Class notes
PSY 103 Progress Notes
- Course
- PSY 103
- Institution
- University Of Rhode Island
This is a comprehensive and detailed note on progress for Psy 103. *Essential Study Material!!
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What is the “Paradox of Progress”- Modern technology has provided us with an abundance of time-saving devices
- Yet, we complain about not having enough time
- The range of life choices available to people is greater than ever
- Yet, this has unexpected costs
- Too many choices leads to “choice overload” and struggles with decisions
- Possible explanations:
- The mental demands of modern life have become too complex and confusing
- Our obsession with self improvement undermines our sense of security and
satisfaction with our identity
- The greatest challenge of modern life may be our search for meaning or a sense
of direction
- In desperation, people turn to many ineffective and/or self-destructive sources for
enlightenment
- One of the most prominent sources is self help books
- But, how valuable are they?
- The empirical approach
- Empiricism is the “premise that knowledge should be acquired through
observation”
- Thus, the conclusions of scientific psychology are based on careful, systematic
observation rather than speculation or “common sense”
- Experimental Research: looking for causes
- The experimental group “consists of the subjects who receive some special
treatment in regard to the independent variable
- Correlational research: looking for links
- A correlation exists when two variables are related to each other
- Measuring correlation
- A correlation coefficient is a “numerical index of the degree of relationship that
exists between two variables”
- It provides two pieces of information:
- How strongly related two variables are
- The direction (positive or negative) of the relationship
- Common methods of finding correlations between variables
- Naturalistic observation- “careful observation of behavior without intervening
directly with the subjects”
- Case studies “in depth investigation of an individual participant”
- Surveys “structured questionnaire designed to solicit information about specific
behaviors”
- Disadvantages of using correlations
- Correlations only tell us that two variables are related, not how the two variables
are related
- X could be causing changes in y, y could be causing changes in x, or z, a
third variable , could be causing changes in x and y
- Thus, we cannot determine cause and effect from correlations alone
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