WINTER BREAK HMWK

WINTER BREAK HOMEWORK 2009-2010
  1. Motivation Quiz Notes (Optional... but rewards if you do)
  2. Spark Notes REVIEW
  3. Example of Homework: Introduction
  4. MIDTERM Questions



Motivation Quiz Notes (Optional... but rewards if you do)

Found at:

http://www.appsychology.com/HowPass/MC%20quizes/MCquizeshome.htm
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Spark Notes REVIEW

Go to: 
http://sparkcharts.sparknotes.com/psychology/psychology/section1.p
hp

Cut and paste each section of review.... You are welcome to work 
on this with your partner and one other partnership. (No more 
than 4 people in a group) 
But, you should come to class with YOUR OWN full set of notes...  
feel free to customize them for yourself!!!!
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Example of Homework: Introduction

Approaches to Psychology

Biological: Focuses on the relationship between the body and the 
mind

Behavioral: Concerned mainly with a person's observable responses 
to stimuli

Cognitive: Concerned with memory, perception, thought, and other 
mental 
processes

Humanistic: Focuses on a person's capacity for self-fulfillment 
and growth

Psychodynamic: Concerned with the influence of unconscious 
desires and motives

Research Studies
Studies test hypotheses (testable explanations of observed 
events).

Studies must have reliability and validity.

Reliability: The study produces consistent results when 
replicated.

Validity: The study accurately measures what it claims to 
measure. There are three types of validity:

Construct: The study measures the effect that it is trying to 
measure

Internal: The study shows that only the experimental factor 
caused an effect

External: The study results apply to other situations

  
Types of Studies
Correlational study: Expresses the relationship between two 
variables; does not imply causation.

Experiment: Manipulation of an independent variable in order to 
understand its effect on a dependent variable. Identifies cause-
and-effect relationships.

Sampling: The process of choosing subjects to study

Sample: A group of subjects selected for study; a subset of a 
population

Population: A group of people about whom the researcher wants to 
make conclusions. A sample should be representative of the 
population.

Random assignment: Random placement of subjects into experimental 
or control groups

Control group: A group not subject to experimental manipulation

Variables: Things that can vary among subjects

Independent variable: Manipulated by researcher; produces a 
change in dependent variable

Dependent variable: Measured by the researcher

Confounding variable: Any possible variable (other than the 
independent variable) that may cause the observed effect


Statistics
Statistical analysis describes data and quantifies relationships 
between variables. 

Frequency distribution: An arrangement of data points based on 
how frequently they occur

Normal distribution: A frequency distribution with a symmetrical 
bell-shaped curve

Central tendency: Measures of the center of the frequency 
distribution. There are three types.


Mean: The arithmetic average of data points

Median: The middle data point

Mode: The most frequent data point


 
NORMAL DISTRIBUTION and standard deviation 

Variability: How the data are dispersed or spread around the mean

Range: The distance between the highest and lowest data point

Standard deviation (SD): The average distance of a data point 
from the mean. A small SD means the scores are relatively close 
to the mean score; a large SD means the scores have a wider range 
around the mean.

Statistical significance: Means that the differences observed are 
too big to have occurred by chance

Two types of errors occur in significance testing:

Type I error: False positive; perceives an effect that is not 
there

Type II error: False negative; fails to perceive an effect that 
is there
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MIDTERM Questions

Study for the midterm!!!  It will be shortly after we return to 
school and the greatest part of your grade to date!!!!

Come prepared with ONE QUESTION per chapter.  Something you still 
don't understand or want further explanation on.
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