Research Methods and Statistics in

Psychology

Lecture 1: Research in
Psychology

Overviewoflecture
Housekeeping

Researchinpsychology

(a)Whydoit?
(b)Whatareourobjectives?
(c)Whatistheroleoftheoryinpsychologicalresearch?

 Who

am I:

Associate Professor Kristen Pammer

Phone: 6125 0196
Email: kristen.pammer@anu.edu.au
Interests: BRAINS!!, Human brain imaging (MEG, fMRI),
reading, dyslexia, attention, synaesthesia, road safety
Available if my door is open, otherwise send an email
to make an appointment
Li Lim Associate coordinator
Extensions, re-marks tutorials,
general problems
Li Lim@anu.edu.au
Best contacted by email

Assessment
Onewrittenexamattheendofthecourse
Exam40%
Onallaspectsofthecourse.Probablyshortanswerstyle

Labreport20%
Researchparticipation5%
5hoursofresearchparticipation

Labquizzes=35%totalof6

All assessment will be based on both lecture material and the text book.
You are expected to attend lectures
Why?
They are the best way to learn.
You will be assessed on the information given in lectures.

Lab timetable
There are a number of labs scattered through the week you
chose and attend one of those
All labs will be held in PSYC149 access via the Psychology
building
Labs start in week 9 (week starting the 2nd March)

For info on how to sign up:

http://www.anu.edu.au/psychology/teaching/labsignup
You must be enrolled to access Wattle (there may be a 24hr
delay after enrolment)

Opens on Friday the 20th at 1.00

Priority enrolment has technically closed, so submit forms to
Li ASAP

Lab attendance rule

You must attend your lab
Failure to attend a lab with documentation
No penalty but need to make up any
assessment (need to do the quiz)
Failure to attend a lab and have no
documentation
5% (5 marks) penalty for each missed lab

If you cannot attend a lab class then you must attend

the make-up lab 4:00-6:00 (last lab of the week in the
current timetable) Friday afternoons. You must have
permission to attend this lab

 Research

Participation

5 hours, research is advertised on SONA on wattle

Exclusion criteria for experiments

 Lab

quizzes

Readings and questions are available online

Take approx 15 mins at the start of the lab
If you are late you will only get the remaining
time
If you are more than 15 mins late, you will not
get to sit the quiz for that week.
6% each quiz, one mark in each quiz will be a
reading question mark
Readings available from next week, quizzes
available approx 1-week in advance

 Lab

report

Worth 20%
Will be based on data and discussion from
Labs 1 or 3 (you have the choice of which lab)
You will collect basic data, but you will have the
scope to take the question further if you wish.
This will be discussed further in labs and
subsequent classes

Opportunity for feedback

April 20 (not negotiable)
Not assessable, you will not receive a mark!

 Reading

Generalreadingforthiscourse
Haslam,S.A.&McGarty,C.(2014).Research
MethodsandStatisticsinPsychology.London:Sage.
ReferredtoinlecturesasH&M.
Relevantchaptersrelatetolectures
Readingforthislecture
Chapter1and2inH&M.

The prescribed texts for your course

are
Burton, Westen and Kowalski
(BW&K)
Psychology 4th Ed + Study
guide + CD + Writing guide
Yes you can use
previous editions of
both books. However
some of the readings
for B,W&K may be in
different places. If in
doubt check with a
friend or a library
version

GeneralStructure:
StatisticsandMethodology(KristenPammer)
AllsemesterThursdaylectures

CognitivePsychology(KristenPammer)
UntilthemidsemesterbreakFridaydoublelectures

DevelopmentalPsychology(EvanKidd)
AfterthemidsemesterbreakFridaydoublelectures

PAL (Peer Assisted Learning)

12

Class etiquette
You will:
Turn off your mobile phone
Enter and exit quietly
Have respect for me and other
Read the handbook and wattle

students
before

sending me an email

I will:
Turn

off my mobile phone

Be prepared and early for all lectures
Be available when necessary
Respect your thoughts and contributions to
class discussions

13

Last bits
Student reps?
Plagiarism will not be tolerated, please read info
in handout
Extensions: refer Psyc1003 handbook.
Extensions will only be granted by Kristen or Li.

 Whatispsychology?
Psychology: the science of mental life. It
attempts to examine and understand the
mental characteristics, states and processes
that underpin human (and other animal)
behaviour.
This has been the concern of
philosophers, writers and scientists for
centuries. But psychology only emerged
as a distinct scientific discipline around
the turn of the century.

Psychology is the scientific study of human behaviour

This is not a course in which you will be taught
How to read minds
How to psychoanalyse your
boyfriend/girlfriend/mother/sister/yourself
Clinical skills
Although this and subsequent courses can be the foundations for a career in
clinical Psychology

We will teach you about how different areas of

Psychology approach questions about human behaviour
Biological Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Developmental
Psychology, Social Psychology, Perception

We will use the scientific model

16

When is social change most likely to occur

How different hemispheres of the brain work

Synaesthesia
Social perception and stereotyping
Collective guilt and indigenous Australia
Retributive vs restorative justice

What causes dyslexia

Relationship between having a voice and anti-social behaviour
The psychology of space travel

neuroimaging

drug-related health indicators and levels of property crime

How do we see speed and motion (how do we not bump into each other all the time)
Fuzzy logic and social interactions
Dynamics of social change
Grief and loss
The impact of compulsory community treatment
The transition to fatherhood and parental adjustment
Belief structures in attractiveness
How brain cells code complex patterns
Gender as a social construct
Judgement and decision making under uncertainty
Why do we recognise faces differently from anything else
Attentional neglect

Implicit memory and eyewitness testimony

Development of handedness and lateralization

Stress and cardiovascular disease

17

How do we learn

 Researchinpsychology

Whydoit?
Because were interested in finding out
more about human behaviour and the
mental processes that underpin it.
Because we want to be sure that our
answers are correct.

Mothers diet may harm baby

Implant could cut stroke deaths
Grapefruit may help weight loss
Implants hinder breast scans

Migraine may raise stroke risk

What does this mean?

Who were the subjects?
How were subjects selected? And how
many?
Who performed the study?
What stats were used?
Who/what were the controls?
Was the study reliable and valid?

Researchinpsychology

Whydoit?
Being capable of critical reflection i.e.,
THINKING!

Pragmatically, the ability to conduct,

analyse and evaluate psychological
research is a very marketable skill,
central to a large number of professions.
E.g., these skills are relevant to
marketing, managerial work, policy
making, and human resources work.

Psychologists do research
because we want to know why
and we employ the scientific
method to do it.
Good research is Reliable, Valid,
Public, Cumulative and
Parsimonious.

It must also be meaningful

21

 The purpose of most psychological research is

to test predictions in the form of hypotheses
(i.e., statements of cause-and-effect that are
derived from a given theory and tested in
research).

Thought for the day

We've heard that a million monkeys at a million
keyboards could produce the complete works of
Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we
know that is not true