PSYC 202 1st EditionExam # 1 Study GuideThis is not an exhaustive list of what you should study but an outline to highlight important areas you should concentrate on. All material covered in lecture, lab, and from the text can and will be included on the exam. Read chapters 1-4 in Leary. Review iClicker Assignment slides for sample test questions. The exam will be 45 multiple choice questions (worth 90 points) and two short answer questions (worth 10 points). No calculators needed. Closed book. You will be takingit during your lab section. No lecture (9:30-10:20) the day of Exam so use this time to study. I willnot answer emails regarding test material the day of the exam. Lecture:- Know why psychology is considered a scienceo Because of the methods we use to study behavior is what makes psychology a scienceo The methods in psychology are rigorous and comparable to other fields such as sociology, biology, etc. - Understand that there are many types of Psychologists (health, social, developmental)o Don’t necessarily have to know differences but need to know there are sub fields- Know the 3 main types of research in psychology. I will likely give you research scenarios and you will have to identify which type of research that example is.o Basic: this is basically what you are all doing for your class projects. Research centered at understanding or exploring how things are related is basic research. An example of Basic Research that I do is investigating how personality is related to drinking patterns. Increase understanding (Gives foundation to build onto; simplest form of research)- Ex: Asking vets basic questions to see how they adapt to being home after getting back from the military and why, because their first six months they’re more likely to abuse drugso Applied: this type of research goes a step further than basic research because it applies what you found in the first place and uses that information to find solutions to a problem or change things. When trying to “change” some behavior or process 99.9% of the time it will be applied research. From my research, I use what I find from my basic research (that people with high anxiety are more likely to binge drink), and do applied studies by testing how to reduce drinking behavior among high anxiety people. I am trying to “change” their behavior is this applied example. Find solutions (improving the human condition)- By applying info from basic findingso Ex: Finding out if you can give veterans medicine to help themcope or maybe go into some type of therapy or group sessiono Evaluative: Even though evaluative research is a type of applied research it is distinct. Evaluative research occurs 99.9% of the time on a large scale program or intervention. It is basically trying to evaluate whether a program is currently working. The DARE and Head Start programs were example. Researchers do Evaluative Research by going into these programs and seeing if they actually do work. So for evaluative research think of BIG programs or interventions being done that need to be evaluated every so often.  Evaluating existing treatments, interventions, or programs (like laws, education, health, employment)- Ex: See if a program actually works or not (Like D.A.R.E. … Which it doesn’t- Know the 3 main goals of behavioral research and the most difficult goal of them. I will give you scenarios and you will have to determine what the goal of that research is. o Describing behavioro Predicting behavioro Explaining behavior Look beyond what to figure out why Primary goal for most researchers- Finding evidence that one variable causes another is very difficult to obtain in research… (more on this later) Example:- Finding out who is going to get a certain grade in a class, who’ll cheaton their bf/gf,and finding out why.- Know the difference between scientific approach and common sense. Also know why we don’t use common sense in research. o Common Sense: intuition, subjective, anecdotal “Always go to a crying baby”- Responding to a baby will spoil it (NOT TRUE, Common sense debunked) “Opposites attract” “More vitamins are better for you”- Debunked, taking too many vitamins is actually not good for you! “Divorce is bad for children”- Common sense debunked again, in some cases it’s actually better for the kid to get outo Scientific Approach: Fact backed up by science- Know the 3 main criteria for research to be scientific. I will likely ask questions that you not only know the 3 criteria but can explain/apply them.- Systematic Empiricismo “Empiricism” The practice of relying on observation to make conclusionso “Systematic” Structured, formatted, methodical, ordered, plannedo Best way to do is by objective observations of the phenomena, not by hunches or assumptions or beliefs.- Public Verificationo Findings must be observed, replicated, and verified (peer review) by other researchers Example: We want to tell everyone the good and bad side effects of a drug so they don’t harm themselves- Solvable Problemso Must study questions that are potentially answerable through systematic empiricism  Can the q be answered with research Example: Don’t ask if your cat is going to heaven- Know the components of the Scientific Method (O-HOMER) and be able to explain each of them. o Observeo Hypothesize Testable predictions about the conditions If and then questions Example: If children who hear their parents speak more than 1000 diverse words per day, then they will have a larger vocabulary and do better in schoolo Operationalize Make the variables you are interested in, testable  Conceptual Definition- Abstract, boring dictionary definition- Example: Fear- to be immensely surprised by something Operational Definition - Concrete, situation-specific- Example: Does heart rate increase when the child is provoked?o On a scale of 1-10, how scared was your child?o Measure Questionnaires o Evaluate Anova, T-test, Chi-square, regression, pearson ro Revise/replicate If hypothesis is disconfirmed, revise hypothesis or operationalize- Know what a “post hoc explanation” iso Post hoc explanation:  Explaining a phenomena after it has been observed- Questionable accuracy of usefulness  “Oh, this is related to that! I can explain that now!” You go into a study, and then you find your results/relationship, and say “oh, this is related to that!”-