AQA Psychology A-Level Paper 2 Correct 100%

Conditions of worth - ANSWER Conditions imposed on someone in order to earn positive regard Unconditional positive regard - ANSWER love and acceptance no matter what Conditional Positive Regard - ANSWER love and acceptance for a reason Evaluation of the humanistic approach - ANSWER - Maslow's Hierarchy is linked to economical development, countries with lower needs had lower development - Research support for conditions of worth (adolescents) - Fails to establish causal variables - unrealistic view of human nature as it suggest we all want to be good - Cultural differences in hierarchy of needs e.g. in china love is the first stage but here it is needs Confounding Variables - ANSWER A variable that is not the IV but changes the depending variable Control - ANSWER The extent a variable is held constant External Validity - ANSWER The degree research can be generalised Extranous Variables - ANSWER Nuisance variables that makes it difficult to detect changes in experiments Internal Validity - ANSWER The degree observed effects was die to experimental manipulation rather than confounding variables Mundane Realism - ANSWER How study mirrors real life Validity - ANSWER how close you are to measuring what you want to measure Directional Hypothesis - ANSWER States direction of predicted difference e.g. People who do homework without tv produce better results than those who don't Non-Directional Hypothesis - ANSWER Predicts simply that there is a difference e.g. People who do homework with the TV produce different results from those who dont Pilot Study - ANSWER A small-scale trial run of a study to test aspects of design Repeated Measures Design - ANSWER One group does all trials Limitations of repeated measures design - ANSWER Order effect e.g. practicing trial or getting tired Guessing the purpose of the test in second trial leads to demand charecteristics Can be solved by counterbalancing Counterbalancing - ANSWER AB or ABBA when repeating an experiment it ensures each condition is tested in equal amounts Independant Groups Design - ANSWER Two Different Groups do two different trials Limitations of independent group design - ANSWER Cannot control participant variables Needs more participants Can be solved by randomly allocating Matched Pairs Design - ANSWER Two groups in which each participant is matched with a similar version of them in the other group Limitations of Matched Pairs - ANSWER Time-consuming and difficult to match It is not possible to match all characteristics Can be solved by using twins of conducting piolet studies Field Experiment - ANSWER A controlled experiment outside a lab Lab Experiment - ANSWER An experiment in a controlled setting Evaluation of Field experiments - ANSWER - Control over variables - Low ecological Validity Evaluation of Lab experiments - ANSWER - more natural - may lack realism - ethical issues with deception - extraneous variables Natural Experiments - ANSWER The IV occurs naturally and the DV is tested e.g. The IV of romanian orphans occurred and it was tested but we did not create the romaninan orphans Quasi Experiments - ANSWER The IV is something that just exists and the DV is tested e.g. gender face validity - ANSWER extent to which respondents can tell what the items are measuring Concurrent Validity - ANSWER the extent to which two measures of the same trait or ability agree Ecological Validity - ANSWER The extent to which a study is realistic or representative of real life. Temporal validity - ANSWER the degree to which the results can be generalised across time Empirical Method - ANSWER gaining knowledge through the observation of events, the collection of data, and logical reasoning Replicability - ANSWER when a study's findings are able to be duplicated, ideally by independent investigators Falsifiability - ANSWER a feature of a scientific theory, in which it is possible to collect data that will prove the theory wrong Science - ANSWER A body of systematic knowledge with principle of laws that are natural Hypothesis Testing - ANSWER make and test an educated guess about a problem/solution Theory Construction - ANSWER A collection of principles that help us explain observations and integrate facts. This is the process of assembling a theory into coherent wholes. Paradigms in Research - ANSWER an overall belief system or way of viewing the nature of reality and the basis of knowledge Paradigm shifts - ANSWER Shifts in scientific thinking that occur when the majority of scientists in a field or related fields agree that a new explanation or theory is better than the old one. Primary Data - ANSWER information collected for the specific purpose at hand Secondary Data - ANSWER information that already exists somewhere, having been collected for another purpose Quantitative Data - ANSWER numerical data Qualitative Data - ANSWER descriptive data mean - ANSWER average Median - ANSWER the middle score in a distribution mode - ANSWER the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution Advantages of mean - ANSWER easily understood easy to calculate uses all the data values Advantages of mode - ANSWER It can be used with any type of data Not affected by extreme scores Advantages of median - ANSWER Easy to calculate not affected by extreme scores Works on ordinal data Evaluation of Natural and Quasi Experiments - ANSWER - Lack of control of the IV - You cannot use random allocation due to biases - Sample may have unique characteristics which would bias results Range - ANSWER the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution Advantages of range - ANSWER Easy to calculate includes extremes standard deviation - ANSWER a measure of variability that describes an average distance of every score from the mean Advantages of standard deviation - ANSWER Takes all exact values into account Not difficult to calculate with a calculator Disadvantage of a mean - ANSWER Can easily be distorted by extreme values It cannot be used with nominal data Disadvantages of median - ANSWER Not as sensitive as the mean because exact values are not reflected Disadvantages of the mode - ANSWER does not use all the data values May not exist if there is not a more common value Disadvantages of range - ANSWER Does not take into account