Module 2: Psychology & Science Research Methods Each provides

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Module 2: Psychology & Science

Each provides a different kind of information

Research Methods

_______________

 way to obtain information by asking many individuals

 answer a fixed set of questions about particular subjects

Disadvantages

 information can contain errors

 results can be biased

Advantage

 efficient way to obtain much information from a large number of people

Case study

– an in-depth analysis of the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, experiences, behaviors, or problems of a

_______________ individual

– Disadvantage

– detailed information about a particular person may not apply to others

• Advantage

– detailed information allows greater understanding of a _______________ person’s life

• Example:

_______________: statement in support of a particular viewpoint based on detailed observations of a person’s own experience.

• Problems that make testimonials susceptible to error:

– personal beliefs

– self-_______________ prophecy.

Experiment

– a method for identifying cause-and-effect relationships by following a set of rules and guidelines that

_______________ the possibility of error, bias, and _______________ occurrences.

• Disadvantage

– information obtained in one experimental situation or laboratory setting may not apply to other situations

• Advantage

– has the greatest potential for identifying cause-and-effect relationships with less error and bias than either

_______________ or case studies

_______________

– intervention, such as taking a pill, that resembles medical therapy but which in fact, has no _______________ effects

• Placebo effect

– change in the patient’s illness that is attributable to an _______________ treatment rather than to a medical treatment

– researchers believe that placebos work by reducing tension and distress and by creating powerful selffulfilling prophecies

– individuals think and behave as if the drug, actually a placebo, is effective

Correlation

– an association or _______________ between the occurrence of two or more events

• Correlation _______________

– a number that indicates the strength of a relationship between two or more events: the closer the number is to –1.00 or +1.00, the _______________ is the strength of the relationship

• Perfect positive correlation coefficient

– +1.00 means that an increase in one event is always matched by an equal increase in a second event

• Positive correlation coefficient

– indicates that as one event tends to increase, the second event tends to, but does not always,

_______________

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– increases from +0.01 to +0.99 indicate a strengthening of the relationship between the occurrence of two events

• _______________ correlation

– indicates that there is no relationship between the occurrence of one _______________ and the occurrence of a second event

• _______________ correlation coefficient

– indicates that as one event tends to increase, the second event tends to, but does not always, decrease

– -0.01 to -0.99 indicates a strengthening in the relationship of one event increasing and the other decreasing

• Perfect negative correlation coefficient

– -1.00 means that an increase in one event is always matched by an equal decrease in a second event

– correlations such as –1.00 are virtually never found in applied psychological research

– r= +0.37

_____=correlation coefficient, + indicates the direction of relationship & number indicates the strength (0.00 to 1.00)

Correlation vs. Causation

Correlations cannot indicate cause-and –effect relationships; however, correlations:

 help ______________ behavior

 point where to look for possible causes

Decisions About Doing Research

_______________: technique for obtaining information by asking questions, ranging from _______________-ended to highly structured, about a subject’s behaviors and attitudes, usually in a one-on-one situation

Questionnaire: technique for obtaining information by asking subjects to read a _______________ of written questions and check off specific answers

Laboratory experiments: techniques to gather information about the brain, genes, or behavior with the least error and bias by using a_______________environment that allows careful observation and measurement

_______________ tests: technique to obtain information by administering a psychological test that has been given to

_____________ of people and shown to reliably measure thought patterns, personality traits, emotions, or behaviors

_______________ Models: involves examining or manipulating some behavioral, genetic, or physiological factor that closely approximates some human problem, disease, or condition

Choosing research settings

_______________ setting: relatively normal environment in which researchers gather information by observing individuals’ behaviors without attempting to change or control the situation

Laboratory setting: involves studying individuals under systematic and controlled conditions, with many of the realworld influences eliminated

Scientific Method: Experiment

– approach of gathering information and answering questions so that errors and biases are minimized

• Rule 1: Ask

______________: educated guess about some phenomenon stated in precise, _______________ language to rule out any confusion or error in the meaning of its terms

• Rule 2: Identify

– _______________ variable

• a treatment or something that the researcher controls or manipulates

– _______________ variable

• one or more of the subjects’ behaviors that are used to measure the potential effects of the treatment or independent variable

• Rule 3: Choose

– _______________ selection

• each participant in a sample population has an _______________ chance of being selected for the experiment

• Rule 4: _______________

– experimental group

• those who receive the treatment

_______________ group-participants who undergo all the same procedures as the experimental participants except that the control participants do not receive the treatment

• Rule 5: Manipulate

– double _______________ procedure

• neither participants nor researchers know which group is receiving which treatment

• Rule 6: Measure

– by manipulating the treatment so that the experimental group receives a different treatment than the control group, researchers are able to measure how the independent variable (treatment) affects those behaviors that have been selected as the dependent variables

• Rule 7: _______________

– statistical procedures

• used to determine whether differences observed in dependent variables (behaviors) are due to independent variables (treatment) or to error or chance occurrence

Application: Research Concerns

• Concerns about being a subject

– human and animal

• Code of _______________

– the American Psychological Association publishes a code of ethics and conduct for psychologists to follow when doing research, counseling, teaching, and related activities

• Role of _______________

– one way that researchers control for participants’ expectations is to use bogus procedures or instructions that _______________ participants from learning the experiment’s true purpose

– Researchers must debrief study subjects-explain the purpose & method

• Ethics of animal research

– How many animals are used in research?

• _______________ to 22 million animals are used each year in biomedical research

– Are research animals mistreated?

• Of the millions of animals used in research, only a_______________ cases of animal mistreatment have been confirmed.

• Ethics of animal research

– Is the use of animals justified?

• researchers are currently using animals to study epilepsy, _______________ disease, fetal alcohol syndrome, schizophrenia, AIDS, and transplantation of brain tissue, none of which is possible with human subjects

– Who checks on the use of animals in research?

• U. S. Department of _______________

• universities hire veterinarians

• universities have animal subject committees

• Ethics of animal research

– How do we strike a balance?

• many experts in the scientific, medical, and mental health communities believe that the conscientious and responsible use of animals in research is justified and should continue

Research Focus: ADHD

• Attention-deficit/_______________ disorder

• Diagnosed by occurrence of behavioral problems

• Must have six or more symptoms of _______________, such as careless mistakes on schoolwork

&

• _______________ or more symptoms of hyperactivity, talking excessively

• Controversial because

accuracy & reliability diagnosis, based on reported behavioral symptoms, not medical tests

– treatment for: nondrug, behavioral or drug & behavioral treatment

– Long-term effects

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