The Science of Psychology

# 7 What Makes Psychology a Science?

# 8 Three Principles of Scientific Endeavor

# 9 Scientific Method in Psychology

# 10 The Experimental Method

# 11 Copy Figure 2.3 "Steps in Conducting an Experiment"

# 12 Descriptive Research Methods

# 13 Copy Table 2.1 "Examples of Descriptive Research Methods" p. 42

# 14 What Ethical Principles Guide Psychology Research?

# 15 read & answer p. 53 "Should Non-Human Animals Be Used in Research?"

# 16 get Chapter 02 Test Review Sheet off teacher's website and complete

# 7 What Makes Psychology a Science?

Psychologists use scientific principles, methods, and procedures to be able to predict how people will behave.

Decade of BEHAVIOR: 2000-2010

Overt Behaviors -- include walking, gesturing, talking, even emotional reactions like laughing or crying. Must be easily observable.

empiricism-- knowledge achieved through careful observation

theory-- collection of interrelated ideas and observations that help explain and predict behavior or mental processes.

#8 Three Principles of Scientific Endeavor

Objectivity

Systematic Observation

Replicability

Objectivity

Evaluating research and theory on their own merits without personal bias

Did the referee do a good job?

Systematic Observation

carefully setting up how data will be collected

How do you evaluate a book?

Replicability

must be able to confirm findings through repeated observations

# 9 Scientific Method in Psychology

Situation

State the Problem

Develop a Hypothesis

Design a Study

Collect & Analyze Data

Draw Conclusions & Report Results

TRY AN EXAMPLE

# 9 Scientific Method in Psychology

Situation

State the Problem

Develop a Hypothesis

Design a Study

Collect & Analyze Data

Draw Conclusions & Report Results

# 10 The Experimental Method

EXPERIMENT procedure in which researchers systematically manipulate and observe elements of a situation (variables) in order to test a hypothesis and establish CAUSE & EFFECT

independent variabledependent variable sample

random assignmentoperational definition participants

experimental group control group

Try an Example

TERMS

# 10 The Experimental Method

Match up the term with the example next to it that best matches up with it. Assume we are conducting an experiment on the effects of drinking alcohol and playing Guitar Hero.

# 12 Descriptive Research Methods

Major Types

surveys

case studies

naturalistic observation

ex post facto studies

correlational studies

surveys

gather large amounts of information quickly

InterviewsWritten questionnairesTelephone callsComputer surveys

case studies

intensive observation & analysis of one person

uniqueness of individualhard to generalize to othersWhat if participant dies?

naturalistic observation

goal is to watch behavior as it occurs in real world

people change when they know they are being watched

must blend into background to be successful

ex post facto studies

allows researchers to describe differences among groups of individuals

genderageethnicityetc.could all be used in this type of researchLimitation is that is does NOT show the causes of any differences

correlational studies

used to determine the strength of a relationship between two variables

one goes up; the other goes up = positiveone goes up; the other goes down = negative

Type Example

Positive Correlation

height and shoe size

Negative Correlation

Golf skill and Golf score

limitation = just b/c 2 variables are correlated doesn't mean one causes the other

# 14 What Ethical Principles Guide Psychology Research?

Ethicsrules about proper conduct used in research

APA -- (American Psychological Assoc.) is the group that sets guidelines

Informed Consentmust get participants permissionIt must also be with full information including all risks that might be involved and that they can stop at any time.

Debriefingafter experiment, people must be told all about the study

can deception be used?Generally NO, but sometimes information is withheld if it will bias the person's

response.