NOTES

UNIT – I: GENESIS AND GOALS OF PSYCHOLOGY (10 hours)

• Psychology: Emergence and Development; Definition and Goals of Psychology-
Understanding, Describing, Predicting and Control of Behaviour.
• Key Perspectives: Psychodynamic, Behavioural, Humanistic, Biological and Cognitive
• General, Bio–Physiological, Social, Child, Developmental, Abnormal and Cognitive
Psychology.
• Psychology as Applied Science: Introspection, Observation, Experimental, Clinical And
Questionnaire Method.
UNIT– II: BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOUR (12 hours)
• Neuron: Structure and functions; Neural impulse; Synapse and Neurotransmitters
• Nervous system: Structure and Functions of Central nervous system and Peripheral
nervous system
• Methods of studying brain functions: invasion, lesion, ablation, chemical and stimulation
method
• Endocrine system: Functions and Effects : Pituitary, Thyroid, Parathyroid, Adrenal and
Gonads
UNIT-III: SENSATION, ATTENTION AND PERCEPTION (10 hours)
• Sensation: Definition and Characteristics.
• Types of Senses and Receptors Involved in Each Sensation.
• Attention: Meaning and Phenomena (Span of Attention, Division of Attention,
Fluctuation and distraction), Determinants: Objective and Subjective.
• Perception: Meaning and Characteristics, Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization.
• Depth Perception: Meaning, Perceptual Constancies, Monocular and Binocular Cues
• Errors in Perception -
1) Illusion - Types - Horizontal-Vertical, Muller Lyer and Illusion of Movement.
2) Hallucination- Visual, Auditory and Tactile
UNIT-IV: LEARNING (14 hours)
• Introduction: Definition, Factors Influencing Learning: Motivation, Reinforcement and
Association.
• Types of Learning: Trial and Error Learning: Experiment and Laws. Classical
Conditioning, Extinction, Spontaneous Recovery, Generalization, Discrimination, Higher
Order Conditioning.
• Operant Conditioning: Experiment (experiment on Pigeons) Reinforcement, Schedules of
Reinforcement, Shaping and Chaining.
• Cognitive Learning: Insightful (Kohler) and Observational (Bandura)
UNIT-V: MEMORY AND FORGETTING (10 hours)
• Memory: Basic Processes – Encoding, Storage and Retrieval.
• Types of Memory: Sensory Memory, Short-Term Memory Long-Term Memory,
Working Memory, Semantic Memory, Autobiographical Memory and Flashbulb
Memory.
• Techniques to Improve Memory: Mnemonics, Chunking, SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read,
Recite and Review)
• Forgetting: Nature and Causes of Forgetting
Text Books:
• Robert Feldman (2011) Essential of Understanding Psychology 10th Edition, ISBN-13-
9781259003059/ISBN–10–1259003051
• Morgan, C. T., King, R. A., Weiss, J. R. and Schopler, J. (2012). (Latest
Edition).Introduction to Psychology. Tata McGraw Hill Education Pvt. New Delhi
• Nataraj, P. (latest edition): Psychology for Beginners. Mysore :Srinivas publication
• Parameshwaran, E. G., & Beena, C. (2010): An Invitation to Psychology, Neelkamal Pvt.
Hyderabad

UNIT 1

1.An Introduction to Psychology

Meaning, Branches of Psychology; Myths and

Misconceptions of Psychology; Role of a Psychologist.

Psychology is the study of mind and behavior.

• It encompasses the biological influences, social pressures, and environmental factors that
affect how people think, act, and feel.
• Psychology is defined as a science which studies mental processes,
experiences and behavior in different contexts.
In doing so, it uses methods of biological and social sciences to obtain data systematically.
It makes sense of the data so that it can be organized as knowledge

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior, according to the American
Psychological Association. Psychology is a multifaceted discipline and includes many
subfields of study such areas as human development, sports, health, clinical, social behavior
and cognitive processes.

Psychology is really a very new science, with most advances happening over the past 150
years or so.  However, its origins can be traced back to ancient Greece, 400 – 500 years BC. 

