Chapter 2 Research Methods Define heuristic General rule that is usually correct Allows for quick answers BUT can lead astray Be able to identify and explain different types of heuristics that people use e g representativeness availability Representative Judging the likelihood of something based on how well it matches a certain population Usually an efficient and fairly accurate heuristic Judging things based on information currently available in memory Availability Influenced by o Recent events o Vivid cases o Example Fear of Sharks Know some of the reasons people fall prey to heuristics e g conjunction rule base rate neglect Conjugation Rule The probability of the conjunction of two events cannot be larger than the probability of either of its constituent events This rule is violated in favor of a conclusion that is mathematically impossible revealing the sway of the representativeness heuristic Know the pros and cons of heuristics Pros Quick Help us to escape analysis paralysis Fast and frugal Cons Overestimating frequency of occurrence Ignoring of relevant information Explain the steps of the scientific method 1 State a clear theory 2 Form hypotheses 3 Make observations or measurements 4 Draw conclusions evaluate the theory 5 Share the results E g publish findings in a journal Describe three things that a good theory must do 1 Explains Through an integrated set of principles 2 Organizes observations 3 Predicts behaviors or events Describe the advantages and disadvantages of different research methods e g naturalistic observation case studies self report measures surveys Naturalistic Observations Advantages Disadvantages High in external validity Low in internal validity Doesn t allow us to infer causation Case Studies Advantages Can provide existence proofs Allows us to study rare or unusual phenomena Can offer insights for later systematic testing Disadvantages Are typically anecdotal Don t allow us to infer causation Correlational Designs Advantages Can help is to predict behavior Disadvantages Don t allow us to infer causation Experimental Designs Advantages Allow us to infer causation High in internal validity Disadvantages Can sometimes be low in external validity Define random selection and understand how it relates to a representative sample It helps us to see things without any manipulated circumstances in a natural state to provide a more authentic environment for observation rather than experiment Understand the goal of correlational research To identify relationships between variables so that one may be used to predict another Describe positive and negative correlations and explain why correlational research does not offer evidence of cause effect relationships Positive A higher value of one variable predicts a higher value on the other Example o height weight o money happiness o BP and pulse Negative A higher value on one variable predicts a lower value on one variable predicts a lower value of the second one The value of one variable has no relationship to the value of the second As one goes up the other goes down o Social support depression No correlation variable Example o Moon phase crime o Line through data is a flat line Caveat about Correlations Only applies to linear relationships Example o Arousal to performance too excited will make you do bad and if you don t care will make you do bad as well this is curval linear Be able to explain the direction and strength of a correlation when given the correlation coefficient Correlations goes from 1 to 1 Closer to 1 the stronger only looking at the absolute value of the number for strength Direction Spurious Differentiate between a spurious correlation and an illusory correlation Yes there is a relationship but it is caused by something else Example o Contraceptive you use and the amount of books in your house o 3 rd variable education Perception of statistical association between to variables where none exists Illusory Example Wearing a certain shirt to all games not doing well on a tests on Mondays Know the 3 criteria required for a variable to be causal 1 Must come BEFORE the effect in time People play video games THEN they commit a crime 2 Must be a correlation 3 The casual relationship must be NONSPURIOUS Must EXPIREMENT Explain how experiments enable researchers to isolate cause and effect Manipulate the level of one variable and observe its effects on another variable while controlling other factors Establish casual connections between variables Identify examples of independent variables and dependent variables Independent Variables The variable that you change Example Climate of the plants Control Variables The variable s that you keep the same Example Where the plant is The temp in the room The lighting in the room The amount of water the plants get The amount of attention you give the plants Dependent Variables The outcome variable that changes due to the IV Example The amount the plants grow State the goal and value of random assignment Give each person an equal chance of being in experimental or control group Minimizes pre existing differences State the goal and value of having a control group To be able to compare experimental group to a group that varies from them only in terms of the IV What is identical in the plant study and what is different Define statistical significance and know how it s determined A measure of how likely it is that the difference between the groups occurred by How much the plant growth varied and the mean of all the plant chance Determined by the Mean and Standard Example growths Identify measures of central tendency and variability Tendency Where the data tends to cluster Mean average Median middle height Mode most frequent Variability How loosely or tightly bunched scores are Range difference in highest and lowest Standard deviation how far each data point is from the mean Know the differences between validity and reliability Validity How others feel about you Reliability Hitting the same spot Test retest Differentiate internal vs external validity Internal Did IV really have an effect on our DV Did being rejected really cause longer time in ice bucket Enhanced by Experimental control over IV Random assignment External Can we generalize Does being rejected in lab differ from being rejected in real life What if we used a different measure of pain sensitivity Would we get the same results if we used a different age group Describe the ethical standard used to determine the
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