1 / 43

Chapter 2

Chapter 2. The Methods Of Psychology. Schacter Gilbert Wegner. PSYCHOLOGY. Slides prepared by: Melissa S. Terlecki, Cabrini College. 2.1. Empiricism: How to Know Things. PSYCHOLOGY. Schacter Gilbert Wegner. Empiricism: How to Know Things.

kasia
Download Presentation

Chapter 2

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 2 The Methods Of Psychology Schacter Gilbert Wegner PSYCHOLOGY • Slides prepared by: • Melissa S. Terlecki, Cabrini College

  2. 2.1 Empiricism: How to Know Things PSYCHOLOGY Schacter Gilbert Wegner

  3. Empiricism: How to Know Things • Three things that make people especially difficult to study: • Complexity • Variability • Reactivity

  4. Empiricism: How to Know Things Dogmatism: the tendency for people to cling to their assumptions. Empiricism: originally a Greek school of medicine that stressed the importance of observation; now generally used to describe any attempt to acquire knowledge by observing objects or events. Method: a set of rules and techniques for observation that allow researchers to avoid the illusions, mistakes, and erroneous conclusions that simple observation can produce. 4

  5. Questions • Why is it so hard to study people scientifically?

  6. 2.2 The Science of Observation: Saying What PSYCHOLOGY Schacter Gilbert Wegner

  7. Culture and Community: Expecting a Helping Hand? It Depends Where You Are • Observational study of helping behaviors in a naturalistic context. • Helpfulness varied between locations.

  8. Measurement • Observe: use your senses to learn about something’s properties. • Operational definition: a description of an abstract property in terms of a concrete condition that can be measured. • Measure: a device that can detect the measurable events to which an operational definition refers. • defining and detecting. • for example, electromyograph (EMG): a device that measures muscle contractions under the surface of a person’s skin.

  9. Questions • How could you measure happiness?

  10. Figure 2.1: Sources of Invalidity (p. 36)

  11. Measurement • Prerequisites for accurate measurement: • validity: the characteristic of an observation that allows one to draw accurate inferences from it. • reliability: the tendency for a measure to produce the same result whenever it is used to measure the same thing. • power: the tendency for a measure to produce different results when it is used to measure different things.

  12. Samples • Case method: a method of gathering scientific knowledge by studying a single individual. • Population: the complete collection of participants who might possibly be measured. • sample: the partial collection of people who actually were measured in a study.

  13. Questions • How can an exceptional case teach us about normal behavior?

  14. Demand Characteristics • Demand characteristics: those aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave as they think an observer wants or expects them to behave. • Naturalistic observation: a method of gathering scientific knowledge by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments.

  15. Questions • Why do people act differently when they know they’re being observed?

  16. Demand Characteristics • Naturalistic observation cannot solve the problem of demand characteristics. • Some events cannot be observed naturally. • Some observations can only be gathered through direct interaction. • Private or anonymous responding, measuring behaviors not susceptible to demand, and blind procedures can minimize demand characteristics. • cover stories. • filler items.

  17. New York City Bar’s One-way Mirror (p. 38)

  18. Questions • Why is it sometimes important that participants not be aware of an experiment’s true purpose?

  19. The Blind Observer • Expectations can influence observations. • Expectations can influence reality. • Double-blind observation: an observation whose true purpose is hidden from the researchers as well as from the participant.

  20. Questions • When might a computer run a better experiment than a human being?

  21. Financial Collapse in 2008 and 1929 (p. 40)

  22. 2.3 The Science of Explanation: Saying Why PSYCHOLOGY Schacter Gilbert Wegner

  23. Correlation and Causation • Correlation: the “co-relationship” or pattern of covariation between two variables, each of which has been measured several times. • Variable: a property whose value can vary or change. • Third-variable correlation: the fact that two variables may be correlated only because they are both caused by a third variable.

  24. Table 2.1: Hypothetical Data of the Relationship Between Happiness and Altruism (p. 41)

  25. Questions • Televised violence and aggression are correlated. Does that mean televised violence causes aggressiveness?

  26. Figure 2.2: Causes of Correlation (p. 42)

  27. Matched Samples and Matched Pairs • In order to eliminate the possibility that a third variable (and not the independent variable) caused changes in the dependent variable: • matched samples: an observational technique that involves matching the average of the participants in the experimental and control groups. • matched pairs: an observational technique that involves matching each participant in the experimental group with a specific participant in the control group.

  28. Hot Science: Establishing Causality in the Brain • Brain damage may be related to particular patterns of behavior, but that relationship may or may not be causal. • Ethically, we cannot experiment with brain damage, but can temporarily deactivate brain regions. • Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

  29. Matched Samples and Matched Pairs • Cannot dismiss all potential third variables. • third-variable problem: the fact that the causal relationship between two variables cannot be inferred from the correlation between them because of the ever-present possibility of third-variable correlation.

  30. Experimentation • Experiment: a technique for establishing the causal relationship between variables, through manipulation. • independent variable: the variable that is manipulated in an experiment. • experimental group: one of the two groups of participants created by the manipulation of an independent variable in an experiment that is exposed to the stimulus being studied. • control group: one of the two groups of participants created by the manipulation of an independent variable in an experiment that is not exposed to the stimulus being studied. • dependent variable: the variable that is measured in a study.

  31. Questions • In what ways do we perform experiments in everyday life?

  32. Figure 2.3: Manipulation (p. 45)

  33. Drawing Conclusions • Internal validity: the characteristic of an experiment that allows one to draw accurate inferences about the causal relationship between an independent and dependent variable. • An independent variable has been effectively manipulated. • A dependent variable has been measured in an unbiased way with a valid, powerful, and reliable measure. • A correlation has been observed between the independent and the dependent variable.

  34. Drawing Conclusions • External validity: a characteristic of an experiment in which the independent and dependent variables are operationally defined in a normal, typical, or realistic way. • Theory: a hypothetical account of how and why a phenomena occurs, usually in the form of a statement about the causal relationship between two or more properties. • hypothesis: a specific and testable prediction that is usually derived from a theory.

  35. Questions • Should variables be defined as they typically are in the real world?

  36. Drawing Conclusions • Generalizing from the sample to the larger population: • random sampling: a technique for choosing participants that ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample. • Nonrandom samples are acceptable. • Sometimes generality doesn’t matter. • Sometimes generality can be determined. • Sometimes generality can be assumed.

  37. Questions • When can a sample teach us about a population?

  38. 2.4 The Ethics of Science: Saying Please and Thank You PSYCHOLOGY Schacter Gilbert Wegner

  39. The Ethics of Science: Saying Please and Thank You • Code of ethics (APA, 1958): • informed consent: a written agreement to participate in a study made by a person (adult) who has been informed of all the risks that participation may entail. • freedom from coercion. • protection from harm. • risk-benefit analysis. • debriefing: a verbal description of the true nature and purpose of a study that psychologists provide to people after they have participated in the study.

  40. The Ethics of Science: Saying Please and Thank You • Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval required. • Non-human psychological research performed. • ethical treatment and rights. • costs versus benefits. • moral dilemma.

  41. PeTA and the Unethical Treatment of Animals (p. 50)

  42. Questions • Is it ever justifiable to harm a human or nonhuman research participant?

  43. Where Do You Stand? The Morality of Immoral Experiments • Nazi doctors during World War II unethically experimented on prisoners. • Controversial publication of data results.

More Related