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Module 2: Psychology & Science
Research Methods
- Each provides a different kind of information
______
- 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 self-fulfilling 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, ______
–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 real-world 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