Chapter 1 Introduction and Research Method
Course Outline:
Module 1. What is Psychology?
Research Psychology (multiple approaches: learning approach, biological, cognitive, social,
culture, evolutionary,developmental)
1.Biopsychology
Genes; ex., extra chromosome > mental retardation
Hormones : without testosterone during pregnancy > femininity and sexual orientation
Neurons: brain cell
Neurotransmitter: lack of certain type of neurotransmitter > depression and gambling
(serotoin) , dopamine
Brain : without certain part of the brain > memory consolidation and emotional control
2. Cognitive psychology (Cognition, memory, our thoughts, reason, explanation, and mental
processes)
Attitude (evaluation of Schemas) : ex., I like this girl
Schemas (knowledge and expectations) : ex., She is usually nice and talkative
Attribution or Interpretation (Interpretation of the events or actions) : ex., she talks to me
because she likes me
Memory, Sensation and perception: I remember her always talking me
3. Learning psychology
classical conditioning (learning through association)
operant conditioning (learning by the consequence)
social learning or observational learning (learning by mimicking or observing)
4.Social Psychology
How other people influence your behaviours
5.Evolutionary Psychology
Functions of the behaviors: Why is female more picky about the mate? why do we care
about our sisters? Why do we help other people? Why do we have emotional expression?
Natural selection
Sexual selection
Applied Psychology
- Psychology and consumer behavior
Advertisement
Comparison
Consumer decision making
- Health Psychology
Pain and stress
Optimism and cancer
- Abnormal Psychology (psychiatrist)
Psychological disorder
Symptoms > Causes > Treatment
- Psychology and organizations
Motivation to work
Leadership and management
Group behavior in organization
Issues and Debates for AS Level
The application of psychology to everyday life
Individual and situational explanations:
individual side refers to behaviours from factors within the person, situational side
refers to behaviour from factors in the external environment
Nature vs Nurture:
the nature side of the debate is about what behaviours we are born with, and the nurture
side of the debate is about what we learn in our lives
The use of children in psychological research
The use of animals in psychological research
Module 2. What is Scientific Method
Different ways of knowing?
Authority:
History:
Appeal to the general:
Internet:
Science**
Why do we need science?
- Common sense is often wrong:
we only use 10% of our brain
rice is healthy
milk is absolutely essential to your health
coke kill sperm
instant noodle is dirty
- Human often sees order from random event. Seeing meaning from the meaningless
The cloud
The personal experience (ex., 黄瓜补水，柠檬去斑)
unrelated events happen together (ex., wearing red underwear and good mark)
- Over-confidence:
ex., Humans tend to think we know more than we do.
ex., think our ideas is the correct one
ex., we believe we can predict the future. experiment, monkey guess the trend of market
price compare to expert
- Confirmation bias：
tendency to only search for information that confirms with one's belief and ignore
information that contradict with one's beliefs
Give an example? people who believe in the flat earth, and believe that your boyfriend is
always late
Wechat news
- Hindsight biases (knew-it-all-along after knowing the consequences or results)：
Tendency of people to overestimate their ability to have predicted an outcome that could not
possibly have been predicted.
Give example? predict that tomorrow will rain
Scientific Method (general steps)
1. Psychology being investigated (Theory) 理论 : An explanation using an integrated set of
principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.
