Starter - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Starter

Objectivity task one- bookletSlide2

Task

Write instructions for someone to recreate your given pictureSlide3

How does this link to research methods?

Replicability for reliability

Standardised instructionsSlide4

Replicability

& Reliability

Sir Cyril Burt was accused of making up the data for his study that supported a genetic link in intelligence

This relates to the

reliability

of the findings: so, if it is possible to carry out the research again and find the same or similar results, the research is replicable. If it is replicable we can have confidence in the findings

If research is replicable it

guards against scientific fraud

(for instance, researchers may have simply made their findings up) and allows us to rule out that the finding was a one off caused by something about the original study, such as an atypical sample being testedSlide5

Replicability

& Reliability

To enable others to replicate a study, psychologists should publish

full and precise details

of their research

Replication is an important tool in the scientific method. It allows scientists to check findings and ensure that they are robust.

Which section of psychology research reports need to be very detailed to achieve this: the abstract, the method or the discussion?Slide6

Why do we dream?

Which is the best theory?

Why?Slide7

Freud’s Theory of Dreams

1900

Freud wrote the

interpretation of dreams

, suggesting that dreams were a “psychic safety valve” allowing us to discharge unacceptable,

unconscious

wishes and urges.

Dreams protected sleep by providing imagery that kept disturbing and

repressed thoughts out of our consciousness. The psychoanalyst uses free association, knowledge of dream mechanisms, (displacement/symbolism) and knowledge of recent events to uncover the

latent content of the dream from the manifest content (dream as reported by dreamer)For Freud, dreams were the “Royal road to the unconscious”. However absurd a dream may initially seem, Freud believed it always possessed meaning and logic. He considered that many aspects of a dream were symbolic, and in some cases would interpret the symbols as sexual, which was often seen as controversial.Slide8

Cartwright’s Problem Solving Theory

Cartwright (1988) sees dreams as a way of dealing with

problems

relating to work, sex, health etc. Like

freud

, she makes use of

metaphor

in dreams – e.g. dreaming of a colleague trying to stab you in the back could suggest that the person is undermining you at work.Slide9

Hobson &

McCarley’s

Activation-Synthesis Theory

This theory suggests that dreaming results from waves of activity which sweep up from the brainstem, through to several parts of the brain, including those involved in perception, action and

emotional

reactions.

This

activation is essentially

random: whilst body movements are inhibited, the brain still receives

signals and attempts to make sense (or synthesise) these random bursts of neural energy. Hobson (1988) argued “The brain is so bent upon the quest for meaning, that it creates meaning when there is little or none in the data it is asked to process”. Therefore, this theory sees dreams as the result of brain stem activity rather than

unconscious

wishes.Slide10

Empiricism

Read and answer

the questionsSlide11

Hypothetico- deductive

The

hypothetico

-deductive method is one of the mainstays of scientific research, often regarded as the only 'true' scientific research method.

T

he

method involves the traditional steps of observing the subject, in order to elaborate upon an area of study.

This

allows the researcher to generate a testable

 and realistic hypothesis which the researcher can then use to support said theory.Slide12

The Scientific processSlide13

Look at the study and highlight the process

BookletsSlide14

Peer review task- Abstract

The team led by Professor

Pedley

sat two groups of 20 male students in a mini-cinema and played two films to them – one featuring alcohol drinking and one without

.

A fridge containing alcoholic and soft beverages was placed next to them and they were told they could pick any drink.

The group that watched the comedy American Pie, which featured 23 alcoholic scenes, along with drink ads in between, consumed three bottles of beer on average compared with 1.5 bottles drank by another group that watched the relatively dry film 40 Days and 40 Nights

with some

alcohol ad breaks. Slide15

Peer review

In

the peer review process, a paper is submitted to a journal and evaluated by several reviewers.  (Reviewers are often individuals with an impressive history of work in the area of interest, that is, the specific area that the article addresses). 

After

critiquing the paper the reviewers submit their thoughts to the editor.  Then, based on the commentaries from the reviewers, the editor decides whether to publish the paper, make suggestions for additional changes that could lead to publication, or reject the paper

.

The primary purpose of peer review is to ensure that the papers published are valid and unbiased.Slide16

Why bother?

“Peer review is one way (replication is another) science institutionalizes the attitudes of objectivity and public criticism.  Ideas and experimentation undergo a honing process in which they are submitted to other critical minds for evaluation.  Ideas that survive this critical process have begun to meet the criterion of public verifiability” (

Stanovich

, 2007, p. 12

).

But really….why?Slide17

Why bother?

Research proposals will be scrutinized to check it is robust

To ensure it can contribute to already existing knowledge

Ethics approval

Encourages academic debate, openness and communication

Ensure there is no bias

Appropriateness of conclusions drawn

Ensure it is worth dissemination- journals

Consider wider implications

Find any errorsEnsure it can be repeatedSlide18

Peer reviewing your essays

I am going to ask an A2 student in the other group to mark your essays.

What might be the problems with this?Slide19

Bias

Reviewer

Publication

ReputationSlide20

Gender research topic ideas

Gender differences in memory

Gender differences in handwriting

Gender differences in answering questions in class

Gender differences in likeliness to be asked questions in class

Gender traits

Gender preferences in films/music

Gender differences in jealousy

Gender differences in mental healthGender preferences in choice of A level subjects

Gender differences in university decisionsGender differences in IQGender differences in spatial awarenessSlide21

Who is more likely to get published?

“Men are better at multi tasking than women”

(Foster 2015)

“Women are better at multitasking than men”

(

Fearon

2015)

“No difference found in ability to multi task”

(Pedley 2015)Slide22

Define the following

Objectivity

Empiricism

Hypothetico

- deductive

approach

Peer review