Positive Psychology: WJEC: A-Level Psychology Research Terms Part 1

What is the reason for carrying out a project, experiment or survey (research in general)? An indication and what the research intends to investigate or find.

Vertical (y) axis shows the variable SCORE.

Horizontal (x) axis shows the variables that were MEASURED.

When observing participants, psychologists categorise people’s behaviour into categories such as ‘passive to authority’ or ‘aggressive to peer group’ or ‘distracted’, etc.

Investigation of a single participant/patient rather than a study of many people - useful for reviewing extraordinary issues or problems.

Condition describes different manipulations of the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE
(IV: the variable that the research alters, e.g., temperature in a room in which ppts are answering questions…)

A variable that interferes with research which may then skew results. 
Imagine studying two variables - maths scores and listening to Baroque versus Hip-Hop but some ppts drink coke while answering (coke is a stimulant): that would be confounding. And annoying :) 
ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS (it's thundering outside - always a distraction!)
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES (we have  maths whiz in the group)

A method of removing data from newspapers, magazines, internet sites, interviews, broadcasts.
Researchers may look for common patterns in word use, say.

This is a statistical technique used to explore whether two variables RELATE in some way or other. Researcher uses DEPENDENT and INDEPENDENT VARIABLES (and tries to keep it to two only)
Positive correlations increase together (e.g., fitness and time in the gym)
Negative correlations - one increases while the other variable decreases (maths scores vs alcohol units)

A statistic describing the correlation that may exist between two variables.
+1 = perfectly positive (x goes up same rate as y goes up)
-1 = perfectly negative (x goes up at the same rate as y goes down)
0 = no correlation
Researchers speak of ‘strong’ or ‘weak’ correlations depending on the number.
0.0 to 0.3 is weak,
0.3 to 0.7 is moderate,
above 0.7 is strong.

Used in correlation research: reviewing how data may correlate that are NOT SET UP by the researcher (i.e., no dependent or independent variables) but to see if one set of data has a relationship with another.

E.g., urbanisation vs depression.
The covariate/covariable may explain a psychological issue. So, “A high level of urbanisation is associated with increased risk of psychosis and depression for both women and men.”
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/urbanisation-and-incidence-of-psychosis-and-depression/AF3FDF51E9DA192097BEF153D9A02148

It relates to ethics and how experiments are done: to avoid unnecessary harm following a psychological experiment, the ppts have the experiment explained to them afterwards.

Relates to ethics: intentional misleading of ppts to secure a better experiment

When ppts latch onto how they think the researchers want them to answer/behave (usually from clues in the experiment outline)
*see ‘deception’ and why that may have a use!

This is what the researcher is keen to measure. The data produced depend on changes to the INDEPENDENT VARIABLE.
E.g, how do test scores (DV) change if the lighting in the room is changed (IV).

Given a hypothesis (what a researcher expects to find), a directional hypothesis predicts a particular relationship that may be discovered.

E.g., Eating protein and fats before a test may improve test results (positive correlation)
Smoking cigarettes may be negatively correlated with male fertility (more smoking, less sperm)

The boundaries within which researchers tend to work (or should work) to avoid breaching ppts rights or dignity.
Key concepts used to define the boundaries include:
consent (get if possible)
deception (avoid if possible)
debriefing (if possible)
right to withdraw (to be respected)
confidentiality (if appropriate must be respected)
protection from harm (if appropriate)
considerations regarding minors and mentally incapacitated

consent (get if possible)
deception (avoid if possible)
debriefing (if possible)
right to withdraw (to be respected)
confidentiality (if appropriate must be respected)
protection from harm (if appropriate)
considerations regarding minors and mentally incapacitated
consideration of long term consequences of a trial/experiment (ppt harm, psychological harm, stress)
use of data previously gained through unethical experiments (should it be used?)

Recording clearly defined behaviours as they are occur.
A hit B.
A hit C.
A hit D.
E hit A.

The process of designing an experiment and how participants are allocated to the different conditions (or IV levels) in an experiment.