2. Aim 实验目的: the general topics, question (ex., whould milk make you taller?)
3. Hypothesis 假设: A testable prediction, often implied by a theory (ex., IV -> DV, Drinking
milk would make you taller compared to drinking water)
Directional Hypothesis:
Non-directional Hypothesis:
Null Hypothesis:
4. Operationalization: 定义变量
1. IV: how would you control (detail, what's the differences between the conditions)
2. DV: how would you measure (detail, unit, equipment)
5. Sampling 抽样: getting the participants from the population
1. Volunteer
2. Random
3. Opportunity
6. Types of Research; 做实验
(1) experiment: 便准实验
(2) observation: 观察实验
(3) self-report: 自我报告（问卷调查，采访）
(4) case study: （个案研究）
(5) Correlation: （相关性实验）Ex., IQ vs AQ
7. Evidence/Result (Data Analysis, Statistics) 实验数据分析
Quantitative Data and Qualitative Data
Central Tendency/Average (mean ,median, mode)
Measure of Spread: (range, standard deviation)
Graph (Bar Chart, Histogram, and Scatter Plot)
8. Conclusion: Match the Hypothesis? -> Reject or retain the hypothesis 是不是符合假设？
9. Ethics, Evaluate 伦理/评价
10. Replication and generalization 重复
Module 3. Getting Prepared for a Study
Identifying a research problem
- What general topics or domains would you like to investigate? Aggression
- Solve an sub-problems of the domains, How drinking milk cause aggression
- The question has to be _____________________ ( able to be disproved and measured by
experimental results)
Theory and Hypothesis
- Theory (Why): An explanation of how or why something happens
Standard: Comprehensiveness, testability and predictability, parsimony, compatibility
ex., milk has calcium
-Aim: It is a statement that tells people what the purpose of a study is. doesn't predict the
outcome of the study. Doesn't need to have IV or DV
ex., investigate whether milk influence the height
- Hypothesis: A testable prediction, often implied by a theory. Include both IV and DV
one tail hypothesis: milk make you taller compared to water
two tail hypothesis: milk influence your height compared to water
null hypothesis: there will be no difference of height for water group and milk group
Module 4. Getting the People to Participate
Sample vs Population
- Sample (participants) and population
- Representative (unbiased) Sample > Generalisability
Sampling Method
（随机抽样
Random Sampling
）: A sample that fairly represents a population because
each member has an equal chance of inclusion.
Strengths: representative（具有代表性）, can be generalized （有概括性）
Weakness:
may not have complete list of population (unlikely)
less committed
high withdrawal rate
Likely to select non-representative sample if the sample size is small
Opportunity Sampling: （机会抽样）
Strengths:
quicker and easier
Weakness:
non-representative（不具代表性）,sample tend to be similar
less committed （难坚持）
Volunteer (self-selecting): 自愿者抽样
Strengths:
Easy because participants come to the researcher
More commited, so less drop out rate
can select specific features of participants （选择性）
Weakness:
non-representative (不具代表性）
Module 5. Identify and Measure the Variable
-Operational Definition: definition of the variable so that it can be manipulated, measured, and
replicated
Discuss: give a operational definition of "love" or "happiness"
-An measurement needs to be reliable and valid
Reliable (the measurement produce consistent results)
Valid (the measurement use correct tools)
Module 6. Types of Study Methods
1. Experiment
( A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or
more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process
(the dependent variable). By random allocation of participants, the investigator aims to control
other relevant factors)
标准实验
Three Designs
Repeated Measure (Within group design)
Independent Measure (Between group design)
Pair Matched
Design of
experiment
Participants
in all the
condition?
Repeated
measure
Yes
Independent
measure
No
Pair match
No
random
allocation?
no
yes
no
order
effects?
yes
no
no
demand
characteristics
?
yes
no
no
Three Types of Experiment
Lab experiment
Field Experiment
Natural Experiment (Quasi-experiment)
participant
variable?
no
high
low
more
people?
Easy ?
No
Yes
(require
more time
to
complete)
Yes
Yes
Yes
No,
because
require pair
first,
usually
don't know
what
variable to
pair
similarity
-all are ways to
allocate
participants
-all can be used in
lab/natural/field
-all have control
group and
experimental
group
-all have IV and
DV
Setting
can we infer
causation? (IV
causes DV) ,high
control and
internal
External
Validity
(Realistic)
Reliability
(Standardization)
Ethical?
