Study Guide for Exam 1Psychology 300Dr. StangorCHAPTER 1: IntroductionLearning objectives1. Explain what behavioral research is and why it is conducted.- The goal is to discover, among other things, how people perceive their world, how they think and feel, how they change over time, how they learn and make decisions, and how they interact with others- Study behavior because want to contribute to creating solutions to the everyday problems that face humans2. Review the limitations of “everyday science” and intuition for understanding behavior, including the potential for committing the hindsight bias.- Relying on our intuition could lead us to draw unwarranted/incorrect conclusions- Often when one explanation seems to make sense we adopt that explanation as truth (even when others are possible/potentially more accurate)3. Describe the scientific method is and explain why it is used by scientists.- The set of assumptions, rules and procedures that scientists use to conduct research- Basic processes of collecting and organizing data and drawing conclusions about that data- Scientific method: o Demands that procedures be objectiveo Prescribes how scientists collect and analyze data, how they draw conclusions, and how they share data with otherso Demands that science be based on what has come before it- Important goal is to make clear to others which aspects of research process are based on facts/values4. Differentiate facts and values and explain how the values of scientists influence their own research.- Values- personal statements- Facts- objective statements determined to be accurate through empirical study- Behavioral research can sometimes help people develop their values- The values of a researcher can also effect how the scientist interprets the results of the study5. Outline the goals of basic and applied research and indicate how they are related.- Basic- answers fundamental questions about behavioro Provides underlying principles that can be used to solve specific problems- Applied- investigates issues that have implications for everyday life and provide solutions to everyday problemso Gives ideas for the kinds of topics that basic research can study6. Summarize how a student can benefit by learning how to conduct and critically evaluate scientific research.- Acquire skills that allow to think critically about research and conduct it7. Create a table showing the goals, advantages, and disadvantages of descriptive, correlational, and experimental research.- Descriptiveo Goal- to create a snapshot of the current state of affairso Advantages- provides a relatively complete picture of what is occurring at a given timeo Disadvantages- does not assess relationships among variables- Correlationalo Goal- to assess the relationships between and among 2 or more variableso Advantages- allows testing of expected relationships between and among variables, making of predictionso Disadvantages- can’t be used to draw inferences about the causal relationships between and among variables- Experimentalo Goal- to assess the impact of one or more experimental manipulations on a dependent variableo Advantages- allows drawing of conclusions about the causal relationships among variableso Disadvantages- can’t experimentally manipulate many important variablesSample Questions1. Define the term converging operations and indicate its meaning in behavioral research.- Using more than one technique (ex. research design) to study the same thing with the hope that all of the approaches will produce similar findings- Because the research designs have their strengths/weaknesses, it is effective to use them all together common in the behavioral sciences2. What is the difference between values and facts? How do each play a role in behavioral research?3. List the three different research designs used to study behavior. Give one specific example of each approach that is not mentioned in the textbook. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?4. Briefly describe three hypothetical studies: one that involves descriptive research, one that involves correlational research, and one that involves experimental research. Explain why your proposed studies are examples of each research design.- Descriptive- surveys, naturalistic observation- Correlational- predict whether a student would get a good job after graduationo Assess variables such as intelligence, socioeconomic status, social aptitude- Experimental- manipulate levels of aggression by have participants play video games with different levels of difficultyo Have participants then drive simulated car measure aggressive driving5. What is the scientific method and why is it used?6. Differentiate basic research from applied research, and give an example of each that was not mentioned in the textbook.CHAPTER 2: Developing the Research HypothesisLearning objectives1. Outline how behavioral scientists get ideas for research projects.- Concerns with human problems- Inductive method- own curiosity becomes source of ideas- Observation/intuition- Using existing researcho Finding limiting conditionso Explaining conflicting findings2. Describe what a literature search is, why it is necessary, and how it is conducted.- Literature search- to locate the research articles and books that contains reports of previous research- Conducting it before research begins is essential because it may prevent duplication of effort and may help avoid problems that others have had- Most efficient if it:o Starts at a broad general level and then progresses to more specific levels (primary sources)o Starts with the newest available information and uses this information to progress backward toward previous research3. Differentiate the role of laws and theories within scientific research.- Law- principles that are so general as to apply to all situationso Well known- Theory- integrated set of principles that explains and predicts many, but not all, observed relationships within a given domain of inquiryo Good theories are:  General and parsimonious (provide simplest possible account of outcomes) Form basis of scientific research Make predictions that can be tested and falsified4. Define the research hypothesis.- Research hypothesis- a specific and falsifiable prediction regarding the relationship between or among two or more variableso States the existence of a relationship between the variables of interest and the specific direction of that