Psychology Research Foundations and Process
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Questions and Answers

What is the primary focus of Instrumental Conditioning?

  • Instinctual responses to stimuli
  • Memorizing facts and information
  • Understanding the relationship between behaviors and consequences (correct)
  • Learning through observation of others

    • Which principle explains why behaviors followed by positive outcomes are likely to be repeated?

  • Law of Effect (correct)
  • Law of Feedback
  • Law of Averages
  • Law of Contrast

    • What type of training involves removing a negative reinforcer to encourage a behavior?

  • Omission Training
  • Punishment Training
  • Reward Training
  • Escape Training (correct)

    • What is the process of gradually reinforcing steps towards a target behavior called?

    <p>Shaping</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which type of reinforcement schedule rewards a behavior every time it occurs?

    <p>Continuous Reinforcement</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Generalization involve in the context of learning?

    <p>Applying learned responses to similar stimuli</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the context of Instrumental Conditioning, what is Discrimination?

    <p>Responding only to specific cues</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does a Variable Ratio reinforcement schedule entail?

    <p>Reinforcing on an unpredictable basis</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the purpose of the scientific method in research?

    <p>To answer questions accurately and avoid intuition</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the term 'confounding variable' refer to?

    <p>A variable that complicates causal interpretations</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which sampling method helps ensure findings apply broadly to similar cases?

    <p>Random Sampling</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary role of a control group in an experiment?

    <p>To provide a baseline for comparison</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is NOT a core scientific principle?

    <p>Complex theories require less evidence</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a key difference between within-participants and between-participants design types?

    <p>Between-participants design uses separate groups for different conditions</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does data analysis primarily involve?

    <p>Using statistics to interpret patterns</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the first step in the research process?

    <p>Theory Formation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the representativeness heuristic involve?

    <p>Judging likelihood based on prototypes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which characteristic makes language unique to humans?

    <p>Being arbitrary.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is telegraphic speech characterized by?

    <p>Using short phrases with essential information</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does overregularization in language development refer to?

    <p>Errors made by children when they apply grammatical rules incorrectly.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What are morphemes in the context of language?

    <p>The smallest units of meaning in a language.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does overregularization in language development refer to?

    <p>Applying grammatical rules too broadly</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What role does infant-directed speech play in language acquisition?

    <p>It helps infants distinguish sounds and improve vocabulary.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does animal communication compare to human language?

    <p>It lacks flexibility and grammatical complexity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How does receptive vocabulary differ from expressive vocabulary in children?

    <p>Receptive vocabulary consists of words children understand but can't say.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the purpose of categorization in cognitive processing?

    <p>To simplify complex ideas and enhance communication</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which theory of categorization suggests that items have overlapping features rather than strict definitions?

    <p>Family Resemblance</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the segmentation problem that infants face?

    <p>Separating continuous speech into individual words.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What aspect of language development do pragmatics refer to?

    <p>Skills that facilitate effective social communication.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the Prototype Theory suggest about categorization?

    <p>New items are compared to an 'ideal' category member</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In categorization, what does the term 'typicality' measure?

    <p>How representative an item is within its category</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is an example of a task used to gauge typicality in categorization research?

    <p>Sentence Verification Task</p> Signup and view all the answers

    At what age do infants typically begin to coo?

    <p>12 weeks</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What term describes the rapid vocabulary growth that occurs between 18-24 months?

    <p>Naming Explosion</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does Chomsky's Language Acquisition Device (LAD) propose?

    <p>There is an innate mechanism for language development</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What phenomenon explains why infants can initially distinguish phonemes from various languages?

    <p>Universal Phoneme Sensitivity</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is one criticism of Social Learning Theory in understanding language acquisition?

    <p>It relies too heavily on imitation and reinforcement</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is an example of an early language error that children might make?

    <p>Overregularization</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the term 'fast mapping' refer to in child language acquisition?

    <p>Quickly learning new words after minimal exposure</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the 'Holophrastic Phase' in language development?

