PSY410 EXAM STUDY GUIDE
Confirmation Bias - Answers - -Once we believe we know something, we tend to
overlook instances that might disconfirm our beliefs, and we seek, instead, confirmatory
instances of behavior.
-Ex: If you believe that the full moon brings out psychotic behavior, you will notice and
remember instances when people acted abnormally while the moon was full, and you
will ignore the many, many more instances in which no unusual behavior occurred.
Gambler's Fallacy - Answers - -When people are not good at using data to estimate the
true probabilities of events.
-Mistaken belief that, if something happens more frequently than normal during some
period, it will happen less frequently in the future, or that, if something happens less
frequently than normal during some period, it will happen more frequently in the future.
-Ex: When we see a certain slot machine has not paid off in a long time, we ted to
believe that it is overdue for a payoff.
Daniel Kahneman - Answers - -In 2002, Princeton Psychologist Daniel Kahneman won
the Nobel Prize for his work with Amos Tversky on biases in human judgement.
-Biases are believed to be in the brain's way of coping with an immense volume of
information. They are shortcuts, and most of the time they allow us to function well
enough, but they are not always accurate.
Theory - Answers - -Set of general principles that attempts to explain and predict
behavior or other phenomena.
-
Scientific Method - Answers - -Steps scientists take to gather and verify information,
answer questions, explain relationships, and communicate findings.
-Has 3 main tools: Observation, Measurement, and Experimentation.
-We rely on scientific methodology when we conduct psychological research.
Hypothesis - Answers - -A testable prediction.
-Must be testable
Parsimony - Answers - -Entities should not be multiplied with necessity.
-We must avoid making unnecessary assumptions, clarity of thought.
-When two explanations are equally defensible, the simplest explanation is preferred
until it is ruled out by conflicted data.
Replication - Answers - -The process of repeating research procedures to verify that the
outcome will be the same as before; a principle tool of the scientific method.
,Objectives of Scientific Research - Answers - There are 4 objectives of research
conducted in psychology:
1. Description
2. Prediction
3. Explanation
4. Control
Description - Answers - - The initial step toward understanding any phenomenon.
-Systematic and unbiased account of the observed characteristics of behavior.
-Good descriptions allow us greater knowledge of behaviors because they provide us
with information about what the behavior will be like.
-Examples of descriptive research designs include case studies and field studies.
Prediction - Answers - -Capacity for knowing in advance when certain behaviors would
be expected to occur (to be able to predict them ahed of time) because we have
identified other conditions with which the behaviors are link or associated.
-A number of research designs, called correlational and quasi-experimental designs, are
commonly used to predict behavior.
Explanation - Answers - -When we have explained behavior we also understand what
causes it to occur.
-Explanation includes knowledge of the conditions that reliably reproduce the
occurrence of behavior.
-To explain a behavior, we have to use an experimental research design in which we
systematically manipulate aspects of the setting with the intention of producing the
specific behavior. Control for other factors.
Control - Answers - -Refers to the application of what has been learned about behavior.
-Once a behavior has been explained through experimentation, it may be possible to
use that knowledge to effect change or improve behavior.
-Control is rarely the intent of experimentation, but some research is conducted with the
intent of producing behavioral change along with increasing knowledge.
Control is most often achieved by: - Answers - -1. Random assignment of subjects to
different treatment conditions (or sometimes within-subjects design).
-2. Presenting a treatment condition in an identical manner to all subjects.
-3. Keeping the environment, the procedures, and the measuring instruments constant
for all subjects in the experiment so that the treatment conditions are the only things that
are allowed to change.
Applied Research - Answers - -Research that is designed to solve real-world problems
Basic Research - Answers - -Research designed to test theories or to explain
psychological phenomena
Observation - Answers - -The systematic noting and recording of events.
,-Only events that are observable can be studied scientifically
-The key to studying internal processes is defining them as events that can be
observed: the time it takes a person to solve a problem, a person's answers to a mood
questionnaire, the amplitude of someone's electrodermal responses.
