A Brief Review of Chapter 1

1
A Brief Review of Chapter 1

• Which of the following theoretical approaches in
  psychology emphasized studying only observable
  behavior?
• Psychoanalytic
• Humanistic
• Behaviorism
• Structuralism

2
A Brief Review of Chapter 1

• Which of the following contemporary theoretical
  approaches in psychology is similar to
  functionalism?
• Psychanalytic
• Humanistic
• Behaviorism
• Cognitive

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A Brief Review of Chapter 1

• A ________ psychologist would most likely study
  factors that influence persuasion.
• Personality
• Social
• Physiological
• Clinical

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A Brief Review of Chapter 1

• You meet a psychologist who tells you that she
  works for IBM and helps them develop employee
  training and retention programs. What type of
  psychologist is she?
• Social
• Counseling
• Experimental
• Industrial-Organizational

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A Brief Review of Chapter 1

• Contemporary psychologists would most likely
  agree with which of the following statements?
• We cannot directly assess thinking and should
  only concentrate on studying observable behavior.
• Heredity plays little to no role is influencing
  human behavior.
• Culture is a major factor in shaping human
  behavior.
• Laboratory research cannot reveal much about
  human behavior.

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PSYC 2201Research in Psychology Chapter 2
Outline for Weiten (2005)

• Bill Hill
• Kennesaw State University

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• Does a basketball player have a better chance of
  making a shot after having just made his last 2
  or 3 shots than he does after having just missed
  his last 2 or 3 shots?
• Yes
• No

8

• When shooting free throws, does a player have a
  better chance of making his second shot after
  making his first shot than after missing his
  first shot?
• Yes
• No

9

• Is it important to pass the ball to someone who
  has just made several (2, 3, or 4) shots in a
  row?
• Yes
• No

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Survey Data Found

• Does a basketball player have a better chance of
  making a shot after having just made his last 2
  or 3 shots than he does after having just missed
  his last 2 or 3 shots? Yes 91
• When shooting free throws, does a player have a
  better chance of making his second shot after
  making his first shot than after missing his
  first shot?
• Yes 68
• Is it important to pass the ball to someone who
  has just made several (2, 3, or 4) shots in a
  row?
• Yes 84

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Research Data Found

• The notion that when youre hot, youre hot is
  a myth.
• Tversky Gilovich (1989) analyzed the shooting
  records of pro basketball teams and found that
  players were equally likely to make a shot after
  a miss as after a basket.
• They also verified this experimentally using
  varsity members of the Cornell team in a
  controlled shooting experiment.

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Research, is NOT

• Personal opinion
• Anecdotal evidence

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Goals of Scientific Approach

• Measurement/Description (REMEMBER EMPIRICAL)
• Understanding
• Prediction
• Application/Control

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Hypothesis

• Tentative statement about the relationship
  between 2 or more variables.

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Variables

• Measurable
• May be conditions, events, characteristics, or
  behaviors
• Can be controlled by the researcher or observed
  in an research study

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Types of Variables

• Participant/Subject
• Representative Sample
• Environment
• Stimuli

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Theory

• Interrelated ideas or concepts that are used to
  explain a set of observations or research findings

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Steps in Scientific Research

1. Develop testable hypothesis
2. Select research method (which depends on the
   question asked) to design the research study
3. Collect data
4. Analyze data draw conclusions
5. Share results

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Advantages of the Scientific Method

• Precision (Operational Definitions)
• Specificity/Clarity
• Avoidance of error

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Research Methods

• True Experiment
• Manipulation of variables under controlled
  conditions with random assignment of participants
  and observation/measurement of behavior

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Research Methods

• Quasi-Experimental Research
• Manipulation of an IV and measurement of a DV
  but without random assignment of participants to
  IV conditions

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Research Methods

• Experiment
• IV, Independent Variable(s)
• DV, Dependent Variable(s)
• UCV, Extraneous/Uncontrolled Variables
• Irrelevant
• Confounding
• CV, Control Variables

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Research Methods

• Experiment
• Experimental Group
• Control Group

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Identify the Variables

• A researcher is interested in evaluating 3
  different treatments for curing phobias
  (unnatural fears of some object or situation).
  Participants receive one of 3 treatments for a
  period of 3 months. They are then tested for the
  intensity of their fear reaction to their
  particular phobic object or situation. The IV
  is
• The type of phobia they are suffering from
• The type of treatment that they received
• The intensity of the fear reaction after the
  treatment
• The length of time the treatment was administered