The emphasis was a philosophical one, with great thinkers such as Socrates (470 BC – 399
BC) influencing Plato (428/427 BC – 348/347 BC), who in turn influenced Aristotle (384 BC
- 322 BC).Philosophers used to discuss many topics now studied by modern psychology,
such as memory, free will vs determinism, nature vs. nurture, attraction etc.
Definitions of Psychology:
Etymologically psychology means the science of the soul, viz., ‘psyche’ mean ‘soul’ and
‘logos’ means ‘science.’
The earlier psychologists maintained that the function of psychology was to study the nature,
origin and the destiny of the human soul.
Modern psychologists, however, doubt the existence of the soul since there is no empirical
evidence for its existence.
Many of the earlier psychologists, however, believed in the existence of the mind.
Some contemporary psychologists also believe in the existence of the mind.
(i) Psychology is the Science of Mind:
• In 1892 William James defined psychology as the ‘science of mentalprocesses’.
• In his view, psychology may be defined in terms of conscious states.
(ii) Psychology is the Science of Consciousness:
• In 1884 James Sully defined psychology as the science of the ‘inner world’ as distinguished
from physical science which study the physical phenomena.
• In 1892 Wilhelm Wundt defined psychology as the science which studies the ‘internal
experiences’.
(iii) Psychology is the Science of Behavior:
• In 1905 William McDougall defined psychology as the ‘science of behavior’.
• In 1911 W. B. Pillsbury also defined psychology as the ‘science of behavior’.
• J. B. Watson, however, discarded the concepts of the ‘mind’, ‘consciousness’, ‘purpose’ and
the like from psychological use, and defined psychology as ‘the science of behavior’.
(iv) Psychology is the Science of the Experience and Behavior of the Individual in
Relation to his Environment:
• K. Koffka holds that even though the concept of ‘consciousness’ cannot be completely
discarded from psychological vocabulary the main aim of psychology is the study of
behavior.
• R. S. Woodworth defines psychology as the “science of activities of the individual.”
The Four Goals Of Psychology:
• The study of psychology has Four Goals -
1. Describe :
• Describing things is something we do every single day with no conscious
thought or effort. But describing in psychology has a slightly different meaning
than the describing we do in our everyday life.
• Describing a problem, an issue, or behavior is the first goal of psychology.
• Descriptions help psychologists to distinguish between normal and abnormal
behavior and gain a more accurate understanding and perspective on human
and animal behavior, actions, and thoughts.
2. Explain :
• Psychologists are very interested in being able to explain behavior rather than
just being able to describe it.
• This helps in providing answers to questions about why people react in a
certain way, why they do the things they do and the factors which affect their
personality, their mental health, their actions, etc.
3. Predict :
• Making predictions about how we think, and act is the third goal of psychology. By
looking at past observed behavior (describing and explaining) psychologists aim to
predict how that behavior will appear again in the future and whether other people
might exhibit the same behavior.
• Through the process of describing an explanation, psychologists are able to
understand more about what thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are contributing
factors.
• They can then use that knowledge to predict why, when, and how those things
might happen in the future.
4. Change / Control :
• Psychology aims to change, influence, or control behavior to make positive,
constructive, meaningful, and lasting changes in people's lives and to influence
their behavior for the better. This is the final and most important goal of
psychology.

Early history

In Western culture, contributors to the development of psychology came from many areas,
beginning with philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. Hippocrates philosophized about
basic human temperaments (e.g., choleric, sanguine, melancholic) and their associated traits.
Informed by the biology of his time, he speculated that physical qualities, such as yellow bile
or too much blood, might underlie differences in temperament (see also humour). Aristotle
postulated the brain to be the seat of the rational human mind, and in the 17th century René
Descartes argued that the mind gives people the capacities for thought and consciousness: the
mind “decides” and the body carries out the decision—a dualistic mind-body split that
modern psychological science is still working to overcome. Two figures who helped to found
psychology as a formal discipline and science in the 19th century were Wilhelm Wundt in
Germany and William James in the United States. James’s The Principles of Psychology
(1890) defined psychology as the science of mental life and provided insightful discussions
of topics and challenges that anticipated much of the field’s research agenda a century later.