-Observations must also be made systematically - once the researcher has devised a
system for observing, the same system must be applied consistently to each
observation.
-Must be made objectively.
Measurement - Answers - -The assignment of numerical values to objects or events or
their characteristics according to conventional rules.
-When we do research, we assign numbers to different sizes, quantities, or qualities of
the events under observation.
-The systematic estimation of the quantity, size or quality of an observable event.
-Standards are not always clear-cut for dimensions for dimensions of human behavior.
-Our measurements must be consistent across each set of conditions. If measurement
is inconsistent, we cannot compare our measured observations directly. The same unit
of measurement needs to be used each time we measure our observations.
Experimentation - Answers - -A process undertaken to test a hypothesis that particular
behavioral events will occur reliability in certain specifiable conditions. Demonstrate that
already observed events will occur consistently under a particular set of conditions.
-When we experiment, we systematically manipulate aspects of a setting to verify our
predictions about observable behavior under specific conditions.
-The hypothesis must be testable; procedures must be available to test it, and it must be
ethical to do so.
-Must be objective.
-At times can't be carried out.
-Successful experimentation relies heavily on the principle of control. For
experimentation to produce valid conclusions, all explanations except the one(s) being
tested should be clearly ruled out. Other factors that could be producing the effect we
want to explain are carefully controlled.
-The Lab = greatest degree of control with experiments. Unfortunately sacrifice a certain
amount of realism and generalizability to gain precision, but control is critical to
experimentation.
To do an experiment... - Answers - -Predictions must be testable.
-First, we must have procedures for manipulating the setting.
-Second, the predicted outcome must be observable.
-Third, we must be able to measure the outcome.
Treatment Conditions - Answers - -A treatment is a set of antecedent conditions created
by the experimenter and presented to subjects to test its effects on behavior. We are
treating subjects differently when we expose them to different sets of antecedents.
-We compare different treatment conditions so that we can test our explanations of
behaviors systematically and scientifically.
, -In psychology, it would be virtually impossible to identify all the antecedents that affect
the behaviors of a research participant at a particular time. Although, we cannot identify
all the antecedent conditions, we can focus on particular antecedents that we believe
have an effect on behavior.
Necessary vs. Sufficient Treatment Conditions - Answers - -As we seek cause-and-
effect relationships in science and psychology, we try to identify the conditions under
which events will occur. We distinguish between necessary and sufficient conditions.
-The cause-and-effect relationships established through scientific research commonly
involve identifying sufficient conditions. Ex: Being in a good mood is not a necessary
condition to increase helpfulness, but it is sufficient.
-When we see causes, we rarely seek conditions that are both necessary and sufficient.
To do so would involve a search for the first or primary causes.
-Given the complexity of our universe, we would make slow progress in our search for
order if we refused to settle for anything less than causes that were both necessary and
sufficient.
-The scientific approach to causality is more practical, relying on sufficient causes as
explanation for events.
Psychology Experiment - Answers - -A controlled procedure in which at least 2 different
conditions are applied to subjects. The subjects behaviors are then measured and
compared to test a hypothesis about the effects of those treatments on behavior.
-In psychology experiments, we create specific sets of antecedent conditions called
treatments. Must have two different treatments so that we can compare behavior under
varied conditions and observe the way behavior changes as the treatment conditions
change.
-Need Random Assignment.
-Successful when there is control!!
Random Assignment of Subjects - Answers - -Doing random assignment, avoids the
possibility that subjects in one condition may be systematically different from subjects in
another even before the treatments are presented.
Between Subjects Design - Answers - -An experimental design in which subjects
receive only 1 kind of treatment.
-IT helps ensure that people who receive 1 kind of treatment are equivalent to subjects
receiving a different treatment.
Within Subjects Design - Answers - -Present all treatments to each subject and
measure the effect of each treatment after it is presented.
-Then we could ascertain whether different treatments produced different effects.
-Another way in which systematic differences in subjects might be ruled out.
-Impossible to give subjects more than one treatment condition of an experiment without
creating new problems.
