Studying Behaviour Scientifically – Chapter 2
a. Both were skeptical of the explanation of “moral decay” and “dehumanization of the environment” given by some social commentators. b. Both observed what had happened, and asked WHY? c. Both remained open minded. 2. How does Darley and Latane’s research illustrate the basic steps of the scientific process? a. Although the main ‘blame’ was placed on “moral decay” and the “dehumanization of the environment” both asked the question, “Is there a better answer”? b. They did not buy into the notion that ALL bystanders were apathetic toward the criminal act. c. Both theorized that it may have been a case of diffusion of responsibility and followed up by stating their hypothesis which then was translated into a specific prediction. (IF statement) 3. What is a hypothesis? a. A tentative explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further investigation. b. Something taken to be true for the purpose of argument or investigation; an assumption. 4. What is a theory? How does it differ from a hypothesis? a. A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena. b. A set of formal statements that explains how and why certain events are related to one another. c. Theories are broader than hypotheses, and in psychology theories typically specify lawful relation between certain behaviours and their causes. 5. Explain the major drawback of hindsight understanding. a. The past can usually be explained in many ways, and there is no sure way to determine which – if any – of the alternatives is correct. 6. What approach to understanding do scientists prefer? Why? a. Theory development is the strongest test of scientific understanding because good theories generate an integrated network of prediction. 7. Describe the characteristics of a good theory a. Organize information in a meaningful way a. They translate an abstract term into something observable and measurable. b. Creates a common and acceptable point of reference so that all parties involved have the same understanding about terms, results, information. c. Prevents individual interpretation of a finding or event. 9. Describe the major ways psychologist’s measure behaviour, and a limitation of each. a. Self-Report Measures asks people to report on their own knowledge, beliefs, feelings, experiences, or behaviour. Value of such a report depends heavily on the willingness of the ‘self-reporting’ person to provide the absolute truth. b. Report by Others is an information gathering tool where reports made by others are obtained and analyzed. Honesty is the weak link here. c. Physiological Measures e.g. heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate. The downside is that the results are not always fully understood and definitive link can not always be made i.e. is higher blood pressure caused by consumption of coffee or due to stress invoked by a certain question asked?
a. Participants are being monitored without them being aware of it. This approach is used as the act of being ‘observed’ may influence the behaviour of the person being observed. 11. What is a case study? Identify its advantages. a. A case study is an in-depth analysis of an individual, group, or event. b. It employs observation, interviews, psychological tests, psychological recordings, and task performance. c. A case study allows studying e.g. phenomena intensively and collecting a large amount of data. d. A case study may challenge the validity of a theory or widely held scientific belief. e. It can illustrate how intervention programs by clinical psychologist applied to special population changes behaviour or create other results. 12. What are the major limitations of case studies? a. Not a good method to determine cause-effect relations b. Concerns over findings being generalized. 13. What is naturalistic observation, and what is its major advantage? a. Researchers observe behaviour in a natural setting e.g. animal behaviour. b. A method of observation, commonly used by psychologists and behavioral
scientists, that involves observing subjects in their natural habitats.
Researchers take great care in avoiding interfering with the behaviour
they are observing, by using unobtrusive methods. a. A disadvantage is that it can take a long time before ‘true’ results can be obtained as the natural setting may be interfered with by the observer. b. The presence of an observer may alter the behaviour of the observed. 15. Explain what random sampling is, and why survey researchers use it. a. In random sampling, every member of the population has an equal probability of being chosen to participate in the survey. b. Surveys are an efficient method for collecting a large amount of information about people’s opinions and lifestyles. 16. What are some advantages and disadvantages of survey research? a. When a representative sample is surveyed, the likelihood of a solid result about the population is created. b. When an unrepresentative sample is survey, distorted results may be produced e.g. faulty generalizations. c. It is better to have a small representative sample than a large unrepresentative sample d. Survey data cannot be used to draw conclusions about cause and effect. 17. Explain the main goal of correlational research and how it is achieved. a. The researcher measures one variable (X) (Money) 18. Why are we unable to draw causal conclusions from correlational findings? a. Depending on the type of correlation the outcome will differ. The situation needs to be probed for straight or simple correlation: Parent loves child – child is well adjusted; or bidirectional correlation: child is well adjusted – parent loves child; or Third-Variable; There may be no correlation between love and adjustment but a shared genetic factor is the main contributor. 19. How do positive and negative correlations differ? a. A correlation coefficient is a statistic that indicates the direction and strength of the relation between two variables. b. Positive correlation: Higher score on one variable is associated with a higher score on the second variable. (tall person has higher weight) c. Negative correlation: Higher score on one variable is associates with a lower score on the second variable. (Low moral, high turnover.)
a. Range is from +1.00 to -1.00 21. Explain how correlational research can be used to predict behaviour. a. If two variables are correlated, either positively or negatively, knowing the score of one variable helps us to predict the score of the other variable. b. Correlational research about High school grades vs. success in first year university can predict the retention rate. Although many other variables can come into play, it can provide a reasonable accurate prediction. 22. Describe the logic of experimentation. a. Experimentation can examine the cause-and-effect relationship. b. It is the most direct method for testing explanations of why a phenomenon occurs. c. One variable can be changed and the effect on the other variable can be observed.