Manipulated by the
researcher
lab
High
Low
High
Low (change
IV)
Field Experiment 田
野实验
Manipulated by the
researcher
real life
situation
Maybe (there
maybe
confounding
variables)
High
Medium
Medium (in
natural
setting)
Natural
Experiment 自然实
验
Manipulated by the
nature,naturally
developed or existed
real life
situation/ lab
low
Medium
(depend on
whether using
field or lab)
Medium
High (because
IV natually
exist,don't try
to change IV)
Types of experiment
Independent variable
(X)
Lab Experiment 实
验室实验
Dependent Variable: The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to
manipulations of the independent variable. (eg., height)
Independent Variable (Manipulation): The experimental factor that is manipulated; the
variable whose effect is being studied. (eg., milk )
Control group and experimental group: Experimental has the manipulation and control
group doesn't have the manipulation. the results of the experimental group and control are
later compared
- Confounds or extraneous variable (internal validity) : a third variable or a factor other than
the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment.
Participant-relevant Variables (individual difference)
Age, Gender, Abilities are different systematically between groups so that the results
can't be due to the IV
Procedure to solve participant-relevant variable
Random assignment/allocation :
Group Matching (matched pairs design)
Counterbalancing (order effects in repeated measure design)
Improve or decrease performance (fatigue effect and order effect)
Situation relevant confounding variables
experimenter bias:
Demand characteristics (participants do what the experimenter wants them to do)
Placebo effect: (participants know that they have the real medicine)
Hawthorne (being observed) Effect
Procedure to solve situational relevant confounding variables
double-blind procedure
deception and cover story
Consistent method
Placebo method
-Evaluation:
Advantages: high internal validity (can know cause and effect)
Disadvantages: low external validity: Extent to which we can generalize findings to realworld settings
自我报告
2. Self-reports
Questionnaire: 问卷调查
Use questionnaire to measure participants’ traits, attitudes, or behaviors
Types of Questions
Closed ended question (Quantitative Data)
Likert Scales (ex., 0 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree)
Rating scales (ex., how often you smoke? 1-10 smoke per day)
(discuss*) What's the advantage and disadvantages of using even and odd scale
Open ended question (Qualitative Data or Written Responses)
Example: “explain why and how do you smoke?”
______________________________
Evaluation of Closed Ended and Open Ended
Advantages
Closed Ended
Open Ended
Disadvantages
can produce quantitative data
which is comparable and more
reliable
limited to the number on the scale
restricted choices
subjective because people might
interpret the question and scale
differently
don't know the reason of
behaviours which reduce validity
can produce qualitative data
which is more detailed and indepth -> more valid
more subjective because
experimenter more interpret the
data differently
data is hard to be analyzed and
compared, less reliable
Evaluation of Questionnire in General
Advantages
cheap, easy, and fast
more truthful response than interview
Can know participants' internal attitude
and thought
can produce both quantitative
(reliability) and qualitative data (valid)
Disadvantages
Low control
Demanding characteristics
Social Desirability
usually require large sample size
privacy issues
(Discuss*) You are a psychology teacher, how can you assess your students' progress in the
course
Interview: 采访 : Like questionnaire but response in spoken form, maybe recorded
Structured interviews (have a set order of questions that are used for everyone)
Advantages
Disadvantages
interviewer bias is limited/so the
researchers would not have influenced
what the participants said
data can be comparable
more reliable and standardized
less flexible
can't assess individual differences
less in-depth data
Unstructured interviews (have a theme or topics to be discussed, questions are usually open
ended, and different for different people)
Advantages
Disadvantages
flexible / reasearcher can respond to
what the participant say
better chance of finding the information
you want (more detail information)
they could have asked specifically
about things to assess individual
difference
more valid
more subjective because experimenter
might interpret the data differently
data can't be easily analyzed and compared
less reliable and standardardized
Semi-structured (both structured and unstructured, some questions are the same and fix for
everyone, some questions are different)
Advantages
Disadvantages
can collect both qualitative and
quantitative data improving validity and
reliability;
qualitative give detail and quantitative
is more objective
more time-consuming
same as the disadvantages of structured and
unstructured interview
观察实验
3. Observation
https://www.bilibili.com/video/av3058291/?spm_id_from=trigger_reload
- Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to
manipulate and control the situation.
