Psychology Chapter 2
The beauty and necessity of good research design
“Facilitated communication”- an autism treatment
Developers thought autism was a motor disorder
Even well-educated people can be fooled
Prefrontal lobotomy- subjective impressions
o Surgical procedure that severs fibers connecting the frontal lobes of the brain from the
underlying thalamus
o Developer won a nobel prize
o Control studies show that it does not work
How can we be fooled: two modes of thinking
System #1- intuitive thinking
o Quick, reflexive
System #2- analytical thinking
o Slow, effortless
Heuristics
o Mental short cuts or rules of thumb
o Reduce cognitive energy required to solve problems
Scientific methodology: A toolbox of skills
Test specific hypotheses derived from broader theories
Naturalistic Observation: studying humans “in the wild”
Watching behavior in real-world settings without trying to manipulate the situation
o High degree-extremely validity
Extent to which we can generate findings to real-world settings
o Low degree- Internal validity
Extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences from a study
Case study designs: Getting to know you
Research design that examines on person or a small number of people in depth, often over an
extended period of time
Common with rare types of brain damage or mental illness
Helpful to provide existence proofs, but can be misleading
Self-report measures and surveys
Psychologists need to ask people about themselves or others
Not all measures and surveys are equal
Random Selection: The key to generalizability
Key to generalizability in surveys and questionnaire studies
The beauty and necessity of good research design
“Facilitated communication”- an autism treatment
Developers thought autism was a motor disorder
Even well-educated people can be fooled
Prefrontal lobotomy- subjective impressions
o Surgical procedure that severs fibers connecting the frontal lobes of the brain from the
underlying thalamus
o Developer won a nobel prize
o Control studies show that it does not work
How can we be fooled: two modes of thinking
System #1- intuitive thinking
o Quick, reflexive
System #2- analytical thinking
o Slow, effortless
Heuristics
o Mental short cuts or rules of thumb
o Reduce cognitive energy required to solve problems
Scientific methodology: A toolbox of skills
Test specific hypotheses derived from broader theories
Naturalistic Observation: studying humans “in the wild”
Watching behavior in real-world settings without trying to manipulate the situation
o High degree-extremely validity
Extent to which we can generate findings to real-world settings
o Low degree- Internal validity
Extent to which we can draw cause-and-effect inferences from a study
Case study designs: Getting to know you
Research design that examines on person or a small number of people in depth, often over an
extended period of time
Common with rare types of brain damage or mental illness
Helpful to provide existence proofs, but can be misleading
Self-report measures and surveys
Psychologists need to ask people about themselves or others
Not all measures and surveys are equal
Random Selection: The key to generalizability
Key to generalizability in surveys and questionnaire studies
