PSY 285
Research Methods
* Welcome *
Welcome to PSY 285
Research Methods
w/ Mike Hoerger
1. Grab a syllabus
2. Skim it over so you can ask questions
3. Sign and complete the final page to be
returned to me at the end of class
Overview
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Syllabus - Last Page
My Background Information
Detailed Review of the Syllabus
Research Methods Trivia
Homework #1
– Due Wednesday, 9/3
Syllabus - Last Page
• My Information…
– Hoerger rhymes with burger,
but call me Mike
– Midland, and MSU
– Clinical Work: Psych evals,
prison substance abuse group
therapy, individual and couple’s
therapy - mainly in Saginaw
– Research Areas: Emotion, personality,
assessment, depression, schizotypy
– Other Applied Activities: GSU, web design
– Interests: Sports, politics, comedy
– Concerns: Exam #1 apathy, avoiding reading
the book, lack of accountability
– Questions?
Why do I have to take this?
• Research and statistics provide the basis
for drawing conclusions about human
behavior
• You may be interested in…
– Conducting research
– Consuming research
– Applying research to daily life
Conduct Research
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Curiosity
Add to knowledge base
“I want to help people”
Instrumental goals, like getting
a job or going to grad school
• Fame and money
What if conducting research
sounds boring or unfulfilling?
Consume Research
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Valuable to society
Needed for most jobs
Help friends, family, and co-workers
Curious
What if I’m the hedonistic,
narcissistic, individualistic type?
Daily Life
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Sports
Persuasion
Personality assessment
Improved interpersonal functioning
It’s fun to be the only person in the world
to know something
Syllabus
• Order the book
online
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• Course details
• Questions?
1 of 15: Prison
Which of the following
groups is least likely to
reoffend?
Sex
Offenders
Drug
Offenders
Violent
Offenders
2 of 15: Ethics
Which of the following
professional fields has not
banned its members from
facilitating torture?
Music
Psych
Medicine
3 of 15: Business
Which of the following is
related to negative
outcomes after a
traumatic event?
Crisis
Hotlines
Lack of
Treatment
Critical
Incident
Stress
Debriefing
4 of 15: Emotion
Which of the following
has been shown, on
average, to have a
negative long-term
emotional impact?
Death in
the family
Abortion
Childhood
sexual
abuse
5 of 15: Diagnosis
Which of the following
methods is most accurate
in detecting dementia?
MRI scan
Neuropsych
testing
Rorschach
inkblots
6 of 15: Personality Assessment
Someone who is prone to
experiencing a high
degree of “somatic
complaints” is unlikely to
be…
Antisocial
Selfish
Critical
7 of 15: Children
SSRIs are often
prescribed to children to
treat depression. What
percentage of the
improvement in
symptoms can be
attributed to inert
placebo?
27%
57%
87%
8 of 15: I/O Psychology
How well can psych evals
predict later job success?
r = .13
Small
r = .37
Modest
r = .59
Large
9 of 15: Health Psychology
What is the correlation
between denial/
repression and
development of breast
cancer in women?
r = .03
weak
r = .16
small
r = .31
modest
10 of 15: Intelligence
What is the approximate
correlation between
intelligence test scores
(IQ) and job success?
r = .10
small
r = .30
modest
r = .50
large
11 of 15: Cross-Cultural
Compared to developed
countries, people with
schizophrenia in
developing nations are
________ likely to have a
complete recovery.
25% more
equally
25% less
12 of 15: Happiness
Which country is the
happiest?
USA
Denmark
Mexico
13 of 15: Developmental
How many times per year
does the average 18-29
year old have sex?
46
84
137
14 of 15: Statistics
To whom do we attribute
the exciting statistical
discovery of the t-test?
15 of 15: Symptoms
Which of the following
symptoms are people
able to accurately report?
Bipolar
Disorder
Inattention
Insomnia
Homework #1
• Go to course web site and click on the
Course Calendar link
• In the right column, click on the HW1 link
• Due Wednesday 9/3
• More details in class next time, so skim
the assignment and come with questions