Confirmation Bias - Answers - -Once we believe we know something, we tend to
overlook instances that might disconfirm our beliefs, and we seek, instead, confirmatory
instances of behavior.
-Ex: If you believe that the full moon brings out psychotic behavior, you will notice and
remember instances when people acted abnormally while the moon was full, and you
will ignore the many, many more instances in which no unusual behavior occurred.
Gambler's Fallacy - Answers - -When people are not good at using data to estimate the
true probabilities of events.
-Mistaken belief that, if something happens more frequently than normal during some
period, it will happen less frequently in the future, or that, if something happens less
frequently than normal during some period, it will happen more frequently in the future.
-Ex: When we see a certain slot machine has not paid off in a long time, we ted to
believe that it is overdue for a payoff.
Daniel Kahneman - Answers - -In 2002, Princeton Psychologist Daniel Kahneman won
the Nobel Prize for his work with Amos Tversky on biases in human judgement.
-Biases are believed to be in the brain's way of coping with an immense volume of
information. They are shortcuts, and most of the time they allow us to function well
enough, but they are not always accurate.
Theory - Answers - -Set of general principles that attempts to explain and predict
behavior or other phenomena.
-
Scientific Method - Answers - -Steps scientists take to gather and verify information,
answer questions, explain relationships, and communicate findings.
-Has 3 main tools: Observation, Measurement, and Experimentation.
-We rely on scientific methodology when we conduct psychological research.
Hypothesis - Answers - -A testable prediction.
-Must be testable
Parsimony - Answers - -Entities should not be multiplied with necessity.
-We must avoid making unnecessary assumptions, clarity of thought.
-When two explanations are equally defensible, the simplest explanation is preferred
until it is ruled out by conflicted data.
Replication - Answers - -The process of repeating research procedures to verify that the
outcome will be the same as before; a principle tool of the scientific method.
,Objectives of Scientific Research - Answers - There are 4 objectives of research
conducted in psychology:
1. Description
2. Prediction
3. Explanation
4. Control
Description - Answers - - The initial step toward understanding any phenomenon.
-Systematic and unbiased account of the observed characteristics of behavior.
-Good descriptions allow us greater knowledge of behaviors because they provide us
with information about what the behavior will be like.
-Examples of descriptive research designs include case studies and field studies.
Prediction - Answers - -Capacity for knowing in advance when certain behaviors would
be expected to occur (to be able to predict them ahed of time) because we have
identified other conditions with which the behaviors are link or associated.
-A number of research designs, called correlational and quasi-experimental designs, are
commonly used to predict behavior.
Explanation - Answers - -When we have explained behavior we also understand what
causes it to occur.
-Explanation includes knowledge of the conditions that reliably reproduce the
occurrence of behavior.
-To explain a behavior, we have to use an experimental research design in which we
systematically manipulate aspects of the setting with the intention of producing the
specific behavior. Control for other factors.
Control - Answers - -Refers to the application of what has been learned about behavior.
-Once a behavior has been explained through experimentation, it may be possible to
use that knowledge to effect change or improve behavior.
-Control is rarely the intent of experimentation, but some research is conducted with the
intent of producing behavioral change along with increasing knowledge.
Control is most often achieved by: - Answers - -1. Random assignment of subjects to
different treatment conditions (or sometimes within-subjects design).
-2. Presenting a treatment condition in an identical manner to all subjects.
-3. Keeping the environment, the procedures, and the measuring instruments constant
for all subjects in the experiment so that the treatment conditions are the only things that
are allowed to change.
Applied Research - Answers - -Research that is designed to solve real-world problems
Basic Research - Answers - -Research designed to test theories or to explain
psychological phenomena
Observation - Answers - -The systematic noting and recording of events.
,-Only events that are observable can be studied scientifically
-The key to studying internal processes is defining them as events that can be
observed: the time it takes a person to solve a problem, a person's answers to a mood
questionnaire, the amplitude of someone's electrodermal responses.
