Research Methods
This describes how realistic the procedure of a study is.
What is Mundane Realism?
Three characteristics of the sample in the study by Hassett et al (monkey toy preferences).
What are 21 male and 61 female rhesus monkeys; from a group of 135 animals at the Yerkes primate research station in the USA; 14 adults were not studied as they had hormone treatments; 39 young infants were excluded as they could not be identified?
This occurs when a test/task is too easy and all participants achieve a very high score such as in this study before it was revised.
What is the ceiling effect AND in Baron-Cohen et al (eyes test) [25 sets of eyes showing basic emotions were used and many participants scored 24 or 25]?
The sample of the study by Fagen et al (elephant learning).
What is five female elephants: four juveniles, one adult, all from the same elephant stable in nepal?
One way the results of the study by Milgram (obedience) can be used to help a teacher with a disobedient class.
What is a teacher could dress more authoritatively like wearing a lab coat; classes can be encouraged to be more obedient vocally as the teacher can give commands in a firm tone/stern voice?
Trixie is concerned participants will know her aim, this is what this problem is called, and why it is a problem.
What are demand characteristics that can cause participants to change their behavior to match their beliefs about what is supposed to happen, reducing the validity of a study?
The aim of the study by Dement & Kleitman (sleep & dreams).
What is answering the three questions: Does dream recall differ between rapid eye movement (REM) and quiescent (nREM) stages of sleep, Is there a positive correlation between subjective estimates of dream duration and the length of the REM period before waking, Are eye-movement patterns related to dream content?
How monitoring performance was scored in the study by Andrade (doodling).
What is the number of correct names/ places minus false alarms?
One example of imitative verbal aggression shown in the study by Bandura et al (aggression).
What is sock him; hit him down; kick him; throw him in the air; pow?
Three characteristics of the sample of Perry et al (personal space).
What are 54 male undergraduates; from University of Haifa; aged 19-32 (mean 25.29); participated for credit or payment; all had normal vision and no history of disorders?
One strength of having highly standardized procedures.
What is allowing a study to be replicated/ having high test-retest reliability; increasing the internal validity of the study as cause and effect are more clearly seen; reducing extraneous/ uncontrolled variables so it can be concluded results are based only on the IV?
One ethical strength of the study by Hassett et al (monkey toy preferences).
What is ethical guidelines for the care of animals in the USA were followed and approved by Emory University Ethical committee; animals received proper feeding, housing, and psychological and physical harm were not an issue?
One assumption of the cognitive approach.
What is similarities between the way people and computers process information; individual differences in cognitive processed such as attention, language, thinking, and memory, which can help to explain our differing behaviors and emotions?
The number of participants in each of the experimental groups in the study by Bandura et al (aggression).
What is 24 in the control group, 6 in each experimental group (8 groups)?
One assumption of the social approach.
What is our behavor, cognitions, and emotions can be influenced by the actual, implied, or imagined presence of others; all of our behavior, cognitions, and emotions can be influenced by social contexts, social environments, and groups?
The difference between operant conditioning and classical conditioning.
What is operant conditioning is learning from the consequences of our actions and classical conditioning is a form of learning in which an unconditioned response becomes linked to a previous neural stimulus to create a learned association?
One assumption of the biological approach.
What is behavior, cognitions, and emotions can be explained in terms of the working of the brain and the effect of hormones, genetics, and evolution; similarities and differences between people can be understood in terms of biological factors and their interaction with other factors?
The types of intelligence measured in Baron-Cohen et al (eyes test) and the results about types of intelligence in people with ASD.
What are theory of mind/empathy/the ability to realize others have different feelings, beliefs, knowledge, and desires and the WAIS-R which measures 4 aspects of intelligence: block, design, vocabulary, similarities, and picture completion AND people with more AS/HFA traits scored lower on eyes test but that the low emotional intelligence was independent of all other aspects of intelligence.
One assumption of the learning approach.
What is each life begins as a blank slate: observable changes to our behavior can result from interactions with our environment; the process of social learning, operant conditioning, and classical conditioning are the ways in which humans and animals learn, these processes involve stimulus-response?
The two operationalized IVs that were manipulated in experiments 1 and 2 in the study by Perry et al (personal space).
What is IV 1 of empathy with naturally occurring levels low and high and IV 2 of treatment with either OT or saline placebo administered?
The difference between situational and individual explanations and application to Pozzulo et al (line-ups).
What is individual refers to behaviors from factors within a person (disposition) and situation refers to behavior from factors in the external environment AND in pozzulo differences between children and adults were likely due to social pressure/demands (situational) and not differences in cognitive abilities (individual)?
Two strengths and two weaknesses from the study by Holzel et al (mindfulness and brain scans) with on referring to the research method longitudinal study.
What are
strengths: use of longitudinal study instead of cross sectional eliminates confounding participant variables which allows researchers to wait for the intervention to affect the brain; including a control group allowed comparison to ensure results were based on treatment; use of an MRI provides quantitative data allowing statistical analysis and eliminates demand characteristics which increases validity
weaknesses: low ecological validity with the use of an MRI which is noisy and can cause emotional responses; absence of correlations between increases in grey matter and the amount of mindfulness completed or change in FFMQ scores suggesting the practice is not the direct cause of brain changes
Two strengths and two weaknesses of the study by Pozzulo et al (line-ups).
What are
strengths: standardized lab experiment; operationalized dependent variable; quantitative data used; demand characteristics reduced which increases internal validity
weaknesses: unreal line-up could make participants feel it was not as important and they may have a different emotional reaction which lowers ecological validity; to reduce demand characteristics participants were told they were part of a memory study which could produce different effects on recall
The psychology being investigated in the study by Saavedra & Silverman (button phobia).
What is phobias are an irrational fear of an object/ situation; classical conditioning is when we learn by association; a person comes to perceive a previously neutral object or event negatively; person negatively evaluates the object/event without anticipating any threat/danger; the negative evaluation elicits feeling of disgust not fear; operant conditioning is when you learn by consequences; rewards encourage repeated behavior; operant differs from classical as person is being cognitively active by thinking about disgust and consequences rather than being passive; the boy was being treated for his phobia of buttons?
One strength and one weakness of the use of a field experiment in the study by Piliavin et al (subway samaritans).
What are high ecological validity as they were on their normal subway route and would behave naturally, but there is less control over extraneous variables which could affect participants' behavior and lower (internal) validity and (test-retest) reliability?