More help is available for the development of search strategies from your librarian.
Telephone or email the Social Science Library reference desk
(phone: 432-3300 or sslref@yale.edu)
Dana Peterman
April 17, 2006
Be sure you know what you mean: Terms in psychology
Words and phrases connote different meanings from discipline to discipline and in
different databases. The language of an index, catalog or other resource may not
transfer from one to another outside of a specific context. Use the following resources
to help define your terms, including terms used for research methods in experiments.
Resources
Thesauri from psychology and other databases
PsycINFO
MEDLINE
Scope notes, found in thesauri, sometimes define terms. In the Ovid versions of
PsycINFO and MEDLINE, type in a word or phrase and click on "Search". Click
on the "i" icon in blue under the column labeled "Scope" to find what
that word or phrase means in the context of the database you are searching.
Click on the word itself to understand how other terms in the thesaurus relate
to it contextually.
Dictionaries
Colman, A. M. (2001).
A dictionary of psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Accessed October 21, 2005.
Reber A. S., & Reber, E. S. (2001). The Penguin dictionary of psychology (3rd ed.).
New York: Penguin. Accessed October 21, 2005.
Givens, D. B. (2005).
The nonverbal dictionary of gestures, signs & body language cues:
From Adam’s-apple-jump to zygomatic smile. Spokane, WA: Center for Nonverbal Studies Press.
Accessed October 21, 2005.
Psychology dictionaries listed in Orbis.
Read overviews FIRST
Find out the main authors, thinking, and strains of research on your topic over the
last 10 to 15 years. Without a proper context for your topic, it is easy to misconstrue
the potential usefulness of a theory or experimental method(s).
Resources
PsycINFO
In the Ovid version of PsycINFO: Click the "More Limits" target icon
(See How).
In the Methodology section, use the Ctrl or "Apple" key to click on the phrase
"Literature review" and "Meta Analysis"
MEDLINE
In the Ovid version of MEDLINE, click off the check box marked “Review Articles”
(See How).
Librarian
Telephone or email the Social Science Library reference desk
(phone: 432-3300 or sslref@yale.edu)
Read reactions to research
Find out a topic’s limitations according to others in the field,
paying particular attention to experimental results and methods.
Resources
Opinions, Replies, Letters, Comments
In PsycINFO, use “More Limits” and click on the phrases "column/opinion",
"comment/reply", editorial and/or letter to search in the Document Types box.
In MEDLINE, look for publication type “Comment”.
Know the method and the design
Critical commentary involves a clear understanding of research methods and design
used in experiments and their appropriateness to the topic being explored.
Resources
Be sure you know what you mean: Terms in psychology
Look for recent work and experiments
This should be the last step in your investigation of a topic.
After analyzing the literature and methods used in the past on a particular topic,
you should be able to critically evaluate recent work.
Resources
Databases in psychology and related fields
Limit searches to Document Types “Original Document Type” in PsycINFO over the
last 5 years or so. Also look for recent journal articles in MEDLINE and other databases.
