Psychology is a way of thinking
What is a benefit of being a good consumer?
Psychology courses, when reading news, for future career.
What is a meta-analysis?
Combination of results of many studies statistically
A researcher asks participants to spend time on either Instagram or Twitter and then measures their mood. What is the independent variable? What is the dependent variable?
IV = social media, 2 levels.
DV = mood
Give an example of a categorical/nominal variable.
Something that has distinct categories.
Give an example of a Likert scale question.
Anything that asks degree of agreement (strongly disagree - strongly agree).
Give an example of basic research.
An example that enhances the general body of knowledge about a particular topic.
Researchers wanted to test if eating chocolate improves mood. Give an example of a comparison group.
People not eating chocolate or people eating a different candy.
Give an operational definition of "anxiety".
A description of how you would measure anxiety. Could be self-report (questionnaire asking about anxiety levels), observational (number of times participant shakes), or physiological (heart rate)
Give an example of an observational measure of "anger".
Some measurable behavior (e.g., swearing, hitting)
What is acquiescence? How can you prevent this from happening?
Yea-saying. E.g., responding "strongly agree" to everything. You can avoid this by having items that need to be reverse coded.
Give an example of applied research.
An example of a study conducted to solve practical problems.
What is a confound?
An alternative explanation for an outcome
What type of claim is this?: "Single people eat fewer vegetable"
Association claim
Describe interrater reliability.
Consistent scores no matter who does the measuring. Usually, two or more observers rating. If their ratings are highly positively correlated, then there's high interrater reliability.
What can be done to reduce reactivity?
Blend in, wait it out, or/and measure the behavior's results
Explain the theory-data cycle.
Scientists collect data to test, change, or update their theories.
What is an empirical journal article?
Reporting method and results of a study for first time. Goes through peer review process.
What is construct validity?
How well a conceptual/abstract variable(s) is operationalized
Describe content validity.
Measure contains all the parts that your theory says it should contain.
Name something that reduces the construct validity of surveys and polls.
Leading questions, double-barreled questions, negatively worded questions, and poor question order
What makes a good scientific theory?
Supported by data, falsifiable, have parsimony, and doesn't prove anything (uses weight of the evidence)
Name one way intuition is biased.
-Swayed by a good story
-Persuaded by what easily comes to mind (availability heuristic)
-Failing to think about what we cannot see (present bias)
-Focusing on evidence we like best (confirmation bias)
-Being biased about being biased (bias blind spot)
What is external validity?
How well do the results generalize to other people or contexts?
Define the reliability and validity of a measure.
Reliability: how well a measure correlates with itself
Validity: how well a measure is associated with something else.
Name something that reduces the construct validity of observational studies.
Observer bias and observer effects.