Scientific Methods
What is psychology?
The statements are vague enough for people to interpret personally
What's the name of the variable manipulated by the researcher?
Independent variable
If both variables decrease, what type of correlation is that?
Positive correlation
What are the three components of an emotional response?
Physiological (body), cognitive (thoughts etc.), and behavioural (actions)
Name and explain one depth cue
Relative size
Texture gradient
Superimposition
Relative brightness
Height in plane
Name one feature that makes a field a science.
empirical evidence, experiments, falsifiability, systematic observation, replication
What variable is measured by the researcher?
Dependent variable
What is the problem with interpreting correlation as causation?
You don’t know what causes what
What are six universal emotions according to Paul Ekman?
happiness, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, disgust
What is the difference between sensation and perception?
Sensation is receiving raw sensory input; perception is how the brain interprets it
How do we call the type of evidence based on one's personal experience?
Anecdotal
What is an extraneous variable?
Any factor that can impact our result besides the one we're interested in
Why do shoe size and height correlate in children?
A third variable: age
If two cultures show different levels of eye contact, smiling, or public emotional expression, what concept explains this difference?
Display rules
Which part of the brain processes visual information?
occipital lobe / visual cortex
What is replication and why is it necessary?
To confirm results are not caused by chance or uncontrolled variables
Why is deception sometimes used in research?
To avoid demand characteristics and maintain natural behavior.
What is a misleading correlation?
A statistical relationship that exists by coincidence or due to a hidden variable.
How does Matsumoto et al study suggest that culture shapes emotion expression?
It showed that Japanese participants were more likely to mask emotions and maintain polite expressions, whereas Americans openly showed their feelings
Which theory argues perception is immediate, based on cues in the environment, without relying on memory or inference?
Gibson’s Direct Theory of Perception
How do we call the tendency to believe vague personality descriptions apply personally to you?
Barnum Effect
What is operationalization?
Turning abstract concepts into measurable procedures or behaviors.
Provide one real-world danger of misinterpreting correlational research
e.g. anti-medication panic linking autism to Tylenol
What is the key feature that Schachter-Singer added to the James-Lange model?
The cognitive label (appraisal): the idea that we interpret our bodily arousal based on situation to decide which emotion we feel
How does the Gibson and Walk study support Gibson's Direct Theory of Perception?
The Gibson and Walk study shows that even infants avoid visual cliffs without prior experience, suggesting perception relies on direct information from the environment rather than learned inference.