Research Methods & Scientific Inquiry
Scientific method
An organized way that helps scientists (or anyone!) answer a question or begin to solve a problem
Generalizability
The degree to which scientific findings from one context can be applied to a different context, group of people, or situation
Control condition
A situation in which variables are not changed in order to observe what the behavior looks like in normal circumstances
Structuralism and Functionalism (What is it -> Who started it)
Structuralism (Wilhelm Wundt, later Edward B. Titchener) tried to break down conscious experiences into their basic parts, like sensations, images, and feelings, using introspection (self-observation). Functionalism (William James, influenced by Darwin) pushed back against this focus on fixed mental elements. Instead, it studied the purpose of consciousness, how mental processes help people (and organisms) adapt and survive in their environment.
Biopsychology and Cognitive Psychology
Biopsychology is the scientific study of the link between biology, behavior, and mental processes. Cognitive psychology is the study of memory, thinking, reasoning, and other mental activities
Comparative Psychology
An indirect form of measurement whose goal is to learn about humans by studying non-humans
Environmental Realism
The degree to which the testing environment is similar to the real world context where the behavior typically occurs
Spurious correlation
A situation in which two variables are not really related, but are statistically correlated
Bio-Psycho-Social-Cultural Perspective
This perspective is inclusive of the many factors that work together to influence behavior
Developmental Psychology and Evolutionary Psychology
Developmental psych is the study of how the individual changes physically, cognitively, and emotionally over the life span. Evolutionary psychology is a subfield of psychology that aims to understand the evolutionary pressures that shaped behavior and the adaptive function of behavior
Indirect Measurements
Surveys and comparative psychology
Confounding Variables
Uncontrolled variables that can influence the phenomenon being studied
Scatterplot, positive and negative correlation.
A graph that shows the relationship between two variables. A positive correlation shows an increase between two variables (one goes up, the other goes up) and a negative correlation shows the opposite.
Perspectives of Psychology
Philosophical ways of thinking about the goals of psychology and the nature of human behavior
Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Multicultural/Diversity Studies
Multicultural/Diversity studies is a a subfield of psychology that explores how behavior is influenced by culture, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and disability. Industrial and organizational psychology is the subfield of psychology that examines the application of psychological principles to work and business
Operational definition
A statement that clearly explains what is being measured and how to measure it
Institutional Review Board and IACUC
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) are two separate oversight committees that ensure research is conducted ethically and safely. The primary difference is their subject of focus: the IRB reviews research involving human participants to protect their rights, safety, and privacy, while the IACUC reviews research involving vertebrate animals.
Correlation Coefficient
Summarizes the degree of relatedness between two continuous variables
Gestalt
The view that psychology's goal should be to study experience as a whole rather than the sum of its parts
Sensation and Perception and Behavior Analysis
The study of how the senses collect energy from the environment and then process this sensory information. Behavior analysis is a scientific approach to the study of learning that focuses on laws and processes of behavior across species and the development of behavior technologies.
Naturalistic Observation
A research method in which behavior is observed and recorded in the context where it typically occurs with as little interference from the researchers as possible need hierarchy theory this theory proposes that we have genetically determined physiological needs that drive our behavior
Internal Validity and External Validity
IV: The ability to minimize the influence of variables other than those involved in the research question. EV: The degree to which findings from the study can be applied to situations and participants outside the original group of participants.
Correlational Study
A research study that involves the measurement and comparison of two or more variables
Behaviorism
A subfield of psychology that focused exclusively on the relationship between behavior and environmental events.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI); what branch of psych?
A technology that uses MRI techniques to measure changes in blood flow in the brain during mental activity, used in biopsychology.