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Beginning Psychological Research

Chapter 1

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Stroop Demo

• Introduction– Are aspects of reading automatic?

• Method– Conflict vs. No Conflict is manipulated

• Task familiarity – we read everyday and expect the words to make sense

– Time is what is measured– Confounds?

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Stroop Demo (2)

• Results– Participants took

longer to count+’s than to read digits and took longer to count #’s than the other conditions

– You will notice similar patterns with the colored words

02468

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ReadDigits

Count + Count#'s

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Stroop Demo (3)

• Discussion– The automatic nature of reading

interferes with our ability to complete the assigned task.

– What are some problems with the task as we performed it in class?

– What other Stroop-like examples can you think of?

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Types of Research

• Applied– Human Factors– Industrial/Organizational– Clinical/Counseling/Health

• Basic– Social– Developmental– Cognitive– Personality

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Making Sense of the World

• Social Loafing– Do you like to work in groups?– Group output is not equal to the sum

of maximum individual outputs– Free-rider effect– Sucker effect– Rope pulling, yelling, domain does

not really matter

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Social Loafing

• Why do groups perform poorly on these kinds of tasks?– Diffusion of responsibility (Latané, 1981)

• Does diffusion of responsibility only apply to work?– Helping behavior (Darley & Latané)– Decision tree model of helping

• Notice – Interpret – Assume responsibility – Help

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Social Loafing

• Demonstrates the overlap between basic and applied research– Sometimes we have applied

questions that lead to basic research– That basic research can then be

applied to real problems– Research is inspired by critically

evaluating phenomena in the world

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Cockpit Design

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Cockpit Design (2)

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Types of Psychological Research

• Applied– Human Factors– Industrial/Organizational– Clinical/Counseling/Health

• Basic– Social (attitudes, attraction, persuasion,

conformity)– Cognitive (language, memory, decision making)– Developmental (age-specific function levels)– Personality (traits, motivation, individual

differences)

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Goals of Research

1. Description• Describe a behavioral phenomenon

2. Explanation• Develop explanations for behavior

3. Prediction• Attempt to predict behavior or

performance

4. Control• Psychotherapy or therapeutic

interventions

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Goals of this Class

• Conducting Research– Contribute to the evolution of

knowledge– Different researchers ask different

questions– Different researchers approach the

same questions differently• Evaluate Research

– Critical Thinking skills– Awareness of scientific methods/process

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Experimental Research

• Components of Experiments– Variables

• Operationalize the variables• Independent Variable (IV)• Dependent Variable (DV)• Confounding Variables

– Control• Control groups• Avoid bias

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Sources of Research Ideas

• Observations– Notice events in the world and seek explanations– Understand what conditions are best for performance

• Experts– Psychology Faculty all have different and varied

interests

• Literature Search– Keep a database or journal of ideas that hit you while

reading– Think about conditions/limitations of research articles

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Characteristics of Good Research

• Theoretical Framework– Theory (integration of facts and ideas)

• Thesis Antithesis Synthesis

– Hypothesis (testable prediction about the relationship between 2 or more variables)

• Standardized Procedures • Generalizability from a Sample • Objective Measurement

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Bias in Research

• Inadvertent researcher bias– Researchers are fallible and have

own ideas, beliefs, politics• Avoiding bias

– Double-blind studies• Removing bias in interpretations

– Placebo studies– Control groups

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Communication Issues

• Definitions– Is bowling a sport? Figure skating? Skeet

shooting? Fishing?– Operational Definitions

• A definition of a concept in terms of the operations that must be performed to demonstrate the concept

• Like a recipe: Judge, scoring system, direct competition between two or more persons or teams, requires physical skill or prowess, etc.

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Sources of Understanding

• Charles Sanders Peirce (1877)– Authority

• Parents, experts, religious leaders, etc.• Domain specific

– Tenacity• Maintain beliefs despite contrary

evidence• Self serving

– A priori • Beliefs without prior study or examination

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Science vs. Fixed beliefs

• Science is empirical– Data, experience

• Science is self-correcting– Allows for reconciliation of different

opinions