PSYCHOLOGY (Psy 101) COMPLETE
NOTES I STUDIED FOR MY TEST 1 &
2 EXAM BY JONES SHAWN VIRGINIA
COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
, 1
Week 2
- Modern Definition of Psych: science of behavior and mental processes
- “A scientific attitude”-critical thinking* (curiosity, skepticism, humility)
- *analyzing and interpreting rather than just blindly accepting
- Consider the info source
- Consider alternative explanations
- Consider hidden assumptions you may have
- Intuition & Common Sense
- Humans cannot rely solely on intuition and common sense
- Sources of intuition overestimation
- Hindsight bias: after we learn an outcome we think we could have
prevented it
- Overconfidence: people thinking they know more than they do/are
better/etc. ex) most people think they are above average
- Tendency to perceive patterns in random events
- Beyond Intuition: The Scientific Method
- Make observations> think of interesting questions> formulate hypotheses>
(develop testable predictions> gather data to test predictions> refine, alter,
expand or reject hypotheses)> develop theory
- Theory*: a set of principles that helps us organize observations and predict
behavior/events
- Hypothesis: testable prediction, often implied by a theory
- Operational definition: carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used
in a research study
- Replication: repeating the essence of a research study, usually changing the
participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to
other circumstances and participants
- *Qualities of a good theory: effectively organizes, leads to clear predictions, often
stimulates research, may be replicated
- Research Designs vs. Research Methods
- Research Designs: ways we think of how to organize our research
- Leads us to think about the type of study we are going to be involved in
- The nature of the results we expect to collect from such study
- Driven by our research questions
- Depend on question or problem statement
- 3 primary research designs: Descriptive, correlational,
experimental(causation)
1
, 2
- Descriptive research design is a *systematic, objective
observation of behavior. Goal: to provide a clear, accurate picture
of people’s(or animal) behaviors, thoughts, and attributes.
*Thorough and not influenced by human thought or feelings
- Naturalistic observation records behavior in natural
environment. Describes but does not explain behavior. Can
be revealing.
- Case study examines one or few individuals in depth.
Provides fruitful ideas and potential challenges.
- Surveys and interviews examine many cases in less depth.
Wording effect
- Random sampling of the population for the best results
- Correlational research design: an observation that two traits or
attributes are related to each other. (scientific def: a measure of
how closely two factors vary together, or how well you can predict
change in one from observing a change in the other
- Both survey and observational methods can reveal
correlations
- Positive correlation indicates a direct relationship. Two
things increase together or decrease together
- Negative correlation indicates an inverse relationship. As
one thing increases, the other decreases
- *Correlation coefficient provides a statistical measure of
how closely two things vary from each other
* the closer to 0 (btwn -.3 and .3), the weaker the correlation
*scatterplots show patterns of correlation
- Problems with correlations
- Illusory correlation:
- the perception of a relationship between two
variables when only a minor or no relationship
actually exists
- may be fed by the regression toward the mean
- ex) one taxi driver was mean so now you think all
taxi drivers are rude
- Regression toward the mean:
- the tendency for extreme or unusual scores or
events to fall back (regress) toward the average
- Correlation and causation
- No matter how strong the relationship is, correlation does
not cause causation
- A correlation coefficient helps to provide a clearer view of
the world by revealing the extent to which two things relate
, 3
- Research methods: the specific procedures and tools used to collect data
- Depends on research design
- Experimentation
- With experiments, researchers can focus on the possible
effects of one or more factors in several ways
- They can manipulate the factors of interest to determine
their effects
- They can hold constant (“controlling”) other factors
- Experimental group and control group
- Key variables in an experiment
- Independent variable: factor that is intentionally
manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied
- Dependent variable: factor that is measured; the variable
that may change when the IV is manipulated
- Confounding variable: a factor other than the IV that might
produce an effect
- Elements of the Experiment
- “blind” procedures to eliminate bias
- Single-blind: the participants don’t know which group they
are in (control or treated), but the researcher does know
- Double-blind: neither the participants nor the experimenter
know which group is control and which is receiving the
treatment
- Placebo effect: results are caused solely by expectations,
not actual change. Participant can believe something so
strongly that it actually results in the effect they expect
- Random Assignment: to discern causation, psychologists
control for confounding variables by random assignment
- randomly assign some participants to an
experimental group(s), others to a control group
