AP Psychology: Chapter 1: Thinking Critically With Psychological Science

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AP Psychology Chapter 1 Thinking Critically
With Psychological Science
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Solve ME

• A man is traveling from work and wants to go
  home. He will not go home because there is
  another man in a mask waiting there for him.
  What does the first man do for a living?
• The man is a runner at third base and he is
  trying to score a run

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Solve ME

• A man is found shot to death in a room with a
  table, four chairs, and 53 bicycles. Why was he
  murdered?
• There are 52 Bicycle playing cards in a normal
  deck. He was playing with an extra ace.

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• What is critical thinking?
• How does it relate to psychology and this course?

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Lets Make A Deal!

• One Volunteer is Needed for A chance to win
  10,805.53 Zimbabwe Dollars!!

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Lets Make A Deal Shows Us That

• Human Intuition is highly limited.
• Critically thinking rarely comes easily to us!
• Critical Thinking thinking that does not blindly
  accept arguments and conclusions
• examines assumptions
• discerns hidden values
• evaluates evidence
• An awareness to our own vulnerability

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Lack of Intuition

• Hindsight Bias tendency to believe, after
  learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen
  it.
• the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon

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Lack Of Intuition

• Overconfidence we tend to think we know more
  than we do.
• We can't always trust our common sense or
  intuition we need research

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Research Strategies

• Theory
• an explanation using an integrated set of
  principles that organizes and predicts
  observations
• Low self esteem contributes to depression
• Hypothesis
• a testable prediction
• often implied by a theory
• Allows us to test and reject or revise the theory
• People with low self esteem score higher on a
  depression scale

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Scientific Method
lead to
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How to check our bias

• Operational Definition
• a statement of procedures (operations) used to
  define research variables
• You want to be clear enough so that the test and
  observations can be replicated
• To give the study more credibility it is usually
  done with different subjects in different
  situations
• Make sure studies are valid and reliable

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Research Strategies

• 1. Descriptive- making observations that describe
  behavior
• 2. Correlational- detecting correlations that
  help predict behavior
• 3. Experimental-doing studies that help explain
  behavior

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Research Methods- Descriptive

• Case Study
• an observation technique in which one person is
  studied in depth in the hope of revealing
  universal principles
• Longitudinal
• Cross Sectional
• Drawbacks of case study individuals can be
  atypical and lead to false findings.
• Anecdotal Stories

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Research Methods- Descriptive and Correlation

• Survey
• technique for ascertaining the self-reported
  attitudes or behaviors of people
• usually by questioning a representative, random
  sample of them

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Components of Survey

• Population all the individuals you are
  interested in knowing something about.
• Sample the individuals you actually question.
• Sampling should always be taken randomly from the
  population so that it is representative, meaning
  each individual in the population had an equal
  chance of being selected.

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Drawbacks of Surveys

• 1.) Improper Sampling
• 2.) Question Wording Can Effect the results of a
  survey.
• Ex Should the sale of alcohol be banned in
  school zones?
• Should the government not allow the sale of
  alcohol in school zones?

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Importance of Proper Sampling

• False Consensus Effect tendency to overestimate
  the extent to which others share our beliefs and
  behaviors.
• Overgeneralizing extreme examples can lead you to
  false conclusions!

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Types of Research-Descriptive

• Naturalistic Observation observing and
  recording behavior in naturally occurring
  situations without trying to manipulate and
  control the situation
• Drawbacks hard to identify any type of
  causation since there is no controls.

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Correlation Research

• Correlation Research research that looks at a
  relationship between two things. How well does
  one factor predict the other?
• Ex Consumption of Ice Cream and Drowning.

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Types of Correlations

• Positive Correlation a relationship in which
  increases in one variable leads to increases in
  the other.
• Ex Amount of fat burned is positively
  correlated with amount of sit-ups completed
• Negative Correlation a relationship in which
  increases in one variable leads to decreases in
  the other.
• Ex As tooth brushing goes up, tooth decay goes
  down

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Some More Correlation Examples

• Married people tend to have higher measures of
  happiness.
• Children who watch high amounts of television are
  more aggressive.
• People with low self-esteem are more likely to be
  depressed.
• What meanings can we make of these examples?

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Correlations Continued

• Correlation Coefficient the statistical measure
  of the extent to which two factors vary together
  and thus how well either factor predicts the
  other. (number that measures strength of the
  correlation).
• STRONGEST CORRELATIONS are 1 and 1. 1 is a
  perfect positive correlation while 1 is a
  perfect negative correlation.
• Correlations are always between 1 and 1. A
  correlation of Zero means there is no
  relationship.