REFER https://www.britannica.com/science/psychology
Major Schools of Thought in Psychology
When psychology was first established as a science separate from biology and philosophy,
the debate over how to describe and explain the human mind and behavior began. The first
school of thought, structuralism, was advocated by the founder of the first psychology lab,
Wilhelm Wundt. Almost immediately, other theories began to emerge and vie for dominance
in psychology. The following are some of the major schools of thought that have influenced
our knowledge and understanding of psychology:
Structuralism

One of Wundt’s students was Edward Titchener (1867–1927), an Englishman who eventually
took Wundt’s ideas to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Titchener expanded on
Wundt’s original ideas, calling his new viewpoint structuralism because the focus of study
was the structure of the mind.He believed that every experience could be broken down into
its individual emotions and sensations (Brennan, 2002). Although Titchener agreed with
Wundt that consciousness could be broken down into its basic elements, Titchener also
believed that objective introspection could be used on thoughts as well as on physical
sensations. For example, Titchener might have asked his students to introspect about things
that are blue rather than actually giving them a blue object and asking for reactions to it. Such
an exercise might have led to something like the following: “What is blue? There are blue
things, like the sky or a bird’s feathers. Blue is cool and restful, blue is calm …” and so on. In
1894, one of Titchener’s students at Cornell University became famous for becoming the first
woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology (Goodman, 1980; Guthrie, 2004). Her name was
Margaret F. Washburn, and she was Titchener’s only graduate student for that year. In 1908
she published a book on animal behavior that was considered an important work in that era of
psychology, The Animal Mind (Washburn, 1908). Structuralism was a dominant force in the
early days of psychology, but it eventually died out in the early 1900s, as the structuralists
were busily fighting among themselves over just which key elements of experience were the
most important. A competing view arose not long after Wundt’s laboratory was established,
shortly before structuralism came to America.
Functionalism: Harvard University was the first school in America to offer classes in
psychology in the late 1870s. These classes were taught by one of Harvard’s most illustrious
instructors, William James (1842–1910). James began teaching anatomy and physiology, but
as his interest in psychology developed, he began teaching it
almost exclusively (Brennan, 2002). His comprehensive textbook on the subject, Principles
of Psychology, is so brilliantly written that copies are still in print (James, 1890, 2015).
Unlike Wundt and Titchener, James was more interested in the importance of consciousness
to everyday life than just its analysis. He believed that the scientific study of consciousness
itself was not yet possible. Conscious ideas are constantly flowing in an ever-changing
stream, and once you start thinking about what you were just thinking about, what you were
thinking about is no longer what you were thinking about—it’s what you are thinking about
—and … excuse me, I’m a little dizzy. I think you get the picture, anyway. Instead, James
focused on how the mind allows people to function in the real world—how people work,
play, and adapt to their surroundings, a viewpoint he called functionalism. (He was heavily
influenced by Charles Darwin’s ideas about natural selection, in which physical traits that
help an animal adapt to its environment and survive are passed on to its offspring.) If physical
traits could aid in survival, why couldn’t behavioural traits do the same? Animals and people
whose behavior helped them to survive would pass those traits on to their offspring, perhaps
by teaching or even by some mechanism of heredity.* (Remember that this was early in the
days of trying to understand how heredity worked.) For example, a behavior such as
avoiding the eyes of others in an elevator can be seen as a way of protecting one’s personal
