Sociocultural approach —psychological perspective concerned with how cultural differences affect behavior.
• Eclectic —use of techniques and ideas from a variety of approaches.
Psychologists specialize in different domains:
• Clinical psychologists evaluate and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.
• Counseling psychologists help people adapt to change or make changes in their lifestyle.
• Developmental psychologists study psychological development throughout the lifespan.
• Educational psychologists focus on how effective teaching and learning take place.
• Engineering psychologists and human factors psychologists do research on how people function best with machines.
• Experimental psychologists do research to add new knowledge to the field.
• Forensic psychologists apply psychological principles to legal issues.
• Health psychologists concentrate on biological, psychological, and social factors involved in health and illness.
• Industrial/Organizational psychologists aim to improve productivity and the quality of work life by applying psychological principles and methods to the workplace.
• Neuropsychologists explore the relationships between brain/nervous systems and behavior. Neuropsychologists are also called biological psychologists or biopsychologists, behavioral geneticists, physiological psychologists, and behavioral neuroscientists.
• Personality psychologists focus on traits, attitudes, and goals of the individual.
• Psychometricians (a.k.a. psychometric or measurement psychologists) focus on methods for acquiring and analyzing psychological data.
• Rehabilitation psychologists help clients with mental retardation, developmental disabilities, and disabilities resulting from stroke or accidents adapt to their situations.
• School psychologists assess and counsel students, consult with educators and parents, and perform behavioral intervention when necessary.
• Social psychologists focus on how a person’s mental life and behavior are shaped by interactions with other people.
• Sports psychologists help athletes refine their focus on competition goals, increase motivation, and deal with anxiety and fear of failure.
CHAPTER 6
Research Methods
IN THIS CHAPTER
Summary : In their scientific study of behavior and mental processes, psychologists aim to describe, understand, predict, and explain psychological phenomena. Theories are organized sets of concepts that explain phenomena. Psychologists conduct research to answer behavioral questions. They systematically collect accurate data through a variety of carefully made observations and measurements. Scientific experiments, naturalistic observations, interviews, questionnaires, case studies, and psychological tests are some methods psychologists use to explore our personalities, values, intelligence, talents, and the effects of heredity and environment on our development. The scientific method is a set of general procedures psychologists use for gathering and interpreting data. Other researchers working independently must be able to obtain similar results using the same methods; this is called replication .
This chapter examines research methods and statistics used to make sense of research data.
Key Ideas
Experimental Method
The Controlled Experiment
Eliminating Confounding Variables
Quasi-experimental Research
Correlational Research
Naturalistic Observation
Survey and Test Methods
Case Study
Elementary Statistics
Descriptive Statistics
Measures of Central Tendency
Measures of Variability
Correlation
Graphic Representation of Correlation
Inferential Statistics
Ethical Guidelines
Experimental Method
Some psychologists conduct experimental research in laboratories designed for carefully controlling conditions and measuring behavior.
The Controlled Experiment
The laboratory is one of the places where scientists test hypotheses , predictions of how two or more factors are likely to
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