- How to sample behaviors?
Time sampling: organized around time (experience-sampling)
1. Instantaneous scan: at the start of every 10 seconds whatever behavior being shown by a
child in the playground is recorded (ex., whether the child hit someone or hug someone
at the start (first 1 mins) of each time interval (1 hour)
2. Predominant activity scan: more frequent behavior shown by the person being observed
in a set time period (ex., in a 10 second period, the frequency of hitting and hugging)
3. One-zero scan: frequency is not record, record whether each behavior happened (1) or
didn’t (0), (ex., every 10 second period whether the child hit or hug)
Event sampling: organized around themes (eye tracking technique , coding procedure,
rating). Everytime a behaviour is seen in the person being observed it is tailed
Behavioural checklist: 行为清单 -> quantitative data
Aggressive behaviors: hitting, pushing, swear
Help behaviors: hugging, helping someone getting the ball’
- Overt (participants know someone is observing) and Covert (participants doesn’t know
someone is observing)
Advantages
Overt
Covert
Disadvantages
can see the participants behaviours
clearly
more ethical (can have inform
consent)
increase demand characteristics
increase social desirability
less valid
reduce demand characteristics and
social desirability -> more valid
less ethical
Hard to observe, view might be
block
Hard to not being found out
- Structured (create behavioral checklist, and count the frequency) vs Unstructured (note down
all the behaviors that they can see over a period of time, no behavioral checklist)
Advantages
Structured
Unstructured
+ Reliable: Allow quantitative
data > statistical analysis
+ Valid: allow qualitative data
and rich and indepth data that
Disadvantages
- Valid: only look at restricted set
of behaviours, so don't know why
the behaviours occurs
- Reliability
can be used to explain why the
behaviours occur
+ experimenter bias (require
subjective coding of behaviours)
- Controlled (in a lab, using one way mirror or camera) vs naturalistic (in natural environment,
without interference)
Advantages
Naturalistic
Control
Disadvantages
+ Ecological Validity
- Mundane Realism
- Demanding Characteristics
- Social Desirability
- Internal Validity ( lower
control)
Difficult to replicate
Might not see any behaviours in
the naturalistic environment
+ Control (able to control more
confounding variable)
+ Standardisation
- Lower ecological Validity
+ Demanding Characteristics and
social desirability as the
participants might know that they
are under studied
-Participant (involved) vs non-participant (not involved)
Advantages
Participant
Nonparticipants
Disadvantages
+ Ecological Validity
+ Validity (rich data)
- Validity (+ experimenter bias)
Can’t explain causal effect (low
control)
Ethical Problem (no inform
consent)
+ Validity (experimenters are not
involved)
+ Objective (experimenter is less
detached from the participants
Loss of insight
can't produce lots of qualitative
data to know why something
occur
Evaluation of Observation In General
Advantages
External validity (participants are more
natural)
less demand characterisitic and social
desirability
More detailed, cover more scope of
behaviors
Less biases (when use multiple
observer)
can be used to examine behaviours of
children and animal (can't use selfreport)
Disadvantages
Can't determine cause and effect (low
internal validity)
reactivity of the participants: participants
change their behavior if they are being
watched
harder to replicate
个案实验
4. Case Studies
- An intensive description and analysis of a single individual: personal letter, interview,
observation, experiment, and longitudinal studies of a specific individuals
- ABA design (to test the effectiveness of interventions or drugs)
-Evaluation of Case Study
Advantages
Disadvantages
Good for special case
rich and in-depth data (both qualitative
and quantitative), increase validity)
High external validity (ecological
validity)
Could use a range of different methods
(interviews/observations)
Can be used to treat the participants
5.Correlation
- Scatter Plot
Low generalizability
experimenter bias (researchers is too
involved)
相关性实验
- Positive correlation and negative correlation
- Correlation coefficient
- Correlation doesn't mean causation
Mediator
Third Variable
Direction of Causation
http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations
-Evaluation of Correlation
Advantages
+ Ethics
Easy, fast, cheap
Can be used to see relationship between
variables
Can be used to check agreement
between observers (inter-rater
reliability)
Disadvantages
low Internal Validity (can’t know casual
Relationship, so can’t explain why)
Can’t control extraneous variables
Can be used to check the reliability of
measurements
Module 7. How to Evalute a Study?
