What are the ways that a psychologist can learn something NEW?

Example: We want to learn the differences between men and women. How are their thoughts, feelings,

and behaviors different from each other?

--What are all the ways we could do this?

Types of Research

Research - How psychologists learn something new or prove ideas

Naturalistic Observation

The observation of a normal situationThe researcher does not change the environment or behavior of the subjects in any way

The researcher ONLY watches

-He probably creates questions or makes predictions

Case Study

The researcher finds a LOT of information about one person The researcher observes, asks questions, and studies facts

Example: “Man”-August 23, 1953, age 27 years-Poor memory-Saw a rose but didn’t know what it was

- Smelled it and knew-Lifted his wife’s head to put it on like a hat-Was studied for 40 years

H. M. can be considered the single patient that has provided the largest collection of data to the students of memory [Corkin,1984] [Milner,1968].

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7584970

Gives information about special situations

Survey

Researchers ask people questions about their lives or opinions

ex: investigating the differences between 18 and 50 yr olds on sexual activities

ex: the most common attitude towards smoking laws

A survey often makes connections between two kinds of information

Experiment

Two groups are given different situationsThe effects are compared

Ex.: Investigate the effects of a drug on depression-Measure depression in people who take

drugs vs. people who don’t

Jigsaw

• Explain your example• Identify which type of research it is

Population• The type of people, or animals, that you

are studying– Examples:• Second grade students• People who ski• Working mothers• Single mothers• Girls with blue eyes• People older than 80 years old• All people

Sample• The small number of people that you use to

study a whole population– The sample must be the same type of people

as the population

= All office people

= All office men

If your sample = 5 volley ballsyour population = _______?______

The 5 volley balls are a good sample for this population. You could make generalizations to the volley ball population based

on measurements of the sample.

The 5 volley balls are NOT a good sample for this population. You cannot make generalizations to this population based on

measurements of the volley ball sample.

To make generalizations to the previous population, this would be a better sample to use.

In order to use measurements on a sample to make generalizations to a population, the sample must be

representative of the population.

Random Sample

• When the sample includes all types of people within your group– If you want to know about all American high

school students, you do not study • Students from just one class• Only freshmen• Only students in advanced classes

– You DO study• Students on their way to lunch• Students from every kind of class (special ed, ELL, AP,

regular)

First step in controlling for measurement error

A way to measure an idea

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION

Examples:-Happiness=number of smiles-Health=weight and height-Anger=heart rate

Depression

Forced Swim Test (depression = giving up) Rats or mice swim, trying to get free from the water. However, they

eventually stop swimming hard. Rats on antidepressant medicine swim again much sooner. Rats with no antidepressant medicine are stopped for more time.

Each mouse is given a 6 minute swim test. Each mouse is judged to be immobile when it just floats, making movements only necessary to keep its head above water.

drug Veh Drug Veh