1. What aspects of human behavior and mental processes would you most like to study? How would you go about studying these issues?

2. Imagine you are at Merrill Park and you saw bullies ganging up on an innocent kid. What would YOU do?

3. Imagine you are at Merrill Park and you see a young man and woman fighting. Every time the woman tries to stand up, the man restraints her and pushes her back down. What would YOU do? What do you think other people would do? Do you think men & women would differ in how they handle this situation? Would it change if the couple was married?

4. Imagine you’re in NYC riding in a taxi…the driver begins an extensive rant filled with hateful ethnic slurs. Would you tell him to stop? Would be remain silent? Would you join in?

5. You’re shopping in your local convenience store. You notice woman stealing items and placing them into her purse. Do you think anyone would tell the owner? Would you tell the owner? What factors would influence your decision to act or not act?

6. At Menlo Mall in the food court, you’re sitting with your friends. You overhear a woman calling a little boy stupid. She threatens that if he doesn’t behave, she’s going to leave him alone in the mall. What would YOU do?

7. Chapter 2 Research Methods in Psychology

8. Create a study Materials: Coke, Pepsi, cups Answer: 1. What do you want to know? 2. What do you need? 3. Who’s involved? Be specific. 4. How will the participants be chosen? 5. How will you conduct it? 6. Make predictions

9. Psychology is an experimental science Claims MUST be supported by evidence SCIENTIFIC METHOD: 1. Form a research Question 2. Form a Hypothesis 3. Test the hypothesis 4. Analyze the results 5. Draw Conclusions

12. Research questions are best directed by behavior rather than psychological constructs (should be measurable) Hypothesis  educated guess; statement [if- then] For findings to be confirmed, a study must be replicated (if repeated  produce same results) NEW questions and hypotheses come from studies

13. Everyone has heard of the freshman 15! College students typically gain about 15 pounds during their first year in college. What would be a good hypothesis to study this?

14. Surveys! Take a laptop and paper from desk Go to: http://www.socialpsychology.org/expts.htm#pinternet

15. Surveys, Samples, & Populations To find out about people’s attitudes and behaviors… Surveys  people are asked to respond to a series of questions - written questionnaires Advantages: rapidly survey thousands Disadvantages: may lie; please interviewers; in person vs. over phone

16. Important concepts… Target population  whole group you want to study or describe Sample  part of target population; should accurately represent population Random sample  individuals are selected by chance from the target population Stratified sample  all subgroups of population is represented proportionally Generalizing Volunteer bias  predisposition to a certain point of view [why are they volunteering?] ; could skew results

17. Review…in notebooks 1. What is a sample? 2. What is the WHOLE group that a psychologist is studying? 3. If a sample is large enough, will it be stratified? 4. What are the steps of the scientific method? 5. How do psychologists develop research questions?

18. Take out a piece of paper Observations!

19. Methods of Observation Surveys Testing method Case study Longitudinal studies Cross-sectional studies Naturalistic observation Laboratory observation

20. Correlation DOES NOT EQUAL Cause & Effect

21. Analyzing Data Correlation  measure how closely one thing is related to another Positive correlation Negative correlation

22. In the next chapter, we will be discussing the role our nervous system plays in behavior, but we will also be discussing the nature vs. nurture debate. - What are your thoughts on the nature vs. nurture debate? (Nature: born with traits; Nurture: How you’re brought up) - Do you believe your traits are inborn or developed over time due to your environment? - When you are an adult, if you had the option to choose your future child's traits, would you? Why or why not? If so, what traits would be most important to you?

23. Experimental Method cause --> effect Variables  factors that can vary Independent  factor manipulated Dependent  depends on independent variable Experimental group  receive treatment Control group  don’t receive treatment ***ALL other factors MUST be controlled to ensure results are due to the treatment being studied***

24. “Does psychotherapy work?” Our expectations affect what happens to us Placebo effect Placebo  substance or treatment that has no effect apart from a person’s belief in it

25. How can researchers avoid the influence of expectations? Single-blind study  participants don’t know whether they are in experimental or control group Double-blind study  participants AND researchers [required by FDA]

26. Measures of Variability Central tendency  mean/average To understand the distribution of data… - standard deviation - range

27. APA’s Ethical Guidelines for Psychologists Using recognized standards of competence and ethics, psychologists plan research so as to minimize the possibility of misleading results. Any ethical problems are resolved before research is started. The welfare and confidentiality of all participants are to be protected. Psychologists are responsible for the dignity and welfare of participants. Psychologists are also responsible for all research they perform or is performed by others under their supervision.

29. 4 Major Considerations 1. Informed consent 2. No harm 3. Confidentiality/anonymity 4. Debriefed **IRB** Institutional Review Board

30. Confidentiality Records are private Exception: to protect the well- being of the client or of other people

31. Deception New drug experiments often use placebos May use deception in the following situations: - when they believe that the benefits of the research outweigh its potential harm - when they believe participants would have been willing to participate if they understood the benefits - when participants receive an explanation of the study after it has occurred

32. Single-blind study Double-blind study Sigmund Freud Case study Cross-sectional study Longitudinal study Skinner boxes Naturalistic observations Laboratory observations Standard deviation Survey Target population conclusion Sample Random sample Stratified sample Controlled Central tendency Average Intelligence Correlation Hypothesis Scientific method Experimental Testing Aptitude Personality Independent variable Dependent variable Control group Experimental group Research question Generalizing Volunteer bias Analyze Replicated Placebo Genie