not
Psychology does have the power to deceive, its purpose it to enlighten
Every day, psychologists are exploring ways to enhance learning, creativity, and
compassion.
Psychology speaks to many of our world’s great problems
 War, overpopulation, prejudice, family crises, crime
 All of which involve attitudes and behaviors
Psychology also speaks to our deepest longings
 Nourishment, love happiness
NOTECARD TIME
DEFINE THE MILGRAM EXPERIMENT
An experiment in which Milgram wanted to determine whether participants would
administer painful shocks to others merely because they were instructed to do so.
The outcome raised major ethical questions but implied that ordinary people
could easily inflict pain on others if such orders were issued by a respected
authority
Researchers perform a variety of statistical tests, called inferential tests, which are
used to determine___________________.
Statistical significance. Statistical significance indicated whether findings from an
experiment support the hypothesis or are due to chance.
The more extreme, or far away from the normal curve of distribution, an outcome is,
the more likely it is to be a significant change.
What is the difference between a single-blind and a double blind experiment?
In a single-blind experiment, only the participants do not know whether they are in the
experimental group or the control group.
In a double-blind experiment, neither the participants nor the experimenter knows
whether the participants are in the experimental group or the control group
____________ are the methods of conduct, or standards, for proper and responsible
behavior.
Ethics. Psychologists follow a set of ethical principles that govern their research to
protect the dignity and welfare of participants, obey all state and federal laws and
regulations, and uphold professional standards of research.
When do researchers use naturalistic observation?
Naturalistic observations are useful for observing visible behaviors in a natural
setting where the human or animal is unaware of, or not bothered by, the
experiment.
Jane Goodall used naturalistic observation to gain insight into the behaviors of
chimpanzees.
__________ include distribution of data, measures of central tendency, measures of
variance, and correlation coefficients.
Descriptive Statitistics. Descriptive statistics include listing and summarizing data in
a practical, efficient way, such as through graphs and averages
DEFINE: MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY
Mode
 Most frequently occurring score
Median
 Middle score that divides the rank-ordered observation in half
Mean
 Arithmetic average of all the individual measures
When calculating statistics, the _________ is a better measure of variance than the
range because, like the mean, it uses all the data points in its calcuations.
STANDARD DEVIATION
Standard deviation is a measure of variability that describes an average distance of
every score from the mean
DEFINE:
Correlation coefficient
A statistic that describes the direction and strength of a relationship between two
sets of variables. A + correlation means that as one variable increases, the other
increases. A – correlation means that as one variable increases, the other
decreases. Zero correlation means that no apparent relationship exists.
What was the ethical issue of concern in the Little Albert experiments?
In the experiment involving conditioning a child to be afraid of rats, behavioral
psychologist Watson and Rayner taught a well-adjusted child to be fearful without
making any attempts to extinguish his conditioned fears. Psychologists today are
unable to repeat the study with a child because of the ethical standards of the
APA.
How do inferential statistics describe data differently from descriptive statistics?
Inferential stats
 Used to help researchers make generalizations about the sample or predictions of
future behavior
 Researchers use to support their hypotheses, taking into account probabilities and
outcomes due to chance
Descriptive stats
 Summarize the data
DEFINE:
Hypothesis
A tentative statement about the relationship between 2 or more variables. It may be
a prediction about behavior or an educated guess about the relationship between
2 variables that is tested through scientific research
DEFINE:
Experimental group
Participants in an experiment who are exposed to a level of the independent variable
(the variable that is altered to get an observable effect).
DEFINE:
Frequency distributions
Arrangement of data that indicates how often a particular score or observation
occurs.
The ____________ is the change in a patient’s illness or physical state that results
from the patient’s perceptions of the treatment when no actual change should
have occurred.
PLACEBO EFFECT
A placebo is a treatment, such as a drug or injection, that resembles medical therapy
but has no medical effect on its own
DEFINE:
Control Group
In an experiment, the group of participants who are treated in the same way as the
experimental group except that the experimental treatment or independent
variable, is not applied.