-Observations must also be made systematically - once the researcher has devised a
system for observing, the same system must be applied consistently to each
observation.
-Must be made objectively.
Measurement - Answers - -The assignment of numerical values to objects or events or
their characteristics according to conventional rules.
-When we do research, we assign numbers to different sizes, quantities, or qualities of
the events under observation.
-The systematic estimation of the quantity, size or quality of an observable event.
-Standards are not always clear-cut for dimensions for dimensions of human behavior.
-Our measurements must be consistent across each set of conditions. If measurement
is inconsistent, we cannot compare our measured observations directly. The same unit
of measurement needs to be used each time we measure our observations.
Experimentation - Answers - -A process undertaken to test a hypothesis that particular
behavioral events will occur reliability in certain specifiable conditions. Demonstrate that
already observed events will occur consistently under a particular set of conditions.
-When we experiment, we systematically manipulate aspects of a setting to verify our
predictions about observable behavior under specific conditions.
-The hypothesis must be testable; procedures must be available to test it, and it must be
ethical to do so.
-Must be objective.
-At times can't be carried out.
-Successful experimentation relies heavily on the principle of control. For
experimentation to produce valid conclusions, all explanations except the one(s) being
tested should be clearly ruled out. Other factors that could be producing the effect we
want to explain are carefully controlled.
-The Lab = greatest degree of control with experiments. Unfortunately sacrifice a certain
amount of realism and generalizability to gain precision, but control is critical to
experimentation.
To do an experiment... - Answers - -Predictions must be testable.
-First, we must have procedures for manipulating the setting.
-Second, the predicted outcome must be observable.
-Third, we must be able to measure the outcome.
Treatment Conditions - Answers - -A treatment is a set of antecedent conditions created
by the experimenter and presented to subjects to test its effects on behavior. We are
treating subjects differently when we expose them to different sets of antecedents.
-We compare different treatment conditions so that we can test our explanations of
behaviors systematically and scientifically.
, -In psychology, it would be virtually impossible to identify all the antecedents that affect
the behaviors of a research participant at a particular time. Although, we cannot identify
all the antecedent conditions, we can focus on particular antecedents that we believe
have an effect on behavior.
Necessary vs. Sufficient Treatment Conditions - Answers - -As we seek cause-and-
effect relationships in science and psychology, we try to identify the conditions under
which events will occur. We distinguish between necessary and sufficient conditions.
-The cause-and-effect relationships established through scientific research commonly
involve identifying sufficient conditions. Ex: Being in a good mood is not a necessary
condition to increase helpfulness, but it is sufficient.
-When we see causes, we rarely seek conditions that are both necessary and sufficient.
To do so would involve a search for the first or primary causes.
-Given the complexity of our universe, we would make slow progress in our search for
order if we refused to settle for anything less than causes that were both necessary and
sufficient.
-The scientific approach to causality is more practical, relying on sufficient causes as
explanation for events.
Psychology Experiment - Answers - -A controlled procedure in which at least 2 different
conditions are applied to subjects. The subjects behaviors are then measured and
compared to test a hypothesis about the effects of those treatments on behavior.
-In psychology experiments, we create specific sets of antecedent conditions called
treatments. Must have two different treatments so that we can compare behavior under
varied conditions and observe the way behavior changes as the treatment conditions
change.
-Need Random Assignment.
-Successful when there is control!!
Random Assignment of Subjects - Answers - -Doing random assignment, avoids the
possibility that subjects in one condition may be systematically different from subjects in
another even before the treatments are presented.
Between Subjects Design - Answers - -An experimental design in which subjects
receive only 1 kind of treatment.
-IT helps ensure that people who receive 1 kind of treatment are equivalent to subjects
receiving a different treatment.
Within Subjects Design - Answers - -Present all treatments to each subject and
measure the effect of each treatment after it is presented.
-Then we could ascertain whether different treatments produced different effects.
-Another way in which systematic differences in subjects might be ruled out.
-Impossible to give subjects more than one treatment condition of an experiment without
creating new problems.
