Research in Psychology

1. Research in Psychology

2. Think about it…

5. To do successful research, you don’t need to know everything, you just need to know of one thing that isn’t known. - Arthur Shawlow

6. “If you are a scientist, you believe that it is good to find how the world works, that it is good to find out what the realities are, that it is good to turn over to mankind at large the greatest possible power to control the world…It is not possible to be a scientist unless you believe that the knowledge of the world, and the power which this gives, is a thing which is of intrinsic value to humanity, and that you are using it to help in the spread of knowledge, and are willing to take the consequences.” • -J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904-1967) Philosophy of Science

7. Research is an attempt to understand the world in general • Psychological research, more specifically, is an attempt to understand human experiences of themselves and the world. What is Psychological research?

8. Just as research of our physical world has led to our creation of incredibly artful and scientific structures, so too psychological research holds out the promise of discovering the architecture of our psyche and our behavior in the world around us.

9. Theories • E.g. Low self-esteem feeds depression • Hypotheses • E.g. People with low self-esteem score higher on a depression scale • Research and Observations • E.g. Administer rests of self-esteem and depression. See if a low score on one predicts a high score on the other. Theories Hypotheses and Research Observations

10. Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions • Examines assumptions • Discerns hidden values • Evaluates evidence Thinking Critically

11. What topics would you like to research? • Create a research question • E.g. what is the effect of meditation on stress? • What kind of research would it involve? Describe a study. Design Your Own Study

12. Independent Variable • The factor that is manipulated • The variable whose effect is being studied • Dependent Variable • The factor that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable • In psychology, it is usually a behavior or mental process. Independent vs. Dependent Variables

13. Control Group: is exposed to all of the circumstances of the experiment but does notget whatever is being tested or changed. • Experimental Group: gets all of the circumstances of the experiment plusthe one variable being tested by the experiment.

14. Case study • Observations • Surveys • Experiments • Physiological

15. Participation must be voluntary • Right to privacy • Informed consent Ethics

16. In-class experiment #1

17. In-class experiment #2

18. A placebo is simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment for a disease or other medical condition intended to deceive the recipient. • Sometimes patients given a placebo treatment will have a perceived or actual improvement in a medical condition, a phenomenon commonly called the placebo effect.  The Placebo Effect

19. In-class experiment #3 YouTube clipMp3

20. Comes from a set of expectations that researchers bring to an experiment. • Observation bias can draw misleading conclusions. Observation Bias

21. Helps scientists to determine the safety and efficacy of new medicines and therapies, while minimizing the impact of observer bias and the placebo effect • Neither scientists running the trial nor the volunteers receiving the treatment know who is receiving which treatment. Double-blind trials

22. Double-blind studies