Module 1 Study Guide
Chapter 1, Appendix, Scientific American Article
Learning Objective 1
Sections 1.1, 1.3, Psychology is a Science; Psychology Develops Critical Thinking
- Why is our systematic investigation and measurement of thoughts, feelings, behavior, and brain processes a science? (pp. 4-5)
- What is critical thinking, and what are its steps? (pp. 9-13)
- When researching a claim yourself, how can you be sure your research is accurate and unbiased? How would you apply critical thinking to your own work? (pp. 9-13)
Learning Objective 2
Section 1.5, Key Principles: Five Interconnected Domains
- What are the major domains of psychology? (pp. 17-18)
- Why is it important to study psychology from the viewpoints of more than one domain? (pp. 17-18)
- What would someone focusing on the biological domain study? (pp. 17-18)
- What would someone working within the cognitive domain study? (pp. 17-18)
- Which domain explores how our thoughts and behaviors change over time? (pp. 17-18)
- Which domain explores how your specific characteristics affect your actions? (pp. 17-18)
- What are examples of work conducted within the mental and physical health domain? (pp. 17-18)
Learning Objective 3
Sections 1.6, 1.7, Psychology is Diverse; Psychologists must be Ethical
- What different characteristics does diversity refer to? (p. 19)
- Why is it important for psychologists to conduct research on people from diverse backgrounds? (pp. 21-22)
- Why is it important for researchers to be ethical in their studies? (pp. 23-24)
- If you are being ethical in your research, what four different concerns (as listed in our textbook) must you consider? (pp. 23-24)
Learning Objective 4
Section 1.8, Scientific Method
- What are the textbook’s 5 steps for following the scientific method? (pp. 25-29)
- What is a theory? What does formulating a theory consist of? (pp. 25-26)
- What is a testable hypothesis? Why is a good hypothesis necessary for the different goals of science? (p. 26)
- What three types of research methods are mainly used in psychology? (pp. 26-27)
- How do scientific researchers analyze their data? (pp. 27-28)
- How does replication apply to the scientific method? (pp. 28-29)
- Why is it important to conduct additional research (on a question) that is not an exact replication of the original study? (p. 29)
Learning Objective 5
Section 1.9, Descriptive Methods
- Why are descriptive methods called “descriptive,” and what kind of studies count as descriptive? (pp. 29-30)
- What are some advantages of using a case study? What are the disadvantages of case studies? (p. 30)
- What is the difference between observational studies with and without intervention? (pp. 30-31)
- What is observer bias? How do we try to stop or reduce observer bias? What are ways to stop or reduce reactivity? (p. 30-31)
- What are some examples of self-reports in research? (p. 31)
- How accurate are self-reports? How can a researcher try to prevent self-report bias from participants? (pp. 31-33)
Learning Objective 6
Section 1.10, Correlational Methods
- What is a correlation? What is the correlational method seeking to verify? (pp. 34-35)
- What are some advantages of correlational methods? What are some disadvantages? (pp. 34-36)
- Why do we repeatedly caution you about confusing correlation and causation? (pp. 35-36)
- When does the directionality problem become an issue in correlational findings? (p. 35)
- When is it necessary to consider a potential third variable in a correlational study? And why is a “third variable” just one specific variable (singular)? (p. 36)
Learning Objective 7
Section 1.11, Experimental Methods
- What do experimental methods consist of? (pp. 37-40)
- What is the difference between an independent variable and a dependent variable in an experiment? Why are independent & dependent variables necessary for an experiment? (pp. 37-38)
- How do operational definitions make variables measurable? (p. 38)
- What usually distinguishes a control group from an experimental group? (p. 39)
- What is the difference between a “within-subjects” and a “between-groups” design? (p. 39)
- Why do experiments (as opposed to correlations) verify causation? (pp. 39-40)
Learning Objective 8
Section 1.11, Experimental Control, Random Samples, Random Assignment
- Why is control so crucial for determining causality in an experiment? What is being controlled? (p. 40)
- What is a confound? Explain how a confound could affect an experiment. (p. 40)
- What is the difference in research between a population and a sample? (pp. 40-41)
- When conducting research, how can we get a sample that best represents the population as a whole? Why is a representative sample crucial for good research? (p. 41)
- What is a convenience sample? Why might a convenience sample be sufficient? (p. 41)
- What is random assignment? (pp. 41-42)
- What is the difference between random assignment and random sampling? (pp. 40-42)
Learning Objective 9
Correlations; Inferential Statistics (Appendix A, found after p. 632)
- What do correlations measure? (Appendix, p. A5)
- What is the correlational coefficient? How strong can it be? (Appendix, p. A5)
- What is the difference between a positive and a negative correlation? (Appendix, pp. A5-A6)
- How are correlation coefficients used in science and psychological research? (Appendix, pp. A7-A8)
- How are inferential statistics used in research? (Appendix, pp. A8-11)
- What is statistical significance? Why is statistical significance important in research? (Appendix, pp. A8-11)
Learning Objective 10
Study Skills (Psychology uses Science, Scientific American article, Study Guide Intro)
- What do the six “IMPACT” strategies for learning suggest for improving your academic performance? (pp. 6-9)
- What is “distributed practice,” and why is it beneficial? (pp. 3-4 of the Study Guide, and “Scientific American Mind” PDF, pp. 49-50)
- How would you go about self-testing? (p. 4 of the Study Guide, and “Scientific American Mind” PDF, p. 49)
- What is elaboration, and how does elaborative interrogation work as a learning skill? (p. 4 of the Study Guide, and “Scientific American Mind” PDF, pp. 50-51)
- What kinds of habits and self-defeating thoughts might interfere with successful studying? (pp. 4-5 of the Study Guide)
- Why are highlighting and rereading strategies deficient for good studying? (pp. 4-5 of the Study Guide, and “Scientific American Mind” PDF, p. 52)