Module 2:
Psychological Research
Introduction to Psychology
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Affirmations
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Recall
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Key Theme
A. Psychological science relies on empirical data and adapts as new data develop
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Two Truths and a Lie
Which of these is the lie about psychological research?
C. You could use playing cards to randomly assign study participants to different groups for a psychological study.
B. A scientific theory is a “best guess” about human nature or behavior.
A. Psychological research often uses experimental designs to establish cause and effect relationships
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Section 1 Learning Goals
Explain how the scientific method is used in psychology and how research is conducted ethically
Explain the steps of the scientific method
1.1
Explain theories and hypotheses as they relate to the scientific method
1.2
Explain how research involving humans and animals is regulated
1.3
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The Scientific Method
The Scientific Method ensures that results are empirical, or grounded in objective, tangible evidence that can be observed time and time again, regardless of who is observing.
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The Process of Scientific Research
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Discussion: You Be the Psychologist
Imagine you are a researcher wanting to learn about flirting behaviors. How would you try to study it?
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Hypothesis or Theory?
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Theories and Hypotheses in the Scientific Method
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Key Components of the Scientific Method
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Features of Good Scientific Theories
THEORY PREDICTION
Explanation
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Which are falsifiable?
D. The mind does not exist.
C. Cannolis are delicious.
B. Eating before exams increases performance.
A. Classical music increases intelligence.
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Apply It: Scientific Method
Imagine that you want to conduct a study following the scientific method about one of the following topics:
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Ethics and Informed Consent
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The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
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Ethics in Animal Research
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC): a group of administrators, scientists, veterinarians, and community members that reviews proposals for research involving animals to ensure that research animals are treated humanely and inspects research facilities
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5 Psychology Experiments You Couldn't Do Today
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You be the IRB
Consider the following categories:
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Section 2 Learning Goals
Describe the advantages and limitations of research strategies
Differentiate between descriptive, experimental, and correlational research
2.1
Explain the strengths and weaknesses of case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys
2.2
Describe the strength and weaknesses of archival, longitudinal, and cross-sectional research
2.3
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Question
Which of these describes descriptive research?
C. Tests a hypothesis to determine whether a relationship exists between two or more variables
B. Allows researchers to gather more information about a topic
A. Is the only way to determine if a cause-and-effect relationship exists between variables
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Question
Which of these describes correlational research?
C. Tests a hypothesis to determine whether a relationship exists between two or more variables
B. Allows researchers to gather more information about a topic
A. Is the only way to determine if a cause-and-effect relationship exists between variables
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Question
Which of these describes experimental research?
C. Tests a hypothesis to determine whether a relationship exists between two or more variables
B. Allows researchers to gather more information about a topic
A. Is the only way to determine if a cause-and-effect relationship exists between variables
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Common Types of Descriptive Research
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Other types of Research
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Issues with Descriptive Research
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Apply It: Types of Research
Can you think of your own example of a research question that would fit each category?
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Section 3 Learning Goals
Describe the basic elements of correlational and experimental research
Explain and give examples of correlation
3.1
Discuss the experimental process (including ways to operationalize and generalize results from a sample to a larger population)
3.2
3.3
Discuss how experimenter or participant bias could affect the results of an experiment
3.4
Identify and differentiate between independent and dependent variables
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Correlational Research
Correlation means that there is a relationship between two or more variables. We can measure correlation by calculating the correlation coefficient, a number from -1 to +1 that indicates the strength and direction of the relationship between variables.
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Question
A psychologist discovers that the more control people feel they have over what happens in their work environments, the more productive they are. The psychologist has discovered a ________ correlation between perceived control and productivity.
C. Neutral
B. Negative
A. Positive
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Limits of Correlational Research
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Experimental Design: Participants
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Discussion: Experimental Participants
Often, psychological research projects rely on college students to serve as participants. In fact, the vast majority of research in psychology subfields has historically involved students as research participants (Sears, 1986; Arnett, 2008).
Do you think college students are representative of the general population?
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Operational Definition
A clear operational definition or description of how we will measure our variables is important so people can understand the results and the experiment can be replicated
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Generalizability and Cause and Effect
Random sampling is necessary to generalize results from our sample to a larger population, and random assignment is key to drawing cause-and-effect conclusions. With both kinds of randomness, probability models help us assess how much random variation we can expect in our results, in order to determine whether our results could happen by chance alone and to estimate a margin of error.
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Generalizability
How similar does a sample need to be to the population?
