Field Methods Notes: Chapter 1-5 PDF

Chapter 1 Publication is an essential feature of science for two reasons : Psychology is a science because it st takes this same general approach to 1 : is that scie...

Chapter 1 Publication is an essential feature of science for two reasons : Psychology is a science because it st takes this same general approach to 1 : is that science is a social process-a understanding one aspect of the natural large-scale collaboration among many world: human behaviour. researchers distributed across both time and space. Science is a general way of understanding the natural world. Its 2nd : is that publication allows science to three fundamental features are be self-correcting systematic empiricism, empirical questions, and public knowledge. Science Versus Pseudoscience Psychology is a science because it takes the scientific approach to Pseudoscience – refers to activities and understanding human behaviour. beliefs that are claimed to be scientific by their proponents—and may appear to Features of Science be scientific at first glance—but are not. The general scientific approach has An excellent source for information on three funda- mental features pseudoscience is The Skeptic’s 1st : systematic empiricism. Empiricism Dictionary. Among the pseudoscientific refers to learning based on observation, beliefs and practices you can learn and scientists learn about the natural about are the following: world systematically, by carefully - Cryptozoology: The study of planning, making, recording, and “hidden” creatures like Bigfoot, analyzing obser- vations of it. the Loch Ness monster, and the 2nd : empirical questions. These are chupacabra. questions about the way the world - Pseudoscientific actually is and, therefore, can be psychotherapies: Past- life answered by systematically observing it. regression, re-birthing therapy, The question of whether women talk and bioscream therapy, among more than men is empirical in this way others. 3rd : public knowledge. After asking their - Homeopathy: The treatment of empir- ical questions, making their medical conditions using natural systematic observations, and drawing substances that have been their conclusions, scientists pub- lish diluted sometimes to the point of their work. no longer being present. - Pyramidology: Odd theories  about the origin and function of Science and Clinical Practice the Egyptian pyramids (e.g., that Psychology is the scientific study of they were built by extraterrestrials) behaviour and mental processes. But it and the idea that pyramids in is also the application of scientific general have healing and other research to “help people, organizations, special powers. and communities function better” Another excellent online resource is By far the most common and widely Neurobonkers, which regularly posts known application is the clinical articles that investigate claims that practice of psychology—the diagnosis pertain specifically to psychological and treatment of psychological science. disorders and related problems. An empirically supported treatment is Scientific Research in Psychology one that has been studied scientifically and shown to result in greater Research in psychology can be improvement than no treatment, a described by a simple cyclical model. A placebo, or some alternative treatment. research question based on the These include many forms of research literature leads to an empirical psychotherapy, which can be as study, the results of which are published effective as standard drug therapies. and become part of the research Among the forms of psychotherapy with literature. strong empirical support are the Scientific research in psychology is following: conducted mainly by people with Cognitive behavioural therapy. doctoral degrees in psychology and For depression, panic disorder, related fields, most of whom are college bulimia nervosa, and post- and university faculty members. They do traumatic stress disorder. so for professional and for personal rea- sons, as well as to contribute to Exposure therapy. For post- scientific knowledge about human traumatic stress disorder. behaviour. Behavioural therapy. For Basic research is conducted to learn depression. about human behaviour for its own sake, Behavioural couples therapy. and applied research is conducted to For alco- holism and substance solve some practical problem. Both are abuse. valuable, and the distinction between the two is not always clear-cut. Exposure therapy with response prevention. For obsessive-  compulsive disorder. A categorical variable is a quality, such as chosen major, and is typically Family therapy. For measured by assigning a category label schizophrenia. to each individual e.g., Psychology, English, Nursing, etc. The clinical practice of psychology-the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems-is one Sampling and Measurements important application of the scientific discipline of psychology. Researchers in psychology are usually interested in drawing conclusions about Scientific research is relevant to clinical some very large group of people. This is practice because it provides detailed called the population. and accurate knowledge about psychological problems and establishes whether treatments are effective. One method of obtaining a sample is simple random sampling, in which every member of the population has an equal CHAPTER 2 chance of being selected for the sample. Variable The most common alternative to random sampling is convenience sampling, in which the sample consists A variable is a quantity or quality that of individuals who happen to be nearby varies across people or situations. and willing to participate (such as introductory psychology students) e.g., the height of the students enrolled in a university course is a variable because it varies from student to Once the sample is selected, student researchers need to measure the A quantitative