PSYX 1st Edition Lecture 5 Outline of Last Lecture I Humanism II Cognition III Social Psychology IV Evolutionary Psychology V Nature vs Nurture VI Psychology as a Profession VII Major Research Areas Outline of Current Lecture I Empirical Research II The Scientific Approach III The Scientific Method IV Steps of Scientific Investigation V Experimental Research Current Lecture I II Empirical Research a Fact something that has actually happened is empirically true and can be supported by evidence b Opinion a belief normally subjective which means that it may vary based on a person s perspective emotions or individual understanding of something c Empiricism king of research methods i Knowledge should be acquired through active observation The Scientific Approach a Basic assumption events are governed by some lawful order These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor s lecture GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes not as a substitute III IV V i Benefits clarity and precision intolerance of errors ii Goals measurement and description understanding and prediction application and control The Scientific Method a Theory a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations i An explanation of why things happen ii A scientific theory must be testable b Hypothesis a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more things variables i Must be testable Steps of Scientific Investigation a Formulate a testable hypothesis b Select the method and design of the study c Collect the data d Analyze the data and draw conclusions e Report the findings scientific journals Further in depth look into steps 1 3 a Formulate a testable hypothesis i Example eating ice cream before a test will result in higher test scores ii Variable any measureable condition event characteristic or behavior that is controlled or observed in a study iii So in this study the variable would be the ice cream and test scores iv Operational definition the actions used to measure or control a variable 1 This establishes precisely what is meant by each variable in the context of a study exactly defining your variable 2 If we stick with our ice cream example then to define our variables we would say Eating ice cream 1 cup mint chip before a test will result in higher scores 5 points higher than last test score b Select the research method design i Participants or subjects persons or animals whose behavior is systematically observed in a study ii An experiment consists of manipulating a variable under controlled conditions to see if a change is caused in a second variable iii Independent variable the variable manipulated by the experimenter iv Dependent variable the outcome variable that is measure thought to be affected by manipulations of the independent variable v Experimental group the experimenter does something special with the independent variable for them vi Control group does not get the special treatment vii Random assignment king of experimental research 1 People are randomly put into either the control or experimental group VI c Collect the data i Data collection techniques observation survey interviews psychological tests physiological recording archival records etc Experimental Research a Extraneous variable any variable other than the independent variable that may influence the dependent variable b Confounding of variables when two variables are linked together in a way that makes I difficult to sort out their special effects i In the ice cream test example If you also received coffee with the ice cream it may be hard to distinguish which is creating effects if any c Advantages of experimental researchi can determine cause and effect ii Control over conditions d Disadvantages of experimental researchi Artificial environment ii Some factors cannot be controlled
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