space—a kind of territorialprotection that may have its roots in the primitive need to protect
one’s home and source of food and water from intruders (Manusov & Patterson, 2006) or as a
way of avoiding what might seem like a challenge to another person
Structuralism was the first school of psychology, and focused on breaking down mental
processes into the most basic components. Major structuralist thinkers include Wilhelm
Wundt and Edward Titchener. Functionalism formed as a reaction to the theories of the
structuralist school of thought and was heavily influenced by the work of William James.
Major functionalist thinkers included John Dewey and Harvey Carr.
Behaviorism:
Behaviorism became the dominant school of thought during the 1950s. Based upon the work
of thinkers such as John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner, behaviorism holds that
all behavior can be explained by environmental causes, rather than by internal forces.
Behaviorism is focused on observable behavior. Theories of learning including classical
conditioning and operant conditioning were the focus of a great deal of research.
Psychoanalysis: Sigmund Freud was the found of psychodynamic approach. This school of
thought emphasizes the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior. Freud believed that
the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the ego, and the superego. Other
major psychodynamic thinkers include Anna Freud, Carl Jung, and Erik Erikson.
Humanistic Psychology:
Humanistic psychology developed as a response to psychoanalysis and behaviorism.
Humanistic psychology instead focused on individual free will, personal growth, and self-
actualization. Major humanist thinkers included Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Often
called the “third force” in psychology, humanism was really a reaction to both psychoanalytic
theory and behaviorism. If you were a psychologist in the early to mid-1900s, you were either
a psychoanalyst or a behaviorist— there weren’t any other major viewpoints to rival those
two. In contrast to the psychoanalytic focus on sexual development and behaviorism’s focus
on external forces in guiding personality development, some professionals began to develop a
perspective that would allow them to focus on people’s ability to direct their own lives.
Humanists held the view that people have free will, the freedom to choose their own destiny,
and strive for self-actualization, the achievement of one’s full potential. Two of the earliest
and most famous founders of this view were Abraham Maslow (1908– 1970) and Carl Rogers
(1902–1987). Today, humanism exists as a form of psychotherapy aimed at self-
understanding and self-improvement
Gestalt Psychology:
Gestalt psychology is based upon the idea that we experience things as unified wholes. This
approach to psychology began in Germany and Austria during the late 19th century in
response to the molecular approach of structuralism. Rather that breaking down thoughts and
behavior to their smallest element, the gestalt psychologists believed that you must look at
the whole of experience. others devoted their efforts to studying sensation and perception in
this new perspective, Gestalt psychology. Gestalt (Gesh-TALT) is a German word meaning
“an organized whole” or “configuration,” which fit well with the focus on studying whole
patterns rather than small pieces of them. .Today, Gestalt ideas are part of the study of
cognitive psychology, a field focusing not only on perception but also on learning, memory,
thought processes, and problem solving; the basic Gestalt principles of perception are still
taught within this newer field.The Gestalt approach has also been influential in psychological
therapy, becoming the basis for
a therapeutic technique called Gestalt therapy.According to the gestalt thinkers, the whole is
greater than the sum of its parts.
Cognitive Psychology: Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental
processes including how people think, perceive, remember, and learn. As part of the larger
field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including
neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.
One of the most influential theories from this school of thought was the stages of cognitive
development theory proposed by Jean Piaget