• experiment group with control group?

• how many ppts

• use of same or different ppts when changing conditions (independent variables)

KEY IDEAS to consider:

• REPEATED MEASURES aka “within groups” (same ppts partake in each IV condition change)

• INDEPENDENT MEASURES aka “between groups” (different ppts in each IV condition)

• COUNTERBALANCE (each group does both conditions in a different order)

• MATCHED PAIRS (each IV condition uses different but similar ppts - same gender, age, profession…)

The extent to which something is consistent over repeated occasions.

compare with external validity

How well does an experiment relate to real world?

Factors or conditions that may be affecting an experiment - preferably these are to be avoided or minimised in lab experiments.
(E.g., external noises affecting ppts concentration)

Research that manipulates variables in a natural (real world) situation.
Kinds of variables: 
  building used
  contrived external noise
  visual environment (colours in room)
  no. of confederates in a location

Hypothesis is a formalised statement of the aims of a research project. It is set out as a statement predicting what may be discovered. It can be directional (that is a positive or negative correlation as expected) or non-directional (the researcher does not know what kind of correlation is to be expected).

This is also known as experimental design in which participants are allocated to different groups, each group does something slightly different in the experiment on the performance of the groups is then analysed.

The independent variable is the variable that is manipulated in an experiment. For example the temperature in the room, or the number of participants in a group study.

This refers to an experiment being consistent with the question being asked.

Also - the extent to which a study rules out or makes unlikely alternative explanations.
So if we were examining students' ability to work under time constraints, we would want to rule out confounding variables such as the use of caffeine stimulants, say.
Other explanations to a study are called 'threats' to the experiment.

This refers to whether the researcher has measured what they intended to do.
How confident is the researcher in finding a cause and effect?
Has the researcher removed extraneous or confounding variables?
Did the research have an effect on the results?

Example: As part of a stress experiment, people are shown photos of war atrocities. After the study, they are asked how the pictures made them feel, and they respond that the pictures were very upsetting. In this study, the photos have good internal validity as stress producers.

Checking whether two or more observations of the same event are consistent or not.

Structured or unstructured. Structured interviews follow a similar pattern each time, well unstructured allow the conversation to flow in an open ended manner. Both have their strengths and weaknesses.

It is when a researcher unintentionally encourages a participant to behave in a certain way. This thereby nullifies the reliability of the research.

Because there they can control the independent variable is better. Typically for psychologist this is a quiet room where external noise and light distractions can be minimised.

This is the use of different but similar participants in research - for instance keeping the same number of specific ages, professions, religion, race, profiles et cetera

The main is a measure of central tendency - often referred to as the average. But recall that there are two other averages, for median and the mode.

The measure of dispersion reflects how to spread out the data are around a central tendency, such as the mean.

A measure of central tendency - The middle value in a range of data.

The use of information to encourage WITNESSES to recall events that did not happen or that did not happen in real sequence. Also known as 'priming' the mind or 'leading questions'.
"Now you recall the red car that was speeding down the road…'
RED and SPEEDING are telling the ppt two things which may not be correct.
Better: Did you witness a car coming down the road? What colour was it? How fast was it travelling?

A measure of central tendency - the most common frequency.
There can be more than one mode:
E.g. 'bimodal' (two modes)
multimodal (many modes)

More of a survey than an experiment because the researchers do not control or cannot control any IVs (independent variables); instead they observe and take data. If a comparison is desired than a review of behaviour before and after an event may be useful (e.g., how does a by-pass affect town life), or pursue LONGITUDINAL studies - following ppts over a long period of time.

Observing the behaviour of people in their natural environment. That is outside of laboratories or psychology departments!

A correlation that shows one variable rising while the other falls.
e.g, rising temperature and ability to focus.

NOMinal data is NAMED data which can be separated into discrete categories which do not overlap.
A common example of nominal data is gender; male and female.

This is a hypothesis for which the researcher does not have a precise prediction. The researcher may be looking for a difference or correlation but does not know which way it will go. Also known as a two tailed hypothesis