variable is a quantity, variables they are interested in. This such as height, that is typically requires an operational definition—a measured by assigning a number to definition of the variable in terms of each individual precisely how it is to be measured. e.g., people’s level of talkativeness, how depressed they are, and the number of Statistical Relationships Between siblings they have. Variables measured using a statistic called Pearson’s r. Pearson’s r is a good measure only for Research questions in psychology are linear relationships, in which the points more likely to be about statistical are best approximated by a straight line. relationships between variables. There is a statistical relationship between two variables when the average score on Correlation Does Not Imply Causation one differs systematically across the levels of the other e.g., if the average exam score is higher The variable that is thought to be the among students who took notes cause is called the independent variable longhand instead of by using a laptop (often referred to as X for short), and the computer variable that is thought to be the effect is called the dependent variable (often referred to as Y). There are two basic forms of statistical relationship: differences between groups and correlations between Key Takeaways: Correlation does not quantitative variables. imply causation. A statistical relationship between two variables, X and Y, does not necessarily mean that X Differences Between Groups causes Y. It is also possible that Y causes X, or that a third variable, Z, causes both X and Y. - Differences between groups are usually described by giving the mean score and standard CHAPTER 3 deviation for each group. Correlations Between Quantitative Ethics is the branch of philosophy that is Variables concerned with morality—what it means - Is a correlation between two to behave morally and how people can quantitative variables, where the achieve that goal average score on one variable differs systematically across the levels of the other A Framework for Thinking About Research Ethics The strength of a correlation between quantitative variables is typically The idea is that a thorough consideration of the ethics of any opportunities. research project must take into account The APA Ethics Code is also an how each of the three core principles important ethics code for researchers in applies to each of the three groups of psychology people. The guidelines in the TCPS 2 are based on the following three core APA Ethics Code: principles: Institutional Approval 1. Respect for Persons: This Informed Consent to Research includes respecting the autonomy of research participants by Informed Consent for Recording ensuring free, informed, and Voices and Images in Research ongoing consent as well as Client/Patient, Student, and protecting those “incapable of Subordinate Research exercising autonomy because of Participants youth, cognitive impairment, other mental health issues or Dispensing With Informed illness.” Consent for Research 2. Concern for Welfare: This Offering Inducements for includes ensuring that Research Participation participants are not exposed to Deception in Research unnecessary risks, considering participants’ privacy and Debriefing maintaining their confidentiality, Humane Care and Use of as well as providing participants Animals in Research with “enough information to be able to adequately assess risks Reporting Research Results and potential benefits associated Plagiarism with their participation in the research.” Publication Credit 3. Justice: This refers to the Duplicate Publication of Data obligation to treat people fairly Sharing Research Data for and equitably, including by Verification considering the vulnerability of participants and ensuring that Reviewers historically marginalized groups (including ethnocultural minorities) are not unjustly Informed consent means obtaining and excluded from research documenting people’s agreement to participate in a study, having informed a general result that has been observed them of everything that might reliably in systematic empiral research reasonably be expected to affect their SOME FAMOUS PSYCHOLOGICAL decision. PHENOMENA Blindsight – people with damage to their Deception of participants in visual cortex are often able to respond psychological research can take a to visual stimuli that they do not variety of forms: misinforming consciously see participants about the purpose of a Bystander Effect – the more people who study, using confederates, using phony are present at an emergency situation, equipment like Milgram’s shock the less likely it is that any one of them generator, and presenting participants will help with false feedback about their performance e.g., telling them they did Fundamental attribution error – people poorly on a test when they actually did tend to explain others’ behaviour in well terms of their personal characteristics as opposed to the situation they are in McGurk Effect – when audio of a basic Debriefing is the process of informing research speech sound in combined research participants as soon as with video of a person making mouth possible of the purpose of the study, movements for a different speech revealing any deception, and correcting sound, people often perceive a sound any other misconceptions they might that is intermediate between the two have as a result of participating. Other-race effect – people recognize faces of people of their own race mire Scholarly integrity includes the obvious accurately than faces of people of other points that researchers must not races fabricate data or plagiarize. Placebo effect – (fake psychological or medical treatments) often lead to improvement in people’s symptoms and CHAPTER 4 functioning Mere exposure effect – the more often PHENOMENA AND THEORIES people have been exposed to stimulus, the more they like it---even when the