What do psychologists believe?
That there are causes underlying all behaviours and mental states, and that we can eventually identify and understand them
True or False: Psychologists try to come up with theories that can be empirically tested, and which provide meaningful and useful explanatory models
True
True or False: Common causes of depression include gender and age, childhood abuse or neglect, personality traits and poor diet, exercise and sleep
False: Gender and age is a statistical correlation, childhood abuse or neglect is a pre-cursor, personality traits is a contributing factor, and poor diet, exercise and sleep is a statistical association and/or a symptom.
True or False: A scientific statement, theory or hypothesis must be falsifiable
True
Falsifiability is …
criterion for distinguishing science from non science
If something is non-falsifiable, what does that mean?
You have to believe it without there being any way of knowing it or establishing it as a fact (e.g. religion)
In psychology, how do we conduct scientific research ?
The hypothetico-deductive spiral
Define theory?
An overarching model/framework that explains (or tries to explain) a lot of things
Define a research question
A more concrete idea or question (does A cause X), which is often derived from a theory
Define a construct
A concept that is an element in a theory or hypothesis - they are often abstract, and not directly observable (e.g. self-esteem, intelligence, diffusion of responsibility, neurotransmitters)
In a hypothesis, how are independent and dependent constructs determined ?
Causal hypotheses determine which is which (A - IC causes X - DC)
How do constructs become variables?
Constructs are operationalised to produce variablesa
What are operationalisations?
The prodedures that are used to make variables - through either manipulation of measurement
In operationalisations, what is the difference between manipulation and measurement?
Manipulation introduces change from the researcher, whereas in measurement, the researcher is measuring things already there (e.g. self-report measures)
What are variables?
The implementation of constructs in a study - used to assess the hypothesised relationship between the independent construct and dependent construct. They vary either quantitatively or qualitatively.
What are the steps to determining the IVs and DVs of a study?
Identifying the IC and DC by finding the causal factor, then considering how the IC and DC were operationalised