Reliability (The extent to which a procedure, task or measure is consistent, it would produce the
same results with the same people on each occasion)
-Reliability of Observational Techniques
inter-observer reliability: the extent to which there is agreement between two or more
observers involved in observations of a behaviours
Assessing inter-observer reliability
How to increase reliability ?
behavioural categories clearly operationalised
observers need more practices
-Reliability of self-report techniques
Test-retest reliability: the same test or interview is given to the same participants on two
occasions to see if the same results are obtained
Improving reliability: reduce ambiguity
using quantitative data by giving choice
ask more specific and detailed question
(* Discuss ) would "what are your thoughts about dieting" produce reliable results?
-Reliability of Experiment
- Bandura (1963) experiment using Bobo Doll (DV: agression)
Improve the reliability
Standardisation
(*Discuss) Apply Your Knowledge
Internal Validity: To what extent is the change in DV caused by IV? whether there is high
control
Selection (individual difference): participants are different on some important variables
between groups
Order effect
Fatigue effects
natural growth (maturation)
practice effects
Testing effect
Experimenter Bias
Participants Bias
Demand characteristics
Social desirability bias:
Response bias
Instrumentation: when the instrument measuring the DV changes slightly between
measurements
ex., observer bias
Standardization: whether participants are treated consistently
Uncontrollable variables: outside events (noise) that happen to participants in the course of
experiment
ex., memory experiment where participants are required to memorize long lists of words
with two groups
(Discuss) how can we improve internal validity
External Validity: (Whether the experiment is realistic? Whether the results can be generalized
to other situations or wider population)
Ecological validity (to what extent can the finding be generalized to real life settings) >
generalizability (to other situations)
Mundane realism
Popluation validity (cultural bias) > generalizability (to other people)
(Discuss) how can we improve external validity
(Discuss) do you think people from all culture can see this illusion?
Construct Validity (to what extent do the operationalizations reflect the construct? or the
measurement measure what it suppose to measure) > Generalizability (to theory)
Face Validity: looks like it measures what it suppose to measure
(Discuss) How to increase face validity ?
Concurrent Validity: comparing the current method of measuring stress with similar
questionnaire
(Discuss) How to increase face validity ?
(Discuss) Apply your Knowledge
Evaluation Table: When the yes' checks > no's checks, we can say that the experiment is a good
experiment.
