Watch “The Scientific Attitude: Testing Therapeutic Touch”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNoRxCRJ-Y0

What do you think? Science or Pseudoscience?

The Science of Psychology

The Scientific Method and Research Design

Many people believe that intuition and common sense are enough to bring forth answers regarding human nature. Intuition and common sense may aid

queries, but they are not free of error.

Why Aren’t Intuition and Common Sense Enough?

Overconfidence

We tend to think we know more than we do. 82% of U.S. drivers consider

themselves to be in the top 30% of their group in terms of safety.

81% of new business owners felt they had an excellent chance of their businesses succeeding. When asked about the success of their peers, the answer was only 39%. (Now that's overconfidence!!!)

• Overconfidence – the tendency to overestimate the accuracy of our current knowledge

“Reagan doesn’t have the presidential look.” (United Artists executive when asked whether Ronald Reagan should be offered the starring role in the movie The Best Man, 1964)

“There is no reason for anyone to have a computer in their home.” (Ken Olsen, president of Digital Equipment Company, 1977)

“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” (Lord Kelvin, British mathematician, physicist, and president of the British Royal Society, 1895)

The Steps of the Scientific Method Remember that psychology is a science because it

follows the procedures of the scientific method.

Two Types of Research Basic- Investigates issues in order

to either confirm or disconfirm a theory. The major goal is to acquire information

about a behavior with no concern given to real-world applications.

In other words, it explores questions you may be curious about, but it’s not intended to be immediately used.

Applied- Investigates problems based in the real world. The major goal is to generate information that can be used to directly solve a real-world problem.

Studying how kissing changes when you get older is interesting…but that’s about it.

Research on therapies for drug addicts has a clear purpose.

Example of ________ Research Researchers have confirmed that facial expressions

do more than just communicate how we’re feeling – they also police our sensory intake.

A study in Nature Neuroscience shows that fear expressions open up our nasal passages, enhance our range of vision, and quicken our eye movements, while expressions of disgust do exactly the opposite, blocking nasal passages, narrowing one’s vision field, and slowing eye movement.

Example of ________ Research Scientists have identified a toxic beta-

amyloid protein fragment that may play a role in initiating Alzheimer’s disease.

Research by Harvard Medical School neurologists found that this particular amyloid produced characteristics of Alzheimer’s in rats.

The study results suggest a possible new target for developing drug therapies to combat the disorder.

The Need for Psychological Science

Begin with 1000 and add 40 to it. Add 1000. Then add another 30 followed by another 1000. Next add 20. Add another 1000. Finally, add 10. What is the sum?

Operational Definitions A requirement of all scientific research. Specific descriptions of concepts involving

the conditions of a scientific study. Operational definitions are stated in terms of how

the concepts are to be measured or what operations are being employed to produce them.

Operational Definitions Example: Suppose a teacher told her student,

“Your work is awful!” This is very vague – what is awful to one person may not be awful to the next.

By operationally defining it, we are making sure everyone is on the same page. Your grade point average declined over the

last six-week period. You seem to be on-task in class about 30% of

the time. You have submitted only one of the last six

assignments.

Operational Definitions

Psychologists report their research with precise operational definitions of procedures and concepts

Unlike dictionary definitions, operational definitions describe concepts with precise procedures or measures

Operational Definitions

Carefully worded statements should allow others to replicate (repeat) the original observations Should be able to re-create the study with different

participants and materials and get similar results Operational definitions need to be:

1.) Measurable 2.) Manageable

Then psychologists test hypotheses and refine theories using descriptive methods

*Handout

Reliability Reliability – A psychological test that

gives consistent results Property exhibited by a test that yields

the same results over time.

Types of Psychological Research

Descriptive ResearchMethod Description Advantages Disadvantages

Survey -Asks subjects questions about feelings, opinions, or behavior patterns.

-Can be done by mail, in person, over the phone, on the internet, or via television

-Researcher can gather a great deal of information in a brief period of time (and cheaply!)

-Results can be amazingly accurate

-The chosen sample may not represent the population

-Questions may not be phrased objectively

-Interpretation of results may be distorted

Naturalistic

Observation

Interview

Wording Effects Even subtle changes in the order of wording

of questions can have major effects Should cigarette ads not be allowed on various forms of

media? Should cigarette ads should be censored from the

media? Should cigarette ads be forbidden from the media?

Wording Effects Even subtle changes in the order of wording

of questions can have major effects Should cigarette ads be allowed on

television? People are much more likely: to approve “not

allowing” such things than “forbidding” or “censoring” them Should cigarette ads be allowed on various forms of media? Should cigarette ads should be censored from the media? Should cigarette ads be forbidden from the media?