    <p>Employing single words to convey entire meanings</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is an ill-defined category characterized by?

    <p>Flexible, typical traits</p> Signup and view all the answers

    At what age do children begin to generalize information within categories?

    <p>Age three</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary feature of a well-defined category?

    <p>Defined by strict rules</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which disorder involves the inability to name objects despite recognizing them?

    <p>Anomia</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What does the typicality effect demonstrate?

    <p>Faster responses to typical items</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which type of learning focuses on generalizing concepts to new situations?

    <p>Abstraction learning</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is a characteristic of the superordinate level of categorization?

    <p>General categorization with low detail</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do baboons demonstrate categorization skills?

    <p>By categorizing objects as food or non-food</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Research Foundations

    • Scientific Method: An empirical process for accurate question-answering that avoids intuition.
    • Levels of Analysis: Psychological approaches (e.g., social, cognitive) offering diverse perspectives on behavior.
    • Paradigm: Framework influencing research questions and methods.
    • Core Scientific Principles:
      • Parsimony: Preferring simpler explanations.
      • Generalizability: Findings apply to similar cases.
      • Conservatism: New theories demand strong evidence.
    • Anecdotal Evidence: Based on personal experiences, lacking generalizability and scientific rigor.
    • Raw Data: Unprocessed data from a study, analyzed later for interpreting outcomes.

    Research Process

    • Theory Formation: Developing or adopting a theory.
    • Hypothesis Generation: Creating testable predictions based on the theory.
    • Method Selection: Choosing appropriate research methods (e.g., experiment, case study).
    • Data Collection: Gathering data using tests, surveys, observations, etc.
    • Data Analysis: Using statistics to interpret patterns and evaluate hypotheses.
    • Reporting: Sharing findings for peer review.
    • Theory Revision: Updating theories based on new evidence.

    Experimentation & Variables

    • Variables:

      • Independent Variable: Manipulated by researchers.
      • Dependent Variable: Observed/measured effect.
      • Confounding Variable: A variable influencing outcomes, complicating causal interpretation.
      • Control Group: Not manipulated, used as a baseline for comparison.
      • Experimental Group: Receives manipulation of the independent variable.

    • Within-Participants Design: Each participant experiences all conditions in a study, reducing participant differences but introducing potential practice effect.

    • Between-Participants Design: Different groups experience different conditions, requiring control for confounding variables.

    Sampling and Bias

    • Sampling Methods:
      • Random Sampling: Ensuring generalizability.
      • Random Assignment: Minimizing bias by randomly placing participants into groups.
    • Participant Bias:
      • Placebo Effect: Changes in behavior due to belief in treatment.
      • Social Desirability: Responding in a way expected of them.
      • Experimenter Bias: Researchers impacting results unintentionally, potentially countered with blind studies.
    • Blinding:
      • Single-Blind Study: Participants unaware of group assignment, reducing bias.
      • Double-Blind Study: Neither participants nor researchers are aware of group assignments, maximizing reduction in bias.

    Data Analysis

    • Descriptive Statistics: Summarizing data (e.g., mean, median, mode, standard deviation).
    • Inferential Statistics: Determining statistically significant differences between groups (p < 0.05 often signifies significance).
    • Statistical Significance: The likelihood results are due to actual differences, not chance.
    • Correlation: Measuring the strength and direction of relationships between variables, ranging from -1 to +1, with 0 indicating no relationship.

    Causation vs. Correlation

    • Correlation does not equal causation; other factors may influence the relationship.

    Common Research Errors

    • Type I Error: False positive; claiming a finding that doesn't exist.
    • Type II Error: False negative; failing to detect an actual effect.
    • Replication: Repeating studies to verify findings and build reliable theories.

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    Description

    Explore the fundamental concepts and steps involved in psychological research through this quiz. Gain insights into the scientific method, levels of analysis, and the core principles that guide inquiry. Test your knowledge on theory formation, hypothesis generation, and data collection methods.

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