Point > Define > Example > General Conclusion > Specific Conclusion
人群应用性：实验结果
能不能应用到别的人群？
Yes
Generalizability
so the results can/can't be generalized
to a wider population
可靠性：能不能重复实验(可
重复性）？是不是客观？
Reliability
So the study is relible,and can/can't
easily replicated,and tests for reliability
(standardization)
so the study is reliable because results
is objective/subjective and can/can't be
analyzed and compared (quantitative
data)
both female and male
different background
Random sampling
large sample size
Standardization 标准
化
No
only female/male
From same background:
only right handed/left handed
only young/old, only student,
volunteer/opportunity
small sample size
Lack of standardization
(ex., field
experiment(weather,temperat
stooge, follow up(ex., 3 week
different number of trials for
participants (more familiar))
consistent
procedure, the study
is described in
detailed) (ex.,
Script, Duration,
Qualitative data
Equipment/Tools,
low inter-rater/observer reliabil
Example of
unstructured observation (no
questionnire,
behavoral
checklist)
Settings,Behavioural
No test-retest reliability (hasn't
Checklist)
been repeated, no follow-up study
Quantitative Data/Use
of objective equipment
like EEG（可量化数
据）
inter-rater/observer
reliability
behavioural checklist
(structured observation)
Test-retest reliability
(ex., follow-up study in
button phobia)
School (students) ->
study
Health Care (patients)
-> diagnose, understand
causes, treatment
Application
Business (worker,
boss,consumer) ->
so the experiment is useful/useless and increase productivity,
can/can't be applied to benefit someone profit, management
Society and daily
life(people) -> increase
helping, saving energy
and electricity,
parenting, dating girls
值？
实用性？实验有没有实用价
真实性: 实验假设是不是成立
-Internal Validity (High
Control)
lab control situational
(Internal Validity) so the experimenter variables
can/can't be sure that IV causes DV
Deception control
(External Validity) so the results
demand characteristics
can/can't be generalized to real world
Independent Measure
settings
(Random
(Construct Validity) so the
Allocation) /Pair Match,
questionnire/equipment measures/might repeated
not measure what it suppose to
measure control
measure
participants variable
(individual difference)
Counterbalance
control order effect
Different types of
controls control
extraneous variables
Control group control
for situation variables
(make everything
consistent except of the
IV)
Standardization
control for situational
variable
Validity
的？
-External Validity
(usually field)
Uneasy: hard to implement or
apply
Expensive: very costly
Unrealistic or can't be applied t
anything
-Lack of Internal validity
Field/Natural experiment
(situational variable)
Self-Report (social desirability,
response bias)
No random allocation/pair
match/repeated measure
Observation (Observer Bias)
Case Study (experimenter Bias)
No Deception (demand
characteristics)
Random allocation ( participant
variables), Repeated Measure
(Demand Characteristics)
No Counterbalance (order effe
Some extraneous variable is no
controlled
No Control group
No standarization
- Lack of external validity (usua
lab)
no ecological validity
no mundane realism
-Construct Validity
Quantitative Data (limited optio
Ecological validity (环
境）
Mundane realism (平
时会做的事情）
-Construct Validity
Qualitative Data
Concurrent Validity
(two similar
questionnire correlated)
Human Ethics
Inform Consent
Debrief
Right to withdrawal
Privacy
Confidentiality
No Deception
No Harm
Protection
伦理: 这个实验道德？有没有伤
害到谁？
Ethics
so the ethical principle of _______
is/isn't violated
Total Checks
Animal Ethics
Replacement 替换:
Species and strain 物
种
Reduction/Number 数
量
Procedure (pain and
distress) 减少痛苦:
housing of the
animal 生活环境:
reward, deprivation
and aversive stimuli 尽
量用奖励而不是惩罚
Anaesthesia,
Analgesia and
Euthanasia (麻醉药，安
乐死):
Total # of Checks:
Human Ethics
No Inform Consent
No Debrief
No Right to withdrawal
No Privacy
No Confidentiality
Deception
Harm
No Protection
Animal Ethics
No Replacement 替换:
No Species and strain 物种
No Reduction/Number 数量
No Procedure (pain and distress
少痛苦:
No housing of the animal 生活环
境:
No reward, deprivation and
aversive stimuli 尽量用奖励而不
惩罚
No Anaesthesia, Analgesia and
Euthanasia (麻醉药，安乐死):
Total # of Checks:
Sample Evaluation:
Strength (SIM)
Standardised procedure (Reliability, Valid)
标准化: 客观的数据、可重复性（描
述地很细）、每个实验参与者被同样的方式对待
Define: Standardization means that the procedure is consistenet among participants,
and are decribed in detail
ex., standardised procedure including
________________________________________________________
conclusion: the experiment can be easily replicated and test for reliability, can also
control situational extraneous variables. Therefore, standardisation can increase
both internal validity and reliability.
