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Psychology

Unit 1

Introduction and Research Methods

6 topics · 24 practice questions · Free responseNot yet reviewed

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Notes

What psychology is

  • Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. It began as a science when Wilhelm Wundt opened a lab in 1879.
  • Early schools: structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Modern perspectives include biological, cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic and sociocultural.

Research methods

  • Descriptive methods (naturalistic observation, case studies, surveys) describe behavior but cannot show cause and effect.
  • Correlation ($r$ from $-1$ to $+1$) shows how variables are related. Correlation does not mean causation.
  • Experiments manipulate the independent variable and measure the dependent variable. Random assignment, control groups and double-blind procedures reduce bias.

Ethics

  • Informed consent, voluntary participation, confidentiality, protection from harm and debriefing. An institutional review board approves studies before they begin.

Topics in this unit

Each topic has its own short notes and practice.

Practice

A psychologist who studies how thoughts and memory affect decisions is using which perspective?
Which method is the only one that can show a cause-and-effect relationship?
Maria finds that the more hours students spend studying, the higher their test scores. The correlation is most likely:
In an experiment on caffeine and reaction time, the caffeine dose is the:
A researcher gives a sugar pill to the control group so that they believe they are being treated. This pill is a:
Before a study begins, a committee reviews it to make sure participants will be protected. This committee is the:

Free response

Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.

Free-response question

A researcher wants to know whether listening to music while studying affects test scores. She recruits 60 students and randomly places 30 in a "music" group and 30 in a "silence" group. All students study the same list for 20 minutes and then take the same quiz.

(a) Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable.

Show the answer and scoring guide

The independent variable is whether students listen to music or study in silence. The dependent variable is the quiz score.

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(b) Explain why random assignment is important in this study.

Show the answer and scoring guide

Random assignment makes the two groups similar at the start, such as in ability and motivation. Then a difference in quiz scores is more likely due to music and not to pre-existing differences.

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(c) The music group scores higher. Explain why she can conclude cause and effect here, but could not if she had only surveyed students about their habits.

Show the answer and scoring guide

Because she controlled the conditions and used random assignment, she can conclude music caused the difference. A survey would show only a correlation, and a third variable, such as motivation, might explain both music use and scores.

Check off the points you earned: