Mod 2 Part 4

1. Mod 2 Part 4 AP Psychology

2. Brief Review • Case Study • One or a few cases • Highly descriptive detail • Survey • Large number of participants • Generalizable • Not very much depth • Naturalistic observations • Observations in a natural environment • Description only, no prediction • Experimentation • Isolation of variables of interest • Control of variables allows researcher to theorize causal links

3. Can Laboratory Experiments illuminate real life? • Laboratory environment is a simplified reality in order to control for external factors • Recreation of psychological principles under scientific conditions • Hong Kong adults who flexibly coped with lab stresses were flexible in coping with marital stresses (Cheng 2001) • Principle is the same, only the setting is controlled • Purpose of experiment is to test the principle not to recreate reality (Mook 1983) • Most things do generalize to the outside world (Anderson et al, 1999) • Psychologists’ concerns lie not with the particular behaviors but with the principles that describe them

4. Does behavior depend on one’s culture? • Culture: shared ideas and behaviors that one generation passes on to the next • Standards of promptness and frankness • Attitudes toward premarital sex and different body shapes • Tendencies to be casual or formal • Some underlying forces make us the same • Dyslexia is the same in different languages (Paulesu et al 2001) • All languages share deep principles of grammar • Facial expressions and body language can overcome linguistics • Shyness, low self esteem, and being unmarried magnify loneliness in all cultures (Jones et al 1985, Rokach et al 2002) • Hunger and taste are universal

5. Does behavior vary with gender? • Gender is part of basic identity • Gender issues permeate psychology • Dreams • Expression and detection of emotions • Alcoholism • Depression • Eating disorders • Conversations: women build relationships while men give information (Tannen 1990) • Remarkable similarities • Sensations of light and sound • Feelings of hunger, desire, and fear • Overall intelligence and wellbeing • Biology determines sex; culture determines gender

6. Why do psychologists study animals? • Animals are fascinating • Interesting to make comparisons between animals • Relationship to people • Many behaviors are similar • Advances based on animal studies • Insulin • Vaccinations • Transplant • Processes that are similar • Vision • Emotion • Obesity • Learning • Animals provide a way to simplify processes

7. Is it Ethical to experiment on animals? • “We cannot defend our scientific work with animals on the basis of similarities between them and ourselves and then defend it morally based on differences.” (Ulrich 1991) • Number of research animals pales in comparison to animals used for food or killed at shelters (Goodwin and Morrison 1999) • Allegations of animal abuse in experimentation are overblown (Coile and Miller 1984, Gallup and Suarez 1985) • Shock only used in 4% of British studies, all involving rats (Thomas and Blackmun 1991) • Compassion for animals vs. compassion for people • Can we sacrifice animals for the sake of humans? • Compassion varies based on perceived similarities (Plous 1993) • Most researchers support laws that protect animal welfare (Plous and Herzog 2000) • British require humane treatment of research animals (Lea 2000) • Some research has benefited the animals themselves • Stress reduction in dog (Tuber et al 1999) • Zoo animals allowed to hunt (Stewart 2002) • Improvement of animal care

8. Is it ethical to experiment on people? • Temporary stress or deceit sometimes necessary for a justifiable end • Ethical principles (US 1992 UK 1993) • Informed consent of the participants • Protect participants from harm and discomfort • Maintain confidentiality • Fuly explain research afterward • Non-university research • Consumer surveys • Photography of economic and social behavior • Tracking buying patterns • Apple products ?!?!? • Much less attention paid to this

9. Is psychology free of value judgments? • Values affect • What we study • How we study it • How we interpret reseults • Cannot separate values from perception • Language loaded with value • What is considered abnormal or undesirable changes according to values • Homosexuality in the DSM • ADHD? • Psychological professionals give value-laden advice

10. Is psychology potentially dangerous? • Can it be used to manipulate others? • Knowledge can be used for good or evil • Schmidt and the process of “othering” • Persuasive power can educate or mislead • Purpose is to enlighten, not deceive • Some of the world’s biggest problems have a psychological basis • War • Overpopulation • Prejudice • Family dysfunction • crime

11. Case Study – the Death Penalty • Starting in 1950, the US Supreme Court began to allow social science research to influence decisions • Brown v. Board of Education racism study • Cruel and unusual punishment issues • Arbitrary basis or influence of race? • IQ • Age • Ways to kill the prisoner • Crimes that are appropriate for death penalty • Is the death penalty applied fairly • US is only Western post-industrial democracy that still has the death penalty • Effect of race of the convicted and the victim influences penalty • Is the death penalty a deterrent? • Nope….simple as that • States that have it have crime rates very similar to states that don’t

12. Studying for the unit 2 test • II. Research Methods (8–10%) • Psychology is an empirical discipline. Psychologists develop knowledge by doing • research. Research provides guidance for psychologists who develop theories to • explain behavior and who apply theories to solve problems in behavior. • AP students in psychology should be able to do the following: • • Differentiate types of research (e.g., experiments, correlational studies, survey • research, naturalistic observations, and case studies) with regard to purpose, • strengths, and weaknesses. • • Describe how research design drives the reasonable conclusions that can be • drawn (e.g., experiments are useful for determining cause and effect; the use of • experimental controls reduces alternative explanations). • • Identify independent, dependent, confounding, and control variables in • experimental designs. • • Distinguish between random assignment of participants to conditions in • experiments and random selection of participants, primarily in correlational • studies and surveys. • • Predict the validity of behavioral explanations based on the quality of research • design (e.g., confounding variables limit confidence in research conclusions). • • Distinguish the purposes of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. • • Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and • constructing graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics • (e.g., measures of central tendency, standard deviation). • • Discuss the value of reliance on operational definitions and measurement in • behavioral research. • • Identify how ethical issues inform and constrain research practices. • • Describe how ethical and legal guidelines (e.g., those provided by the American • Psychological Association, federal regulations, local institutional review boards) • protect research participants and promote sound ethical practice.