控制
控制额外变量
Internal validity (High) (Valid)
(high control) :
Define: High internal validity means that extraeous variables are controlled
ex., ______________ can control for the _________________ .
conclusion: the experimenter can be sure that IV causes DV
Measurement: Quantitative data (Reliability) 可量化数据 / Qualitative Data (Valid) /
Inter-observer Reliability (Reliability) / Test-Retest Reliability (Reliability)
ex., Quantitative data includes______________, and qualitative data
includes ______________
Conclusion: quantitative data can be compared, analyzed, graphed,and are more
objective (doesn't require interpretation) which increase reliability / qualitative data
is more detailed and not restricted by limited options which increase the validity
Weakness (GEE)
Generalisability (Low) (Valid)
(
)
Lack of generalisability means that the sample is biased and non-representitive
ex., The sample features include (x) which ignore the (y) sample
Difference: The population of the experiment might be different from other
population (ex., x and y might be different in turns of the DV)
conclusion: Therefore, sample feature is biased, and the results can't be generalized
to the y population which lead to low population validity.
External validity (Low) (Valid)
(ecological validity)
Define: External validity means that the study is realistic
The study lack ecological validity because (decribe location,setting) is not an
everyday setting that people find themselves in
The study lack mundane realism because (decribe activity or the tasks of the
experiment) is not a task that people come across in everyday life
conclusion: the experiment has low ecological validity and mundane realism, and
results can't be generalized to the real setting.
Ethical issues
Define: the ethical principle of __________ means that __________
For example., (explain how the study violates the ethical principle?)
so _________________________ is violated / (Why the ethical principle is
important?)
应用性 人群
真实性
Module 8. Analyzing Data
Quantitative vs Qualitative Data
Graph the data
Histograms (usually only one variable, observation, self report)
Functions: describe the distribution
X-axis is the continuous data (ex., IQ, height)
Y-axis is the frequency (ex., number of people)
Bar Chart (IV and DV, experiment)
Function: compare mean
X-axis is the category (independent variable)
Y-axis is usually the dependent variable
Scatter Plot (No IV or DV, two variables)
Function: usually for correlation
X is one variable, while Y is another variable
Central tendency
Mean: 3,4,5,5,6,7 (what’s the mean? )____________
used for interval and ratio
Advantage: representative
Disadvantage: influenced by outlier
Median:3,4,5,5,6,7 (what’s the Median? )____________
used for ordinal data
Advantage: not influenced by outlier
Disadvantage: less representative
Mode:3,4,5,5,6,7 (what’s the Mode? )____________
used for nominal data
Advantage: not influenced by outlier, can know which categories has most people
Disadvantage: less representative
ex., Which face is the happiest
The favourite subject
Variability (Measurement of spread) : how far apart is each individual score is
Range: for example: 1,2,3,4,5,6 (what is the range? ) _______________
The higest score minus the lowest score
Advantages: can know the overall range of score, easy to compute
Disadvantages: doesn't accurately reflect the outlier, can be distorted by outliers a lot,
unreliable
Variance (Standard Deviation): for example: 1,2,3,4,5,6 (what is the standard
deviation?) ____________________
The average difference between each individual score and the mean.
Advantages: take all the score into account and can reflect outlier, won't be distorted by
outlier that much
Disadvantage: hard to compute
Normal Distribution:
Z-score
percentile
Negatively skewed and positively skewed and normal curve
Example:
Inferential Statistics
- Can be influenced by sample size, variability between each group, Variability within group
- Used to test hypothesis (compare between groups)
- T-test: statistical significance indicates whether or not the difference between two groups’
averages most likely reflects a “real” difference in the population from which the groups
were sampled.
Making a statistical inference P value of 0.05 (P-value < 0.05)
The results is statistically significant, there is less than 5 percent chance that the
difference between the groups is due to randomness.
ex., coin flipping
Module 9. Ethics
(Discuss*) should we take care of animal? should we eat animal?
Animal Research (3R):
替换
Replacement
: Replacement of animals use in research by using alternatives
(computer simulation or use videos)
Reduction/Number
: Only the minimum number of animals needed to produce valid
and reliable results should be used.
