PSY 101 Notes 1 28 2015 2 16 2015 Methods of Psychological Research Methods of Data Collection 1 Direct Observation 2 Surveys Naturalistic no interference Observing recording behavior without trying to control the situation No direct information about thoughts and emotions of participants so it is limited in this respect Psychology is the science of the mind and behavior so lack of data on emotions and thoughts is a hindrance A series of questions for discovering the self reported attitudes or behaviors of people Various methods phones internet mail in etc This allows us to gather information on thoughts and emotions There are limitations however it is not possible for us to completely recall information at various times in the past I II III Limitations of accuracy People may not be honest in order to look good sensitive topics like drug use sexual behaviors etc can cause a person to be self conscious and hide their true thoughts The most damaging limitation internal bias You can deny it without realizing you even have one For example take the recent murder cases of Michael Brown and Eric Garner This is an issue split down the middle for many people and those who refuse to recognize the issue of race as a huge contributing factor to their deaths may have an internal bias that they don t see in themselves 3 Indirect Observation You can make inferences based on indirect information Very diverse methods for instance eye tracking machines measure pupil movement Response time measures you will complete a task quicker if the task is something you are already thinking about If you experience fear and anxiety you are better able to identify fear vs frea as a word in a word identification exercise Physiological measures changes accompany many mental states o Sweating pulse racing in fearful situations o Brain scans show different activity in different mental states o Cardiovascular or peripheral arousal states of fear or anxiety o Addiction to drugs sex food love etc the same parts of the brain active during drug addiction are present during feelings of falling in love We need to summarize our observations in order to find meaningful patterns of results we do this by quantifying data Quantifying data means to use numbers to summarize our variables o Variable any measurable characteristic that varies o Mean arithmetic average of scores in a distribution o Standard deviation computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean o Correlation degree of variability shared by two variables Example height and weight are directly related as taller people tend to weigh more than shorter people o Positive correlation a direct relation between two variables o Negative correlation an inverse relation between two variables o No correlation no relation between two variables Correlations are useful for two quantitative variables not categorical variables o Sample subgroup of a population examined in a study o Representative sample sample that contains all variation present in a broader population o Statistically significant likelihood that a correlation or group difference in a sample is not due to random occurrence o P value probability that observed effects were due to chance represents significance p 0 05 is statistically significant I An observed effect is more likely to be significant if i ii The effect is large The sample is large Research Types 1 Descriptive research To discover basic characteristics of people or situations Examples what are the primary structures of the brain Most basic research the least complex 2 Correlational research To predict aspects of mind or behavior Uses observation direct indirect surveys or indirect methods Examples o Does gender predict emotions in close relationships o Does wealth predict happiness o Does race predict intelligence Each of these actually has a positive correlation and these are very controversial findings The key issue is causation doe the variables really match o If you re a male are you less emotional than your girlfriend o If you re rich are you automatically happier than the poor o If you re white are you really biologically smarter or are there other factors Race may predict intelligence but you aren t saying that race causes intelligence Gender female hormones tend to promote emotional closeness more than male Correlation vs causation o Variable A causes variable B hormones o Variable B causes variable A Wealth happiness leads to one becoming more wealthy o Variables A and B are both associated with Variable C Race and intelligence are both associated with access to educational resources Whites tend to have better educational opportunities than disadvantaged minorities o Two or more of these patterns can occur simultaneously CORRELATION DOES NOT NECESSARILY IMPLY CAUSATION 3 Experimental research An experiment is o Designed to rule out ambiguity of what causes what using random assignment to conditions The researcher does one of two things o The researcher manipulates an independent variable A o The researcher examines the effects on a dependent variable B Example o Hypothesis listening to classical music makes your IQ higher o Even if there is a correlation classical music still doesn t cause an increase in intelligence o Intelligent people may choose to listen to classical music on their own o Smart children may have smart parents who make them listen to it Experiment a group is divided into two halves one listens to Mozart and one does not There are other variables like their socioeconomic backgrounds which contribute so you must use a randomized way of categorizing people Not all research can be done experimentally o Example the effect of childhood trauma on adult life ethics prevents this o Research on animals allows us knowledge of these topics o Some psychologists study rats for learning studies primate studies help us learn about human behavior as well o Much of human psychological studies are done on animals they are willing to live in captivity and it is more ethical some studies involve subjecting rats to experiences and afterwards the animal is killed and the brain is exhumed to study Evolution and Psychology 1 What is evolution Humans are animals too Every living organism on earth is related a basic tenet of evolutionary theory Humans resulted from evolution Evolution o Survival of the fittest we are led to believe the strongest survive and the weakest ones die out o It doesn t actually refer to strength as an indicator of