INQUIZITIVE-CH 1: Psychology Is a Way of Thinking

research producer

someone who facilitates the research process in order to increase knowledge

research consumer

someone who takes research and applies it to their career or daily life

empiricism

psychological scientists base their conclusions on evidence

-collect and use data to develop, support, or challenge a theory

steps of the theory-data cycle

1. theory

2. research question

3. research design

4. hypothesis

5. preregistration

6. data

-supported by data

-falsifiable

characteristics of a good theory

- journal

- peer-reviewed

- researchers

a scientific _____ is a periodic publication that is _____ and contains articles written by qualified _____

peer-review process

submitting findings to a journal to be evaluated for publication

replication

conducting a second study to see if results found are consistent

preregistration

submitting expected results to a website before collecting data

Merton's scientific norms

-universalism

-communality

-organized skepticism

-disinterestedness

communality

scientific knowledge is created by and belongs to the community

organized skepticism

scientists question their own theories and widely accepted ideas

disinterestedness

scientists are not swayed by profit or idealism but rather strive to discover the truth

universalism

scientific claims are evaluated based on merit, not by researcher's reputation

true

true or false:

multiple replications of the same study provide strong support for a theory

true

true or false:

every theory should be falsifiable

false

true or false:

if a result does not support a theory, the theory should be discarded

false

true or false:

if a researcher tests their hypothesis and the results are as predicted, this proves their theory

hypothesis

Harlow's ____ was that baby monkeys would spend most of their time with the fuzzy, cloth-covered mother

theory

Harlow's ____ was that babies are attached to their mothers for the comfort mothers provide, not for the food

data

The amount of time baby monkeys spent on the wire mother and the cloth-covered mother was Harlow's ____

applied research questions

- Do farm safety days decrease accidents among rural children?

- Do tablet computers increase the productivity of nurses in an emergency room?

basic research questions

- How quickly can the human eye switch between targets

- What are the effects of cocaine on the sociability of rats

transational research questions

- Can the previously documented persuasive effects of scarcity be used to increase recycling?

- Can laboratory studies on empathy's link to racism be used to develop a new program for elementary schools?

common ways journalists misrepresent research studies

- selecting only certain parts of the results to write about

- exaggerating the importance of the findings

true

true or false:

scientific journal articles are peer-reviewed, while news stories are not

true

true or false:

scientific journal articles are generally read by scientists and students, while news stories are read by the general public

false

true or false:

scientific journal articles usually exaggerate their findings, while news stories do not

false

true or false:

scientific journal articles usually exaggerate their findings, while news stories do not

false

true or false:

scientific journal articles have multiple contributors, while news stories do not

both the production and consumption of research

psychologists engage in what aspect(s) of research?

examples of empirical evidence

- a questionnaire

- a stopwatch

- a thermometer