Refinement: reduction of any pain, stress or distress that animals may experience
Species and strain
: Use the animal that would least likely to feel pain and distress
(consider species, previous experience experiment, whether would get pregnant)
Procedure (pain and distress)
:
Research that causes death and pain should be avoid
hypothesis that might cause pain should not be tested
research that cause pain can only be justified if there is a huge scientific benefit
housing of the animal
: house should be approprite for the animals (social
animal? age and gender? overcrowding?, enough food? , enough space? welface and
survival (warmth, clean)? entertainment (toys)? )
reward, deprivation and aversive stimuli
: use reward
(Approprite for the species and age) (ex., foods, toys, sex) instead of aversive stimulus
(ex., electrical shock, psychology harm, crticize)
Anaesthesia, Analgesia and Euthanasia (
): If pain is inevitable,
animal should be protected from pain: give anaesthesia for surgery, euthanasia if
suffering last
数量
物种
减少痛苦
生活环境
尽量用奖励而不是惩罚
麻醉药，安乐死
Human Research
同意书
Informed consent
: (should include information such as the aim, the types of data,
the method , confidentiality and anonymity condition, right to decline, the opportunity to
withdraw, potential risks, contacts, insurance, debriefing, how data are used, potential
benefits, how results will be made available to participants)
Participants should be provided with enough detail so that they can decide whether to
participate in the study or not
Presumptive Consent: If inform consent is not possible (naturalistic Observations and
field experiment), then experimenters should ask potential participants before the
experiment to see if they would agree to participate
Why it's important? The participants can know the potential harm of the experiment, for
example if the participants' memory were horrible, they could choose not to participate;
Right to withdraw
Participants can leave anytime they want, even after they sign the inform inform consent
Participants should not be forced by the experimenter or feel pressure to stay.
Partcipants should be rewarded even if they leave.
Why it's important: so that the participants would not be forced to stay in the
experiment if the procedure is intolerable.
Harm / Protection :
可以随时退出
减少心理和生理上伤害
Harm: experimenter should minimize the psychological (stress) and physiological harm
(pain) in the study
Protection
:
if participants are harmed, they should be protected and experimenter should try to
reduce the harm.
Experienced researchers (experienced nurse) should be used
participants should not be exposed to any greater risk than they would be in their
normal life
Why it's important: So the participants did not leave with either long-term physical of
psychological harm
Deception and Debriefing
Deception 欺骗:
Participants should not be deliberately misinformed about the aims or procedure.
Deception might be ok to avoid demand characteristics.
Should not hide the information that is critical for the participants to decide whether
to participate the study or not
Debriefing 告知实情：
Thanked and ask questions
Tell them the real aim
Protection: if the participants is harmed, then the experimenter should provide
protection
Why is it important?
Deception: so demand characteristics will be reduced
Debriefing: So the participants did not leave without knowing the real hypothesis
which could have been distressing to the participants;
Privacy
Participants are allowed not to answer the sensitive question (ex., do you have AIDs)
they don't want
Lab experiment: fill the questionnire alone
Observation: people should only be watched in situations where they would expect to be
on public display.
Why it's important? participants would not be embarrassed
Confidentiality
Participants can't be identified , they usually are given coded name
Name and personal information should be held in secure place
Personal information and name should not be published except when the participants
explicitly agree
Why it's important? So that if they report private information this would not be
public/would not embarrass them/would not cause harm;
治疗、减轻痛苦
隐私
保密
(Discuss) Consider the following cases and determine whether they are ethical?
Lobotomy
Money (1974)
Children were born gender neutral. biological sex did not have to correspond to
psychological sex (gender)
Reimer family in canada had identical twin boys, due to an accident, one of the boys
lost his penis
Money suggest the family to raise the boy as a girl , but the boy has many problems
(self-identity)
Milton Diamond disagree with money (ex., pregnant females were treated with
testosterone, their female offspring would exhibit masculine behaviours)
sadly both boys commited suicide
Milgram Shock Experiment
Prisoner Experiment