Download Introduction to Psychology

Bogus Psychology:
 - found in bookstores, radio shows,
TV talk shows
 - full of well-meaning but intuitive
advice
 Real Psychology:
 - found in labs and scientific journals
 - full of empirically verified
information

 (1)
Experiment Method – carefully
controlled
◦ Hypothesis
◦ Independent / dependent variables
◦ Confounding variables
◦ Control / Experimental groups
◦ Operational Definition
◦ Controls (next slide)
◦ Advantages/Disadvantages (follow up
slide)

Example Hypothesis: Anxiety reduces social
distance.
 How do you operationalize anxiety???
Anxiety = accelerated heart rate, fast
breathing rate, sweating, etc.
Social distance = # of friends, # of
activities with more than 1 person
 Controls
◦ Random assignment
◦ Placebo
◦ Single blind study
◦ Double blind study
◦ Avoid experimental bias
◦ Avoid sample bias
 Advantages
◦ experiment can be repeated and
create generalization of theory
◦ Identify cause and effect relationship
◦ Controls some bias
 Disadvantages
◦ Artificial lab conditions
◦ Raises ethical concerns
 Hindsight
Bias
◦ tendency to believe, after learning an
outcome, that one would have
foreseen it
◦ the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon
 Overconfidence
◦ we tend to think we know more than
we do. It’s why we think we study
enough and then do poorly
1 Frame your hypothesis
2 Prepare Experiment
3 Perform Experiment
4 Analyze your data (usually statistically)
5 Publish, criticize, Repeat!
Repeat as needed…
Seriously,
it
could
happen
※ Naturalistic observation – watching in
real social setting
※ Surveys – questionnaires
※ Case Study – in depth description and
examination of an individual
 longitudinal – individuals over time
 cross-sectional – same time but
varied age cohorts
 Recognition
of effect on one
variable to another, measurement
of change
 Only descriptive research methods
 No manipulation of variables
 Possibility of cause/effect ONLY





Correlation coefficient-numerical value
calculated into (-1.0 to +1.0)
Positive Correlation – same direction
(increase to increase)
Negative Correlation – variables in
different direction (increase of one,
decrease in another)
Zero correlation means no relationship
Closer to +/- 1.0 the stronger the
relationship
◦ a graphed cluster of dots, each of which
represents the values of two variables
◦ the slope of the points suggests the
direction of the relationship
◦ the amount of scatter suggests the
strength of the correlation
 little scatter indicates high correlation
◦ also called a scattergram or scatter
diagram
Perfect positive
correlation (+1.00)
No relationship (0.00)
Perfect negative
correlation (-1.00)
 Mean=sum
 Median=#
at ½ way
 Mode=average
 Range=high# -low#
 Standard deviation=how far do
scores spread out from the mean
 Normal
= bell curve
 Positive skewed distribution =
distributed heavy at low scores;
looks like a p lying down; mean is
higher than median
 Negative skewed distribution=
heavy at high scores; mean is lower
than median

Probability Value – how much of our result is
from luck versus accurate evidence