Can you generalize from one class to the whole grade?
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Preventing Bias in Experiments
Double blind studies where researchers and participants do not know which group received the treatment prevent experimenter bias and control for the placebo effect in participants
The placebo effect is the influence of people’s expectations or beliefs on their experience in a given situation
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Independent and Dependent Variables
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Interpreting Research
Research Hypothesis:
Standing desks increase productivity
Standing Desks
(Experimental Group)
Traditional, Seated Desks
(Control Group)
Typing Task (Measurement)
Random Assignment
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Do standing desks increase productivity?
3 Options:
But what if….
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Do standing desks increase productivity?
3 Options:
2. Results Contradict Hypothesis: Sitting > Standing
3. Results Contradict Hypothesis: No difference between groups
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Apply It: Understanding Research
Let’s look at a research study.
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Apply It: Understanding Research
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What type of study is this?
A: case study
B: naturalistic observation
C: survey
D: archival research
E: longitudinal study
F: cross-sectional study
G: correlational study
H: experiment
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Section 4 Learning Goals
Explain the basic statistical analyses needed for understanding psychological research
Demonstrate the value of using statistical analyses to examine data
4.1
Describe significance and the role of p-values in statistical inference
4.2
4.3
Explain reliability and validity
4.4
Describe the basic structure of a psychological research article
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Distributional Thinking
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Distributional Thinking
Table 1. Frequency tables of patient reading levels and pamphlet readability levels.
Figure 1. Comparison of patient reading levels and pamphlet readability levels.
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Collect and Display Data
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Distributional Thinking
Tables and graphs are often presented in mass media; sometimes accurately, sometimes not.
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Statistical Significance
Control
Probability/ p-value
Level of Significance
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Statistical Significance
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Reliability and Validity
Reliability: consistency and reproducibility of a given result
Validity: accuracy of a given result in measuring what it is designed to measure
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Find the Flaw
A researcher is testing how food and exercise affect a person’s weight. Each participant in the study is asked to eat a particular diet and conduct the same exercise routine. Each day, the participant is to weigh themselves and take their heart rate at particular times of day. They are instructed to write down the information in a provided journal and the importance of the accuracy of the data is emphasized. Each participant is responsible for weighing themselves with their own personal scale and to take their heart rate by either using a fitbit-type device or by manually recording their pulse. At the end of the study period the participants turn in their completed journals.
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Find the Flaw
A child developmental psychologist is interested in determining if a child’s personality can be predicted by a parent’s personality type. The psychologist recruits 50 parents and asks them to complete a well-known and studied personality inventory, the MMPI, to determine their own personality profile. After completing the inventory, parents are then asked to describe their child by choosing the top five attributes that best describe their child from a list of 100 possible attributes that the psychologist developed. The psychologist then runs correlational tests to see if the chosen attributes link to their parent’s personality profile.
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Find the Flaw
A doctoral student completing her dissertation on language development believes that parental naming of objects significantly affects how a young child who is just learning language interacts with the objects. The student recruits 75 parent-child dyads with 9 to 12-month-old children. In a lab, the parent holds their child on their lap while the doctoral student hands the child toys while either labeling the object or remaining silent. The student records how the child interacts with each object and later analyzes the behavior of the children to conclude that labeling made the children interact in a significantly different way than not labeling the item.
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The Structure of a Psychology Research Article
The American Psychological Association (APA) creates guidelines for how articles are structured:
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Apply It: Statistical Thinking
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Apply It: Statistical Thinking
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Section 5 Learning Goals
Examine the research process in order to learn about the replication crisis
Examine the research process undertaken by McCabe and Castel
5.1
Explain the replication crisis
5.2
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McCabe and Castel Abstract
"Brain images are believed to have a particularly persuasive influence on the public perception of research on cognition. Three experiments are reported showing that presenting brain images with articles summarizing cognitive neuroscience research resulted in higher ratings of scientific reasoning for arguments made in those articles, as compared to articles accompanied by bar graphs, a topographical map of brain activation, or no image. These data lend support to the notion that part of the fascination, and the credibility, of brain imaging research lies in the persuasive power of the actual brain images themselves. We argue that brain images are influential because they provide a physical basis for abstract cognitive processes, appealing to people's affinity for reductionistic explanations of cognitive phenomena (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
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McCabe and Castel Research
What were the independent and dependent variables in this study?
What conclusions were drawn from the study?
Did this study replicate?
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The Replication Crisis
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Apply It: The Replication Crisis
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Quick Review
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