Branches of Psychology
1. Abnormal Psychology
Abnormal psychology dedicated to patients who display abnormal behavior or thinking.
Abnormal behavior is considered conduct that doesn’t comply with societal norms, which can
include mental illnesses such as bulimia or schizophrenia. Psychologists in this field try to
understand what causes unusual behaviors in people, whether it stems from a biological
origin (nature) or learned through experiences (nurture).
2. Behavioral Psychology
Psychologists who study the connection between the mind and subsequent behaviors are
behavioral psychologists. Behavioral psychologists counsel, diagnose and treat patients with
behavioral disorders. By better understanding behaviors, the psychologists hope to better
predict how people will behave in different situations. Behavioral psychologists study how
habits form in people, and how the mind plays a role in a physical response.
3. Clinical Psychology
Clinical psychology relates to psychologists directly providing comprehensive healthcare to
patients who are suffering from mental illness. Clinical psychologists interact with patients
through observations, interviews and tests before making a diagnosis and coming up with a
plan to deal with the symptoms of a mental illness. Many psychologists in this field use
psychoanalysis, a psychological theory and form of therapy for treating mental disorders in
patients. Over the course of multiple visits, psychologists delve into the emotions and
experiences of a patient to provide insight into the illness.
4. Cognitive Psychology
Concerned with mental processes, cognitive psychologists study the human thought process
and how people obtain, process, and store information in the brain. These psychologists
conduct experiments and research to study memory, perception, and learning. They work to
better understand the mind and find solutions to memory loss, learning disabilities, and other
cognitive issues.
5. Counseling Psychology
Patients who are suffering through stressful moments in life could be advised to see a
counseling psychologist. Counseling psychologists treat patients who are experiencing an
emotional strain caused by social or physical factors. This differs from clinical psychologists,
who treat and diagnose patients with mental disorders. Marriage and grief counselors would
be considered part of counseling psychology. The counselors assess patients and then advise
them with a personalized plan to improving their well-being and decreasing stress.
6. Developmental Psychology
Developmental psychologists have helped us better understand how people mature over the
course of their lives, both emotionally and physically, studying human development from
birth until old age. Specifically, psychologists take an in-depth look at biological growth of
the body, cognitive expansion and emotional maturity, among other areas of study. When
working with patients, developmental psychologists assess and diagnose to treat various
issues, such as developmental delays in children. Some of these delays are common, and a
psychologist could diagnose therapy to help the child catch up or just observation to see how
the child improves on his or her own.
7. Educational Psychology
Educational psychologists study factors that impact learning, including learning methods and
how information is processed and absorbed. Memory, concepts, and individual differences all
affect how a person learns. In researching these processes, psychologists apply theories of
human development to better understand how to improve the instructional process.
8. Experimental Psychology
Experimental psychologists conduct investigations into basic psychological processes, such
as attention, perception, memory, and reasoning. Arguably, many psychologists could be
considered experimental in that research impacts much of this field. However, the sole
mission of experimental psychologists is conducting and publishing research on either human
or animal behaviors. Their findings often contribute to work across many branches and builds
on a larger conclusion.
9. Forensic Psychology
Forensic psychologists work in the intersection of the legal system and the field of
psychology. They often conduct evaluations and research that help guide legal proceedings.
This can include evaluating a defendant for competency to stand trial or helping train police
officers and first responders on how to properly handle criminals and crime scenes. While
many forensic psychologists work within the legal system, some work in threat assessment,
which is the scientific approximation of whether a person will become a threat in the future.
10. Health Psychology
In 1977, George L. Engel developed the biopsychosocial model, or the idea that biological,
psychological, and social factors influence disease and illness. In time, this has become the
model used by health psychologists to study how and why people get sick. These
psychologists help people make choices that have a positive impact on their health, as well as
that of their families and communities. Their patients range from those with genetic disorders
to substance abuse issues.
11. Human Factors Psychology
Human factors psychologists use research to improve transportation, consumer products,
telecommunication, technology – nearly anything and any system with which humans
interact. Their goal is to create safer and more effective systems by better understanding
people’s expectations and how they interact with products and technology. These
psychologists conduct research and consult with companies on how to ensure a safe working
environment for employees.
12. Industrial – Organizational Psychology
Industrial-Organizational Psychology, also known as I/O psychology, serves to study how
human behavior impacts industry and organizations. I/O psychologists evaluate a work
situation and develop a plan for the optimal performance and work-life balance in that
situation for the employees. I/O psychologists specialize in designing and executing research
done on workplace setups as well as studying decision-making theories.
13. Personality Psychology
Personality psychologists work to explain why people display certain types of behavior, such
as aggression, and study the differences between disorders. Psychologists in this branch study
individual differences in personality characteristics, such as conscientiousness, as well as
how personality characteristics interact to create a personality. Additionally, personality
psychologists study the influence of expressed genes and how that affects personality.
Although mainly working in research, they can provide treatment to people with personality
disorders.
14. School Psychology
Creating a safe and healthy school environment is the goal of every school psychologist.
These psychologists focus on helping find the best environment for student learning as well
as helping teachers or students find their optimal learning space. They study social,
behavioral, emotional, and academic factors to find the best situation for students. They also
conduct research on the best practices for school policy and make recommendations for
school administrators to adopt.
15. Social Psychology
Social psychologists strive to understand individual behaviors and personalities within a
social context. Psychologists in this branch study the social factors that influence how people
act and the condition in which those actions occur. Most social psychologists research and
observe social influence, group processes,prejudice or discrimination, and stereotypes. Over
the years,