Researchers use double-blind techniques in their experiments to avoid a
____________.
SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY
Self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when an experimenter has expectations about the
participant’s behavior and then acts in some way, usually unknowingly, that
influences the participant’s behavior.
What are the steps to the scientific method?
Formulate a question
Make a hypothesis
Complete the experiment
Analyze the results
Make a conclusion
Create a theory based on the outcome
 If the conclusions contradict the original hypothesis, a new hypothesis is made, and the
experiment is run again to test for the newly predicted outcome.
What is a longitudinal study and why it is used in research?
Psychologists study the same group of people at regular intervals over a period of
years to determine whether their behavior and feelings have changed and, if so,
how. Though time consuming and sometimes expensive, longitudinal studies are
an ideal way to examine consistencies and inconsistencies in behavior over time.
When conducting a public survey, what is the advantage of taking a random sample
from the population?
Each person has an equal chance of being represented in a random sample.
Random sampling is similar to drawing names or numbers out of hat while
blindfolded.
A researcher is more likely to get unbiased results if the sample participants are
randomly chosen.
DEFINE:
Cognitive Psychology
The study how the processing, storing, and retrieving of information influences our
behavior. Cognitive psychologists believe that behavior is more than simple
responses to a stimulus. Rather it is influenced by a variety of mental processes,
including perceptions, memories, and expectations.
DEFINE:
Structuralism
The study of the basic elements of conscious mental experience. Wilhelm Wundt
started the first psychology lab to study these “elements” in Germany and is
considered the father of modern psychology. One of his students, Titchner,
studied structuralism in the United States.
What are the four goals of psychology?
Description
 Gather information about the behavior being studied and present what is known
Explanation
 Explain why people or animals behave as they do
Prediction
 Predict what organisms will do, think, or feel in various situations
Influence
 Seek to change or adjust behaviors in helpful ways
Abraham Maslow
An early humanist who believed that all people work to satisfy certain needs to be
happy.
His hierarchy of needs suggested that the most basic needs of food and safety must
be met before one can meet higher needs, such as esteem, acceptance, and selfactualization
DEFINE
Gestalt Psychology
A branch of psychology started by German psychologists Max Werheimer, Wolfgang
Kohler, and Kurt Koffka that contradicted the early principles of structuralism and
behaviorism.
They argued that perceptions is more than the sum of its parts and that it involves a
whole pattern, or gestalt
How do psychobiologists differ from figures in other areas of psychology?
Psychobiologists study how the brain, the nervous system, hormones, and genetics
influence our behavior.
They focus on biological factors that influence behavior, such as brain chemical levels
and genetic defects.
DEFINE
Descent of Man
A book by Charles Darwin in which he focuses on the origin of the human species.
Darwin claims that humans are closest in ancestry to primates, and he looks at
the emergence of humans in terms of primate evolution. Darwin presents an
interpretation of our species completely free from superstition and spiritualism- a
controversial idea in a society based on creationism.
DEFINE
Behaviorism
The branch of psychology that maintains that only observable facts of behavior should be
considered. The two leading early behaviorists were B.F. Skinner and John B. Watson.
 Watson believed all behavior is a result of conditioning, which occurs because of an
environmental stimulus.
 Skinner introduced reinforcement, a response to a behavior that increases the likelihood
of a behavior being repeated.
DEFINE
Sociocultural psychology
The area of psychology that focuses on the influence of ethnicity, gender, culture, and
socioeconomic status on behavior
Which psychologist was one of the first to be most interested in early childhood
experiences and how those experiences affect present behavior?
SIGMUND FREUD
Freud introduced the idea of free association, in which he allowed patients to simply
talk about whatever came to mind without editing or censoring any thoughts,
regardless of their connection or lack thereof. He then used these associations
to paint a picture of what was going on in the patient’s unconscious.
DEFINE:
William James and functionalism
Functionalism is the study of how mental processes help animals and people adapt
to their environments. James, the “father of psychology,” wrote the first
psychological text, The Principles of Psychology, in which he focused on the
functions or purposes of the conscious mind rather than the structures
themselves.