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Correlation Scatterplots
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Indicates direction of relationship (positive or
negative)
Correlation coefficient
r .37

• Indicates strength
• of relationship
• (0.00 to 1.00)

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• R.37
• R-1.00
• R.17
• R -.08

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Correlation Measures

• Scatterplot
• a graphed cluster of dots, each of which
  represents the values of two variables
• the slope of the points suggests the direction of
  the relationship
• the amount of scatter suggests the strength of
  the correlation
• little scatter indicates high correlation
• also called a scattergram or scatter diagram

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Correlation and Causation

• Correlation does not prove causation
• Ex- negative correlation between self-esteem and
  depression
• Heredity and brain chemistry might play a role
• Among men, length of marriage correlates
  positively with hair loss- because both are
  associated with a third factor.
• Age
• Correlation indicates the possibility of a cause
  and effect relationship, but DOES NOT prove
  causation

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Intuition Limit 976

• Illusory Correlation the perception of a
  relationship where none exists.
• Sugar makes kids more hyperactive
• Wet hair and cold hair cause a cold
• Dont overgeneralize extreme cases GET THE DATA!!

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One last check..

• You need to make sure your study is reliable and
  valid.
• Reliability-if your study was replicated would
  you get the same results?
• Validity- Does the study or experiment test what
  it is designed to test.

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Summing Up Surveys, Naturalistic Observation,
Case Studies, and Correlation Research

• All of these methods look to describe the
  behavior not to explain it!
• Experimental Designed research is the only
  research that gets at causation!

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Random Sequences

• Your chances of being dealt either of these hands
  is precisely the same 1 in 2,598,960.

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• Experimentation
• and
• Statistics

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Experiments

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Experimentation

• Experiments are the best way to isolate cause and
  effect
• the investigator manipulates one or more factors
  (independent variables) to observe their effect
  on some behavior or mental process (the dependent
  variable) while controlling other relevant
  factors by random assignment of subjects
• by random assignment of participants the
  experiment controls other relevant factors.
• Breast Milk Example

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Experimentation

• Research Strategies
• Double-blind Procedure
• both the subject and the research staff are
  ignorant (blind) about whether the subject has
  received the treatment or a placebo
• commonly used in drug-evaluation studies
• Placebo
• an inert substance or condition that may be
  administered instead of a presumed active agent,
  such as a drug, to see if it triggers the effects
  believed to characterize the active agent
• Placebo Effect- the effect of positive thought
  and willpower on an experiment

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Experimentation

• Research Strategies
• Experimental Condition
• The group that is exposed to the treatment, that
  is, to one version of the independent variable (
  real drug)
• Control Condition
• The group that contrasts with the experimental
  treatment . Get the placebo, or possible nothing
• serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect
  of the treatment
• Example- Viagra

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Experimentation

• Research Strategies
• Random Assignment
• assigning subjects to experimental and control
  conditions by chance
• minimizes pre-existing differences between those
  assigned to the different groups
• Want similar age, attitudes.

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Experimentation

• Research Strategies
• Independent Variable
• the experimental factor that is manipulated
• the variable whose effect is being studied
• Dependent Variable
• the experimental factor that may change in
  response to manipulations of the independent
  variable
• in psychology it is usually a behavior or mental
  process
• It can vary depending on what happens during the
  experiment
• Cause/effect If/Then

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Experimentation

• Confounding Variables-
• Variables that cause changes in the DV besides
  the IV
• Breast Feeding Example
• Operational Definitions
• Example Viagra
• IV- Viagra or placebo- time, amount
• DV- Sex- ..

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Experimentation

• Problems-
• Sometimes not feasible or ethical
• 1. Obtain consent
• 2. Protect from harm
• 3. Confidential
• 4. Fully explain research after the exp.
• Animals?
• Results may not overgeneralize to other contexts

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• Statistics

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Describing Data

• Researchers first need to organize their data
• Pie Chart, Bar graph
• Descriptive Statistics- describe the data, but
  dont focus or the relationship

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Measure of Central Tendency

• 3 measures of Central Tendency- Mode , Mean and
  Median
• Mode- the most frequently occurring score
• Mean- average
• Median- the middle score, when you arrange the
  score in order from the highest to lowest
• Be Careful- can a few extreme score through off
  any one of the central tendencies?
• What's wrong with- income for 62 is below average

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Measures of Variation

• Need to know the variation in the data, how
  diverse or similar the scores are
• Range the gap between the highest and lowest
  score
• Remember extremes scores can skew the data
• 475,000 and 710,000

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Measures of Variation

• The more useful measure is Standard Deviation
• It gauges if scores are packed together or
  dispersed
• Uses info from each score
• Smaller Standard Deviation for more similar
  populations
• Higher Standard Deviation for more diverse
  populations

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When is an Observed Difference Reliable?

• 1. Representative samples are better than biased
  samples
• 2. Less variable observations are more reliable
  than those that are more variable
• Consistency
• 3. More Cases Are better than few

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When is Difference Significant?

• statistical significance (p) is a measure of the
  likelihood that the difference between groups
  results from a real difference between the 2
  groups rather than from chance
• If statistically significant ..the differences
  are probably not due to chance
• Statistical significance indicates the likelihood
  that a result will happen by chance. It does not
  indicate the importance of the result
• The lower the P value, the less likely the
  results are due to chance (Plt.o1)