a. Independent variable is the factor that is manipulated by the experimenter. b. Dependent variable is the factor that is measured by the experimenter and may be influenced by the variable. c. The independent variable is the cause e.g. the noise in the room;
and the dependent variable e.g. ability to study, is the effect. 24. Why are control groups important? a. A control group is used as a standard of comparison in a control experiment. The group that receives extra treatment is called the experimental group. b. Several different experimental groups can be compared to one and the same control group. 25. Why do researchers randomly assign participants to the conditions in an experiment? a. Each participant has an equal likelihood of being assigned to any one group within an experiment. b. It increases the confidence that, at the start of an experiment, participants in the various conditions of the experiment are equal. c. Random assignment balances the differences across the various conditions of the experiment. 26. Identify an alternative to using random assignment in experiments. a. Expose each participant to all of the conditions vs. only one in a particular group. 27. Identify the dependent and independent variable in Dringenberg et al’s experiment. a. The experiment studied guinea pigs because of their long pregnancy and, like humans, the significant amount of brain growth that occurs before they are born. b. The independent variables are the three randomly divided groups. c. The dependent measure was the time it took for the guinea pigs to escape onto the platform 28. Why do researchers manipulate two independent variables in the same experiment? a. To examine several causal factors within a single experiment by manipulating two or more independent variable simultaneously. b. The separate influences of each variable on behaviour can then be examined, and researchers also can determine whether particular combinations of variables produce unique effects. 29. What are three major differences between the experimental and descriptive/correlational approaches? a. In an experiment, the researcher manipulates one or more (independent) variables and measures their effect on other (dependent) variables vs. in the descriptive/correlational research, all variables are measured. b. Most experiments take place in the laboratory while the descriptive research takes place more in natural environments. c. In most experiments extraneous factors can be kept constant while in the descriptive/correlational research this is not the case. d. The biggest limitation of description/correlation research is that it is not well suited to examine cause/effect relations. 30. Explain why confounding decreases the internal validity of experiments? a. Internal validity is a term pertaining to scientific research that signifies the extent to which the conditions within a research design were conducive to drawing the conclusions that the researcher was interested in drawing. In other words, internal validity represents the degree to which an experiment supports clear causal conclusions. 31. What are demand characteristics? Why do they lower the internal validity of experiments? a. Demand characteristics are cues that participants pick up about the hypothesis of a study or about how they are supposed to behave. b. This may cause participants to alter their natural responses, thereby ruining the internal validity of the experiment. 32. Explain how the “placebo” effect can cloud the interpretation of research results. a. Any effect that seems to be a consequence of administering a placebo; the change is usually beneficial and is assumed result from the person's faith in the treatment or preconceptions about what the experimental drug was supposed to do; pharmacologists were the first to talk about placebo effects but now the idea has been generalized to many situations having nothing to do with drugs. b. People receiving a treatment show a change in behaviour because of their expectations, not because the treatment itself had any specific benefit. c. Placebo effects decrease internal validity by providing an alternative explanation as to why responses change after exposure to an independent variable. 33. Why do experimenter expectancy effects lower the internal validity of experiments? a. The expectancy effect (or experimenter effect) is a common problem in scientific experiments, a researcher or subject expects a given result, and tends to find it in the data. 34. How do researchers minimize experimenter expectancy effects? a. The effect of experimenter expectancy is so powerful that the expensive and complex double blind methodology is needed to combat it. A double blind testing procedure is designed to eliminate biased results, in which the identity of those receiving a test treatment is concealed from both administrators and subjects until after the study is completed.
a. External validity is the degree to which the results of a study can be generalized to other people, settings, and conditions. b. Internal validity of an experiment means that the experiment was designed well and permits clear causal conclusions 36. Describe the purpose of meta-analysis. a. A meta-analysis is a statistical practice of combining the results of a number of studies of the same topic. b. Meta-analysis is considered to be the most objective way to integrate the findings of various studies and to reach overall conclusions about behaviour. 37. Describe the major ethical issues in human research and how participants’ rights are protected. a. The welfare of the participants must be promoted and protected.
a. Deception occurs when participants are misled about the nature of a study. b. When studying a certain type of behaviour, deception is the only way to obtain natural, spontaneous responses from the participants. c. Deception violates the principle of informed consent which is when consent to medical treatment by a patient is given. Also, participation in a medical experiment is agreed to after achieving an understanding of what is involved and esp. of the risks. 39. What are the justifications and criticism of research in which animals are harmed? a. Animal testing appears the most reliable way and the most accepted, when the tests conducted are too hazardous for humans. b. Opponents of animal testing are only in favour if the experiments only benefit the type of animal tested. 40. As a critical thinker, what questions should you ask when someone makes a claim or assertion? a. What claim is being made? |