Wording Effects 27% of Americans approved of “government

censorship” of media sex and violence 66% approved of “more restrictions on what is

shown on televisions” Other examples:

“Aid the needy” vs. “welfare” “Affirmative action” vs. “preferential treatment” “revenue enhancers” vs. “taxes”

Random Sampling

Representative Sample: accurate picture of a whole population’s attitudes and experiences However we often describe human

experience by drawing on memorable anecdotes and personal experience

Anecdotal Example: 1.) A statistical summary of auto owners’

evaluations of their car’s makevs.

2.)Vivid comments of two frustrated owners Temptation to generalize from a few vivid

but unrepresentative cases is nearly irresistible

Selecting Participants for Research No matter how researchers collect

information about their hypothesis, they have to consider how to choose a sample of people to study from a population where it is impossible to reach everyone.

Sampling is an important process used to select subjects for an experiment. Research results can be generalized

(that is, said to be true of the entire population of interest) only if the sample of participants studied represents that population accurately.

Selecting Participants for Research When choosing a sample, psychologists must

consider the possible impact that variables such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, cultural background, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, disability, and so on can have on the behavior or mental process being studied.

If every population member has an equal chance of being chosen for study (like drawing names out of a hat), the subjects selected make up a random sample; if all such chances are not equal, the sample is biased. Before accepting survey findings, think

critically and consider the sample

Descriptive ResearchMethod Description Advantages Disadvantages

Survey -Asks subjects questions about feelings, opinions, or behavior patterns.

-Can be done by mail, in person, over the phone, on the internet, or via television

-Researcher can gather a great deal of information in a brief period of time (and cheaply!)

-Results can be amazingly accurate

-The chosen sample may not represent the population

-Questions may not be phrased objectively

-Interpretation of results may be distorted

Naturalistic

Observation

-Researcher studies subjects without their being aware that they’re being watched

-Behavior study is completely natural

-Researcher can’t interact with subjects and may interpret their behavior incorrectly.

Interview Examples on page 28

Descriptive ResearchMethod Description Advantages Disadvantages

Survey -Asks subjects questions about feelings, opinions, or behavior patterns.

-Can be done by mail, in person, over the phone, on the internet, or via television

-Researcher can gather a great deal of information in a brief period of time (and cheaply!)

-Results can be amazingly accurate

-The chosen sample may not represent the population

-Questions may not be phrased objectively

-Interpretation of results may be distorted

Naturalistic

Observation

-Researcher studies subjects without their being aware that they’re being watched

-Behavior study is completely natural

-Researcher can’t interact with subjects and may interpret their behavior incorrectly.

Interview -Studying people face to face and asking questions verbally

-Researcher can obtain personal, detailed information

-Subject’s responses may not be completely honest

-Researcher bias can influence behavior

Descriptive ResearchMethod Description Advantages Disadvantages

Case Study -Collect lengthy, detailed information about a person’s background usually for psychological treatment

-Provides background information that may shed light on present behavior

-Information gained about one person can’t be generalized to the larger population

-Subject responses may not be honest

Longitudinal -Studies the same group of people over an extended period of time

-Provides information needed for specific types of research, such as development

-Expensive-Time consuming-Often has to deal with

mortality, drop-outs

-Cross-generational effects

Cross-Sectional

-Studies different age groups at the same time

-to understand changes that occur during the life span

-Samples are usually representative of the population as a whole

-Saves time and money (when compared to longitudinal)

-Not appropriate for some types of research

-Generation effects

http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/wlsresearch/documentation/misc/A.03_RespondentReport-1.pdf

**An example of a cross-sectional study would be a medical study looking at the prevalence of breast cancer in a population. The researcher can look at a wide range of ages, ethnicities and social backgrounds. If a significant number of women from a certain social background are found to have the disease, then the researcher can investigate further.

Longitudinal vs. Cross-sectional Study

Correlational Research Descriptive research might lead us to

realize that one trait or behavior is related to another – they correlate.

Correlation: a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

Correlational Research Correlational research shows the strength

and direction of relationships between two variables, but it does not show us if one causes the other.

The best thing you can do is memorize the phrase “correlation is not causation.”

Examples – Correlation is not Causation A survey found that:

People who often ate Frosted Flakes as children had half the cancer rate of those who never ate the cereal.

Conversely, those who often ate oatmeal as children were four times more likely to develop cancer than those who did not. Does this mean that Frosted Flakes

prevents cancer while oatmeal causes it?

Examples – Correlation is not Causation The answer? Cancer tends to be a disease of later life.

Those who ate Frosted Flakes are younger. In fact, the cereal was not around when older respondents were children, and so they are much more likely to have eaten oatmeal.

Examples – Correlation is not Causation

"Correlation does not imply causation“: emphasizes that a correlation between two variables does not necessarily imply that one causes the other