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Identify the Variables

• A scientist believes that eating large amounts of
  fiber will prevent cancer of the stomach. To
  prove this, she has a large sample of volunteers
  eat a large bowl of fiber cereal every morning
  for 3 years, while a second group eats no fiber
  for breakfast for 3 years. The control group is
• The volunteers that ate the fiber cereal
• The volunteers that ate no fiber cereal
• There is no control group in this experiment
• The length of time the experiment was conducted
  (i.e., 3 years)

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Identify the Variables

• A psychologist believes that he has developed a
  new teaching method that will produce greater
  learning. To prove this he selects 2
  introductory psychology classes, one taught by
  Professor A and the other by Professor B.
  Professor A uses the new technique, while
  Professor B does not. The average test
  performance at the end of the semester is found
  to be greater for Professor As class. The UCV or
  Confounding variable
• The teaching technique
• The subject matter of the course
• The test performance
• The professor who taught the course

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Research Methods

• Experimental Limitations
• Artificiality
• Cannot be used to research some questions
• Inability to manipulate some variables
• Experimenter Bias
• Sampling Bias

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Research Methods

• Observational Research
• Watch and record defined behavior
• Types of Observational Research
• Naturalistic
• Controlled/Lab

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Research Methods

• Surveys/Questionnaires/Interviews
• Set of questions designed to gather
  information about individuals
• Survey Research Issues
• Reliability Validity
• Social Desirability Bias

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Which Method to Use?

• Jogging increases lung capacity.
• Experiment
• Survey
• Naturalistic observation
• Impossible to study scientifically

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Which Method to Use?

• More men than women report fantasies of making
  large sums of money.
• Experiment
• Survey
• Naturalistic observation
• Impossible to study scientifically

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Which Method to Use?

• Newborn infants have an innate conception of sin.
• Experiment
• Survey
• Naturalistic observation
• Impossible to study scientifically

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Which Method to Use?

• Unmarried cab drivers talk more with their
  customers than do married cab drivers.
• Experiment
• Survey
• Naturalistic observation
• Impossible to study scientifically

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Research Methods

• Case Study
• Biographical studyeither as it happens or
  through reconstruction

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• Tierney (1987) reported survey results that
  showed that people who often ate Frosted Flakes
  as a child had half the cancer rate of those who
  never ate the cereal. Also, those who ate
  oatmeal as a child were 4 times more likely to
  develop cancer than those who did not eat
  oatmeal. Do these results provide evidence that
  oatmeal causes cancer and Frosted Flakes prevents
  cancer?
• Yes
• No

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Research Methods

• Correlational Research
• Attempt to establish whether 2 or more variables
  are related to each other
• Positive correlation
• Negative correlation

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Summarizing Your Results Statistics

• Descriptive Statistics
• Measures of Central Tendency
• Mean, Median, Mode
• Measures of Variability
• Inferential Statistics
• Statistical Significance

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Avoiding Research Flaws

• Importance of Replication
• Sampling Bias
• Placebo Effects
• Problems with Self-Reports
• Experimenter Bias

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• Do you place your toilet paper so that it
• rolls over the spool
• rolls under the spool

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• Do you squeeze the toothpaste from the
• top
• middle
• bottom

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• Do you eat corn on the cob
• in circles
• side to side

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• Do you eat Oreo cookies
• by twisting the halves apart
• by smashing them up and adding them to another
  desert
• whole

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• Have you ever seen a ghost?
• yes
• no

44

• Do you skip ahead in a book to find out what will
  happen?
• yes
• no

45

• Have you ever flossed your teeth with a hair?
• yes
• no

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The Survey Results

1. 68 over the spool
2. 79 squeeze toothpaste from the top
3. 80 eat corn on the cob in circles
4. 50 eat Oreos whole, 18 twist apart, 15 smash
   them
5. 10 have seen a ghost
6. 27 skip ahead in a book
7. 7 have flossed with a hair

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Weitens Themes

• Empirical Nature of Y
• Subjectivity of Experience