Docsity
Docsity
Prepare for your exams
Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity

Earn points to download
Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan

Guidelines and tips
Guidelines and tips
Sell on Docsity
Sell on Docsity
Docsity AI
Docsity AI
Log inSign up

Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity

Find documents

Prepare for your exams with the study notes shared by other students like you on Docsity

Search for your university

Find the specific documents for your university's exams

Docsity AINEW

Summarize your documents, ask them questions, convert them into quizzes and concept maps

Explore questions

Clear up your doubts by reading the answers to questions asked by your fellow students

Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan

Share documents
download point icon20 Points

For each uploaded document

Answer questions
download point icon5 Points

For each given answer (max 1 per day)

All the ways to get free points
Get points immediately

Choose a premium plan with all the points you need

Study Opportunities

Choose your next study program

Get in touch with the best universities in the world. Search through thousands of universities and official partners

Community

Ask the community

Ask the community for help and clear up your study doubts

Free resources

Our save-the-student-ebooks!

Download our free guides on studying techniques, anxiety management strategies, and thesis advice from Docsity tutors

Scientific Method and Psychology: Steps, Importance, and Techniques, Study notes of Psychology

Louisiana State University (LSU) - System OfficePsychology

An introduction to the scientific method, its application in psychology, and various techniques used in psychology research such as naturalistic observation, laboratory observation, case studies, surveys, correlations, and experiments. It covers the importance of the scientific method, its steps, advantages, and limitations for each technique, and the concept of correlation not equating to causation.

Typology: Study notes

2017/2018

Uploaded on 09/17/2018

koofers-user-mpw
koofers-user-mpw 🇺🇸

10 documents

1 / 7

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
Ch. 2 Introduction to the Scientific Method
Scientific Method
oA system for reducing bias and error in the measurement of data
Used in psychology to accomplish the goals of description, explanation,
prediction, and control
Steps of the Scientific Method
oReporting Results Control
oDrawing Conclusions Prediction
oTesting the Hypothesis Explanation
oForming a Hypothesis Description and Explanation
oPerceiving the Question Description
The Importance of the Scientific Method
oApart from having a good systematic process it protects us from ourselves
oWe have innate biases that can lead us astray in drawing conclusions
Confirmation Bias
Methods of Psychology
oDescriptive Methods
Naturalistic Observation
Laboratory Observation
Case study
Surveys
oCorrelations
oThe Experiment
Naturalistic Observation
oWatching animals or humans behave in their normal environment
Advantage
Realistic picture of behavior
Limitations
Observer effect – tendency or people or animals to behave
differently from normal when they know they are being observed
Laboratory Observation
oWatching animals or humans behave in a laboratory setting
Advantages
Control over environment
Allows use of specialized equipment
Limitations
Artificial situation that may result in artificial behavior
Can be difficult to generalize findings to “real world” situations
Case Studies
oStudy of one individual in great detail
Advantage
Tremendous amount of detail
Great for hypothesis generation
pf3
pf4
pf5

Partial preview of the text

Download Scientific Method and Psychology: Steps, Importance, and Techniques and more Study notes Psychology in PDF only on Docsity!

Ch. 2 Introduction to the Scientific Method  Scientific Method o A system for reducing bias and error in the measurement of data  Used in psychology to accomplish the goals of description, explanation, prediction, and control  Steps of the Scientific Method o Reporting Results  Control o Drawing Conclusions  Prediction o Testing the Hypothesis  Explanation o Forming a Hypothesis  Description and Explanation o Perceiving the Question  Description  The Importance of the Scientific Method o Apart from having a good systematic process it protects us from ourselves o We have innate biases that can lead us astray in drawing conclusions  Confirmation Bias  Methods of Psychology o Descriptive Methods  Naturalistic Observation  Laboratory Observation  Case study  Surveys o Correlations o The Experiment  Naturalistic Observation o Watching animals or humans behave in their normal environment  Advantage  Realistic picture of behavior  Limitations  Observer effect – tendency or people or animals to behave differently from normal when they know they are being observed  Laboratory Observation o Watching animals or humans behave in a laboratory setting  Advantages  Control over environment  Allows use of specialized equipment  Limitations  Artificial situation that may result in artificial behavior  Can be difficult to generalize findings to “real world” situations  Case Studies o Study of one individual in great detail  Advantage  Tremendous amount of detail  Great for hypothesis generation