NOTES I STUDIED FOR MY TEST 1 &
2 EXAM BY JONES SHAWN VIRGINIA
COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY
, 1
Week 2
- Modern Definition of Psych: science of behavior and mental processes
- “A scientific attitude”-critical thinking* (curiosity, skepticism, humility)
- *analyzing and interpreting rather than just blindly accepting
- Consider the info source
- Consider alternative explanations
- Consider hidden assumptions you may have
- Intuition & Common Sense
- Humans cannot rely solely on intuition and common sense
- Sources of intuition overestimation
- Hindsight bias: after we learn an outcome we think we could have
prevented it
- Overconfidence: people thinking they know more than they do/are
better/etc. ex) most people think they are above average
- Tendency to perceive patterns in random events
- Beyond Intuition: The Scientific Method
- Make observations> think of interesting questions> formulate hypotheses>
(develop testable predictions> gather data to test predictions> refine, alter,
expand or reject hypotheses)> develop theory
- Theory*: a set of principles that helps us organize observations and predict
behavior/events
- Hypothesis: testable prediction, often implied by a theory
- Operational definition: carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used
in a research study
- Replication: repeating the essence of a research study, usually changing the
participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to
other circumstances and participants
- *Qualities of a good theory: effectively organizes, leads to clear predictions, often
stimulates research, may be replicated
- Research Designs vs. Research Methods
- Research Designs: ways we think of how to organize our research
- Leads us to think about the type of study we are going to be involved in
- The nature of the results we expect to collect from such study
- Driven by our research questions
- Depend on question or problem statement
- 3 primary research designs: Descriptive, correlational,
experimental(causation)
1
, 2
- Descriptive research design is a *systematic, objective
observation of behavior. Goal: to provide a clear, accurate picture
of people’s(or animal) behaviors, thoughts, and attributes.
*Thorough and not influenced by human thought or feelings
- Naturalistic observation records behavior in natural
environment. Describes but does not explain behavior. Can
be revealing.
- Case study examines one or few individuals in depth.
Provides fruitful ideas and potential challenges.
- Surveys and interviews examine many cases in less depth.
Wording effect
- Random sampling of the population for the best results
- Correlational research design: an observation that two traits or
attributes are related to each other. (scientific def: a measure of
how closely two factors vary together, or how well you can predict
change in one from observing a change in the other
- Both survey and observational methods can reveal
correlations
- Positive correlation indicates a direct relationship. Two
things increase together or decrease together
- Negative correlation indicates an inverse relationship. As
one thing increases, the other decreases
- *Correlation coefficient provides a statistical measure of
how closely two things vary from each other
* the closer to 0 (btwn -.3 and .3), the weaker the correlation
*scatterplots show patterns of correlation
- Problems with correlations
- Illusory correlation:
- the perception of a relationship between two
variables when only a minor or no relationship
actually exists
- may be fed by the regression toward the mean
- ex) one taxi driver was mean so now you think all
taxi drivers are rude
- Regression toward the mean:
- the tendency for extreme or unusual scores or
events to fall back (regress) toward the average
- Correlation and causation
- No matter how strong the relationship is, correlation does
not cause causation
- A correlation coefficient helps to provide a clearer view of
the world by revealing the extent to which two things relate
, 3
- Research methods: the specific procedures and tools used to collect data
- Depends on research design
- Experimentation
- With experiments, researchers can focus on the possible
effects of one or more factors in several ways
- They can manipulate the factors of interest to determine
their effects
- They can hold constant (“controlling”) other factors
- Experimental group and control group
- Key variables in an experiment
- Independent variable: factor that is intentionally
manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied
- Dependent variable: factor that is measured; the variable
that may change when the IV is manipulated
- Confounding variable: a factor other than the IV that might
produce an effect
- Elements of the Experiment
- “blind” procedures to eliminate bias
- Single-blind: the participants don’t know which group they
are in (control or treated), but the researcher does know
- Double-blind: neither the participants nor the experimenter
know which group is control and which is receiving the
treatment
- Placebo effect: results are caused solely by expectations,
not actual change. Participant can believe something so
strongly that it actually results in the effect they expect
- Random Assignment: to discern causation, psychologists
control for confounding variables by random assignment
- randomly assign some participants to an
experimental group(s), others to a control group