distribution of numbers Disadvantages of standard deviation - ANSWER May hide some characteristics of data set e.g. extreme values Demand Characteristics - ANSWER A cue that makes participants consciously aware of the aims of the study and thus act how the aims tell them to Evaluation of correlation - ANSWER - no conclusion can be made from one variable causing another - correlation does not equal causation - intervening variables may be the cause - lacks internal/external validity - correlations are useful for following trends - correlations are useful for finding significance external Validity - ANSWER extent to which we can generalise findings to real-world settings Content Coding - ANSWER a technique used by researchers to analyse specific content delivered in the mass media so as to enable the scientific study of that content's effect on audiences Thematic Analysis. - ANSWER a method of categorizing data into thematic categories Effect Size - ANSWER the magnitude of a relationship between two or more variables Investigator Effect - ANSWER Cues from the investigator that encourage certain behaviours Indirect Investigator Effects - ANSWER The investigator designs the experiment to make a result more likely Dealing with demand / investigator effects - ANSWER - single/double blind - experiemental realism, make task engaging experimental realism - ANSWER Experiment is made engaging so participants pay attention to that instead of realising they are being observed Opportunity Sample - ANSWER Recruit People who are most convenient e.g. waling by Evaluation of Opportunity Sample - ANSWER - Easy - Bias because you are drawn to certain people Random Sample - ANSWER Randomly pick people using the lottery technique (picking names out of a hat) or a random number table (population is assigned a number and you randomly pick it) of a computer generated random picker Evaluation of random sampling - ANSWER - Unbias - Need a list of all participants Stratified Sampling - ANSWER Participants are picked based on there proportion to the rest of the population Evaluation of Stratified Sampling - ANSWER - Representative - Time consuming Key features of science - ANSWER Hypothesis can be tested Empirical Objective Systematic Key features of non Science - ANSWER Not testable Intuitive Subjective Deductive Method - ANSWER Begins with a general theory and narrows down into a specific hypothesis Inductive Method - ANSWER Works from specific theories and observe to broader theories Systematic Sampling - ANSWER Use a predetermined technique e.g. every 6th participant Evaluation of Systematic Sampling - ANSWER - Unbias - Not truly random unless you get a random number and sample every nth time Volunteer Sampling - ANSWER Advertising for volunteers Evaluation of volunteer sampling - ANSWER - gives access to a variety of participants - bias to more motivated participants Bias - ANSWER A systematic distorition Informed Consent - ANSWER Participants must have information concerning the nature and purpose of the research in order to give consent Deception - ANSWER A participant is not told true aims of the study as it could alter there behaviour Confidentiality - ANSWER Personal Information about participants should be protected Privacy - ANSWER Participants should not be observed in certain situations e.g. taking a shower Protection from harm - ANSWER participants should not experience physical or psychological harm Right to withdraw - ANSWER At any point a participant should be able to leave the study Ethical issues - ANSWER - informed Consent - Deception - The right to withdraw - Protection from harm - Confidentiality - Privacy Ethical Guidlines - ANSWER BPS guidelines for psychologists to follow about their studies Cost-benefit analysis - ANSWER A systematic approach to estimate the positive and negatives of research Ethics Committees - ANSWER A group of research institutions that must approve a study before it begins How to Deal with informed consent - ANSWER - formal agreement - Presumptive consent - if participants are given full nature of study it could alter behaviour Presumptive consent - ANSWER Asking a group of people not in the study if they would mind being deceived by certain things Dealing with Deception - ANSWER - Deception should be approved by ethics committee - participants should be debriefed after - Cost-benefit analysis is flawed because judgements are subjective - debriefing cannot turn the clock back Dealing with the right to withdraw - ANSWER - participants should be informed they can withdraw at any stage - participants may feel they cannot withdraw due to money or spoiling study Dealing with protection from harm - ANSWER - Avoid risks - Stop study if harm is suspected - Harm may not be apparent at the time Dealing with Confidentiality - ANSWER - Researchers should not record names - you can normally work out people's identity from location Dealing with Privacy - ANSWER - Do not study anyone without consent unless in public - no universal agreement as what is public Naturalistic Observations - ANSWER Observed in an everyday setting Controlled observation - ANSWER Some variables are regulated by the researcher to investigate certain variables in an everyday state Over observation - ANSWER Participants are aware they are being studied Covert observations - ANSWER participants are not aware they are being studied Evaluation of observational techniques - ANSWER - observing is subjective - observer bias Evaluation of naturalistic and controlled observations - ANSWER - Naturalistic is high in ecological validity - There is little control of what is happening - Controlled can focus on particular aspects of behaviour - Environment might feel unnatural Evaluation of overt and overt observation - ANSWER - covert observation makes behaviour more natural - covert is unethical because they do not know they are being watched - Overt observations may create demand charecteristics - Overt is more ethical Participant observation - ANSWER Observer is part of the group being observed, but the other participants do not know Non-participant observation - ANSWER The observer observes from a distance and does not interact Evaluation of non-participant and participant - ANSWER - non-participant is likely to be more objective