 Disadvantage  Cannot apply to others  Phineas Gage  Surveys o A series of questions o Ascertains self-reported attitudes, opinions and behaviors of people  Advantages  Lots of data, little work  Covert behaviors  Disadvantages  People are not always truthful  Is the sample representative? o Random sampling from population  Examining Relationships: Correlations o A measure of the relationship between two variables o Variable  Factor of interest o Knowing the value of one variable allows researchers to predict the value of the other variable  Correlations: Directions o Positive Correlation : variables are related in the same direction  As one increases, the other increases (temperature and sweat)  As one decreases, the other decreases (studying and grade) o Negative Correlation : variables are related in opposite direction  As one increases, the other decreases (gas prices and how much I drive)  Correlations: Size o -1 perfect negative correlation (negative slope) o 0 absolutely no correlation o 1 perfect positive correlation (positive slope)  Finding Relationships o CORRELATION ≠ CAUSATION  The Experiment o Experiment  Manipulate a variable  Are changes in behavior due to your manipulation?  If so, we can say there is a cause-and-effect relationship o By conducting an experiment – a researcher manipulates on variable and measures the effect of the manipulation on another  Aimed at determining causality o Independent Variable (IV)  The variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter o Dependent Variable (DV)

 Axon Terminals – ends of axonal branches of the neuron, specialized for communication between cells  Glia Cells – the “backup dancers” of the main performers (neurons)  Support structure  Deliver nutrients  Produce myelin  More glia than neurons (90% vs. 10%) o Nerve Impulses  Resting Potential – the state of the neuron when not firing a neural impulse  Action Potential – the release of the neural impulse, consisting of a reversal of the electrical charge within the axon; how we get information to travel within a single neuron  what’s next? The synapse and all the magic  Neuron Communication o Synapse o Neurotransmitters – chemicals found in the synaptic vesicles that, when released, has an effect on the next cell wall o Reuptake – process by which neurotransmitters are taken back into the synaptic vesicles  ON  Excitatory neurotransmitter (NT)  Receiving cell fires  OFF  Inhibitory neurotransmitter  Receiving cell stops firing  Agonists  Mimic or enhance the effects of a NT whether its ON or OFF  Antagonists  Block or reduce the effects of NT o If it is working on an inhibitory NT, the two negative cancel out and create a positive effect  Example: Inhibitory NT says don’t do it then the Antagonists says no don’t listen to him so then the body just does whatever it wants  Neurotransmitters o Acetylcholine  Important for learning, memory, muscle movement; Alzheimer’s  The venom of a black widow spider acts as a(n) agonist by mimicking the effects of acetylcholine. o Serotonin  Influences mood and regulate food intake; depression o Dopamine

 Important to movement and to frontal lobe activity; reward systems, schizophrenia  How Anti-Depressants Work o Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)  It is essentially stopping that pre synaptic neuron from sucking back up the serotonin  People with depression can have incredible fast reuptake of serotonin  Let’s serotonin hang in synapse longer  Dopamine and Schizophrenia o Dopamine is also linked to the delusions and hallucinations of schizophrenia  If given drugs that inhibit that action of dopamine, these symptoms can be reduced or eliminated o Parkinson’s (motor impairment) patients treated with dopamine agonists can develop symptoms of Schizophrenia  The Nervous System Nervous System (PNS)

  • nerves Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)
    • Somatic Nervous System move your body^ - Allows you to Somatic Nervous System - allows you to move your body Automatic Nervous System Sympathitic - fight or flight Parasympathetic (where we spend most of our time) - rest and digest Central Nervous System (CNS) Spinal Cord
  • reflex Arc --> touch fire --> sensory neurons (afferent neuons) carry info to CNS quickly remove hand --> motor neuons (efferent neurons) make you move your hand Brain

o Sleep, hunger, thirst, sex  Cingulate cortex – emotions and cognition o Selective attention, working memory, implicated in major depressive disorders, bipolar disorder, and ADHD  Hippocampus – memory o “you will never forget the hippocampus as memory because if you saw a hippo running across campus you would certainly never forget it”  The “Newest” Part of the Brain: the CORTEX o Hemispheres  Connected by the corpus callosum  Makes connections between the hemispheres so that information can travel between them  Frontal  Reasoning, decision making, fluent speech, personality  Motor cortex  Parietal  Touch, taste, temperature  Somatosensory cortex  Temporal  Hearing, meaningful speech  Occipital  Vision o Motor and Somatosensory Cortex Neuroplasticity – the process whereby the structure and function of brain cells change in response to trauma, damage, or even learning Afferent Neurons of the sensory pathway contain