16. Sports Psychology

Sports psychologists help athletes achieve optimal performance on the field. Psychologists in
this subset study how sports affect human psychology and vice versa. In applied settings,
sports psychologists work with athletes (from youth to adults), parents, coaches, and more
regarding injuries and rehabilitation, positive communication, and team building.

Myths and Misconceptions of Psychology;.

Psychologists can read minds

When you tell people you study Psychology, no matter who they are or where they come
from, their first response is ' So you can read peoples' mind!' or 'Can you tell me what am I
thinking?' But that is not the case. Psychology is the study of the mind and how people
interact in society, no psychologist will ever claim that they can mind read.

Psychology is the same as Psychiatry

A graduate in a Psychology degree is called a Psychologist. However, a Psychiatrist is a

medical doctor who specializes in Psychiatry. Psychologists are not called doctors unless they
complete PhD and they focus on psychotherapy as compared to Psychiatrists who diagnose
and help manage mental illnesses through a range of therapies like pharmacotherapy.
Psychologist work only in hospitals

It is a common misconception that a psychologist can only be found in a clinical setting.

However, Psychology is a broad and diverse field that encompasses the study of human
thought, behavior, development, personality, emotion, motivation, and more. Psychologists
work in prisons, intelligence agencies, schools, sports, counseling services, rehabilitation
centers, human resources (HR) departments, and industrial sectors in addition to hospitals.
Research and teaching careers are also very common.

There isn't any statistics in Psychology

One reason you might be surprised to know that Psychology also involves Mathematics and
Statistics is that psychology is so often associated with qualitative things like emotions and
feelings. However, Math classes, and statistics, in particular, are an important part of any
psychology program. You need to master one or more statistical software like Excel, SPSS,
or Jamovi to analyze the quantitative data and eventually deduce results in research projects.
Statistics allow psychologists to present data in ways that are easier to comprehend such as
using graphs, pie charts, and scatter plots.

Psychology isn't a science

It is commonly heard that Psychology is not a real science. Psychology indeed has its fair
share of pseudoscience, however, it does take a scientific approach and uses empirical
methods to understand human behavior. Psychologists use both qualitative research methods
such as interviews and focus groups as well as quantitative research methods such as
questionnaires and surveys to understand various behavioral and cognitive processes.

Aims and Hypotheses

The aim of the study is a statement of what the researcher intents to investigate.

The hypothesis of the study is an idea, derived from psychological theory which contains a
prediction which can be verified or disproved by some kind of investigation, usually an
experiment.

A directional hypothesis indicates a direction in the prediction (one-tailed) e.g. ‘students with
pets perform better than students without pets’.

A non-directional hypothesis does not indicate a direction in the prediction (two-tailed) e.g.
‘owning pets will affect students’ exam performances’.

Sampling

A sample is the participants you select from a target population (the group you are interested
in) to make generalisations about.

A Volunteer sample is where participants pick themselves through newspaper adverts,

noticeboards or online.

Opportunity sampling uses people who are available at the time the study is carried out.
Random sampling is when every person in the target population has an equal chance of being
selected.

Systematic sampling is when a system is used to select participants.

Stratified sampling is when you identify the subgroups and select participants in proportion
with their occurrences.

Variables

Independent variable (IV) – the variable the experimenter manipulates, aassumed to have a
direct effect on the DV.

Dependent variable (DV) – the variable the experimenter measures after making changes to
the IV.

We must use operationalisation to ensure that variables are in a form that can be easily tested
e.g. Educational attainment → GCSE grade in maths.

Extraneous variables are all variables, which are not the independent variable, but could
affect the results of the experiment.There are two types: Situational variables (controlled
through standardisation) and Participant variables (controlled through randomisation)

Case Study

Case studies are in-depth investigations of a single person, group, event or community.