stimulus is presented subliminally Phenomenon ( plural, phenomena) – is Serial position effect – stimuli present near the beginning and end of a list are ORGANIZATION – organize phenomena remembered better stimuli presented in in ways that help people think about the middle them clearly snf efficiently Spontaneous recovery – A conditioned PREDICTION – is to allow researchers response that has been extinguished and others to make predictions about often returns with no further training what will happen jn a new situations after the passage time GENERATION OF NEW RESEARCH – is to generate new research by raising new questions MULTIPLE THEORIES – researchers are REPLICATION – conducting a study usually considering multiple theories for again, either exactly as it was originally any set of phenomena. One reason is conducted or with modifications to be that because human behaviour is sure that it produces the same results extremely complex, it is always possible THEORY – is a coherent explanation or to look at it from different perspectives. interpretation of one or more phenomena PERSPECTIVE – is a broad approach The Variety of Theories in more ; more general than theory, to Psychology explaining and interpreting phenomena FORMALITY – the extent to which the MODEL – is a precise explanation or components of the theory and the interpretation of a specific phenomenon relationships among them are specified HYPOTHESIS – can be a explanation clearly and in detail. that relies on just a few concepts Formal Theories in Psychology People THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK – can be who are not familiar with scientific as broad as perspective or a specific as psychology are sometimes surprised to a model, but it is the context applied to learn that psychological theories can understanding a phenomenon take the form of mathematical equations and computer programs. The following formal theories are among the WHAT ARE THEORIES FOR? best known and most successful in the field: - Are meant to provide accurate explanations or interpretations of ACT-R – A comprehensive theory of phenomena human cognition that is akin to a programming language, within which specify a series of stages that more specific models can be created. people pass through as they develop or adapt to their PROSPECT THEORY – A formal theory environment of decision making under uncertainty. Psychologist Daniel Kahneman won the TYPOLOGIES – provide Nobel Prize in economics based in part organization by categorizing on prospect theory, which he developed people or behaviour into distinct with Amos Tversky. types RESCORLA-WAGNER MODEL – theory of classical conditioning that features an equation describing how the strength of the association between UNDERSTANDING PSYCHOLOGICAL unconditioned and conditioned stimuli MEASUREMENT changes when the two are paired MEASUREMENT – is the assignment of scores to individuals so that the scores represent some characteristic of the individuals SCOPE – the number and diversity of (Psychological measurement is often the phenomena they explain or interpret referred to as psychometrics.) THEORETICAL APPROACH PSYCHOLOGICAL CONTRUCTS FUNTIONAL THEORIES – - We cannot accurately assess explain psychological phenomena people’s level of intelligence by in terms of their function or looking at them, and we certainly purpose. For example, one cannot put their self-esteem on a prominent theory of repeated self bathroom scale. These kinds of -injury (e.g., cutting) is that people variables are called constructs do it because it produces a short- (pronounced CON-structs) and term reduction in the intensity of include personality traits (e.g., negative emotions that they are extraversion), emotional states feeling (e.g., fear), attitudes (e.g., toward MECHANISTIC THEORIES – on taxes), and abilities (e.g., the other hand, focus on specific athleticism). variables, structures, and - Psychological constructs cannot processes, and how they interact be observed directly, one reason to produce the phenomena. is that they often represent STAGE THEORIES – which tendencies to think, feel, or act in  certain ways. PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASURES - are those that involve recording any of a wide variety of physiological processes, CONCEPTUAL DEFINITION – of a including heart rate and blood pressure, psychological construct describes the galvanic skin response, hormone levels, behaviours and internal processes that and electrical activity and blood flow in make up that construct, along with how the brain. it relates to other variables. OPERATIONAL DEFINITION – is a LEVELS OF MEASUREMENT definition of a variable in terms of precisely how it is to be measured NOMINAL LEVEL – of measurement is used for These measures generally fall into one categorical variables and involves of three broad categories: assigning scores that are SELF REPORT MEASUREs – are those category labels. in which participants report on their own ORDINAL LEVEL – involves thoughts, feelings, and actions, as with assigning scores so that they the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. represent the rank order of the BEHAVIOURAL MEASURES – are individuals those in which some other aspect of INTERVAL LEVEL – involves participants’ behaviour is observed and assigning scores using numerical recorded  scales in which intervals have the consistency: same interpretation throughout TEST RE-TEST RELIABILITY – is RATIO LEVEL – involves the extent to which this is actually assigning scores in such a way the case. that there is a true zero point that e.g. intelligence is generally represents the complete absence thought to be consistent across of the quantity. time. A person who is highly intelligent today will be highly intelligent next week. This means that any good measure of intelligence should produce roughly the same scores for this individual next week as it does today. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF - INTERNAL CONSISTENCY – MEASUREMENTS which is the consistency of people’s responses across the items on a multiple-item measure RELIABILITY – refers to the consistency of a measure. SPLIT-HALF CORELATION – This involves splitting the items Psychologists consider three types of into two sets, such as the first  and second halves of the items or - When the criterion is measured at the even- and odd-numbered the same time as the construct, items. criterion validity is referred to as CONCURRENT VALIDITY INTER-RATER RELIABILITY – is the extent to which different - When the criterion is measured at observers are consistent in their some point in the future (after the judgments. construct has been measured), it is referred to as PREDICTIVE e.g. if you were interested in VALIDITY (because scores on the measuring university students’ measure have “predicted” a social skills, you could make future outcome). video recordings of them as they interacted with another student - One would expect new measures whom they are meeting for the of test anxiety or physical risk first time. Then you could have taking to be positively correlated two or more observers watch the with existing measures of the videos and rate each student’s same constructs. This is known level of social skills. as CONVERGENT VALIDITY - DISCRIMINANT VALIDITY – on the other hand, is the extent to VALIDITY - is the extent to which the which scores on a measure are scores from a measure represent the not correlated with measures of variable they are intended to. variables that are conceptually distinct. Three basic kinds: STUDIES/METHODS FACE VALIDITY – is the extent to which  Archival Studies a measurement method appears “on its  Meta Analysis face” to measure the construct of interest  Cross Sectional Studies CONTENT VALIDITY – is the extent to  Neuroimaging which a measure “covers” the construct of interest  Longitudinal Study CRITERION VALIDITY – is the extent to  Prospective Cohort Study which people’s scores on a measure are  Retrospective Cohort Study correlated with other variables (known as criteria) that one would expect them  Field Experiments to be correlated with  SUMMARY OF THE CASE OF feelings for Breuer, exemplifying ANNA O. transference, which Freud later emphasized as a crucial element  Bertha Pappenheim (February 27, in the therapeutic relationship, 1859 - May 28, 1936) who was influencing treatment dynamics. also known as Anna O.---a pseudonym which was given by  The case emerged during a time her physician Josef Breuer. Her when mental illness was often symptoms emerged during her attributed to physical causes. father's terminal illness, reflecting Anna O.'s treatment marked a her psychological trauma. shift toward recognizing psychological factors in mental  She had initially sought Breuer's health. help with a series of symptoms that included visual disturbances,  Breuer's extensive notes on Anna hallucinations, partial paralysis, O.'s case provided a and speech problems. Breuer comprehensive look at her diagnosed the young woman with symptoms, treatment process, hysteria and later discussed her and progress, serving as a case with Freud, who developed foundational case study for his own ideas of what lay at the psychoanalysis. root of Anna O.'s condition.  Anna O.'s case is often cited as  Breuer encouraged her to engage one of the first significant in free association—discussing examples of psychoanalytic her thoughts and feelings without treatment, influencing Freud's censorship. This method, termed theories on repression, the the "talking cure," allowed her to unconscious, and neuroses. articulate her traumas, leading to  Freud acknowledged the symptom relief. influence of Anna O.'s case on his  The process revealed the theories, particularly regarding significance of catharsis in the unconscious mind, repression, therapeutic settings, suggesting and the therapeutic process, that emotional release could which he elaborated on in his own alleviate psychological distress, a work. concept later integrated into  After Breuer's treatment, Anna O. psychotherapeutic practices. eventually entered a state of  Anna O. developed strong relative stability, although her  case ended ambiguously, raising sample size. questions about the long-term  Common in fields like psychology, efficacy of psychotherapy. education, and sociology and  The case significantly influenced may incorporate different data the establishment of psychology types from multiple cases. as a distinct scientific discipline,  Small N may involve multiple moving away from purely cases, explores patterns, uses biological or moral explanations diverse data across cases, it uses of behavior. statistical methods while case  Anna O.'s story remains a critical study typically focuses on one touchstone in the evolution of that aims for deep understanding psychological thought and and requires focus on one therapy, illustrating the complex comprehensive data set. interplay of emotions, trauma,  Small N findings may be more and treatment. generalizable; case studies focus on particularity. SMALL N DESIGN & ITS DIFFERENCE  Small N addresses broader FROM CASE STUDY questions; case studies target specific ones.  Involves a small number of cases or participants (typically less than  Small N may span multiple time 30), it is often qualitative in points; case studies focus on a nature. singular timeframe.  Purposeful selection to gain  Small N involves various insight into specific phenomen, participants; case studies have a allows for comparisons across consistent set. cases to identify patterns & emphasizes understanding  Small N evaluates patterns; case phenomena in their natural studies provide detailed settings. narratives.  Methodologies can adapt based on evolving data useful for generating theories or hypotheses. Findings may not be widely generalizable due to small