Chapter 2 Study Guide

Question 1

Demand characteristics and observer bias? How would psychologists address these?

Answer 1

Demand characteristics: signals in experiment that participants are aware of what researcher hopes to find (change behavior)
-blind studies, cover stories, naturalistic observation

Observer bias: researcher’s expectations influence how they record or interpret participants’ behavior
-double blind procedures, inter-rater reliability, automated data collection

Question 3

Case studies, correlational studies, experimental studies

Answer 3

Case: single person
pro: very detailed, for rare conditions
cons: hard to generalize, can’t determine cause and effect

Correlational: whether variables are related
pros: study relationships that can’t be manipulated
cons: can’t find cause, 3rd variables may influence

Experimental: manipulating one variable to see effect on another
Pros: est causation
Cons: lack ecological validity (artificial lab)

Question 4

when knowing correlation coefficient is weak vs strong

Answer 4

.1-.3: weak
.3-.5: moderate
.5-1: strong