Case studies are widely used in psychology and amongst the best-known ones carried out
were by Sigmund Freud. He conducted very detailed investigations into the private lives of
his patients in an attempt to both understand and help them overcome their illnesses.

Case studies provide rich qualitative data and have high levels of ecological validity

Correlation

Correlation means association - more precisely it is a measure of the extent to which two
variables are related.

If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with an increase in the other then this is
known as a positive correlation.

If an increase in one variable tends to be associated with a decrease in the other then this is
known as a negative correlation.

A zero correlation occurs when there is no relationship between variables.

Interviews

Unstructured (informal) interviews are like a casual conversation. There are no set questions
and the participant is given the opportunity to raise whatever topics he/she feels are relevant
and ask them in their own way. In this kind of interview much qualitative data is likely to be
collected.

Structured (formal) interviews are like a job interview. There is a fixed, predetermined set of
questions that are put to every participant in the same order and in the same way. The
interviewer stays within their role and maintains social distance from the interviewee

Questionnaire

Questionnaires can be thought of as a kind of written interview. They can be carried out face
to face, by telephone or post.

The questions asked can be open ended, allowing flexibility in the respondent's answers, or
they can be more tightly structured requiring short answers or a choice of answers from given
alternatives.

The choice of questions is important because of the need to avoid bias or ambiguity in the
questions, ‘leading’ the respondent, or causing offence

Observations

Covert observations are when the researcher pretends to be an ordinary member of the group
and observes in secret. There could be ethical problems or deception and consent with this
particular method of observation.

Overt observations are when the researcher tells the group he or she is conducting research
(i.e. they know they are being observed).

Controlled: behavior is observed under controlled laboratory conditions (e.g. Bandura's Bobo
doll study).

Natural: Here spontaneous behavior is recorded in a natural setting.

Participant: Here the observer has direct contact with the group of people they are observing.

Non-participant (aka "fly on the wall): The researcher does not have direct contact with the
people being observed.
Pilot Study

A pilot study is an initial run-through of the procedures to be used in an investigation; it

involves selecting a few people and trying out the study on them. It is possible to save time,
and in some cases, money, by identifying any flaws in the procedures designed by the
researcher.

A pilot study can help the researcher spot any ambiguities (i.e. unusual things) or confusion
in the information given to participants or problems with the task devised.

Sometimes the task is too hard, and the researcher may get a floor effect, because none of the
participants can score at all or can complete the task – all performances are low. The opposite
effect is a ceiling effect, when the task is so easy that all achieve virtually full marks or top
performances and are “hitting the ceiling

Content Analysis

Content analysis is a research tool used to indirectly observe the presence of certain words,
images or concepts within the media (e.g. advertisements, books films etc.). For example,
content analysis could be used to study sex-role stereotyping.

Researchers quantify (i.e. count) and analyze (i.e. examine) the presence, meanings and
relationships of words and concepts, then make inferences about the messages within the
media, the writer(s), the audience, and even the culture and time of which these are a part.

To conduct a content analysis on any such media, the media is coded or broken down, into
manageable categories on a variety of levels - word, word sense, phrase, sentence, or theme -
and then examined

Meta Analysis

A meta-analysis is a systematic review that involves identifying an aim and then searching
for research studies that have addressed similar aims/hypotheses.

This is done by looking through various databases and then decisions are made about what
studies are to be included/excluded.

Strengths: Increases the validity of the conclusions drawn as they’re based on a wider range.

Weaknesses: Research designs in studies can vary so they are not truly comparable

Peer Review

A researcher submits an article to a journal. The choice of journal may be determined by the
journal’s audience or prestige.

The journal selects two or more appropriate experts (psychologists working in a similar field)
to peer review the article without payment. The peer reviewers assess: the methods and
designs used, originality of the findings, the validity of the original research findings and its
content, structure and language.
Feedback from the reviewer determines whether the article is accepted. The article may be:
Accepted as it is, accepted with revisions, sent back to the author to revise and re-submit or
rejected without the possibility of submission.

The editor makes the final decision whether to accept or reject the research report based on
the reviewers comments/ recommendations.