pysch chap 1-3 final exam revised

Consuming Research

Learning research methods helps you be a skilled consumer of information in fields like mental health, business, and education.

Public Policy and Judicial Decisions

Behavioral research and neuroscience influence U.S. Supreme Court decisions and the development of social programs.

Intuition

A flawed way of knowing that involves accepting a single story or your own judgment without question.

Illusory Correlation

A cognitive bias where we believe two standout events are related even when they aren't (e.g., thinking adopting a child causes a woman to get pregnant).

Authority

Accepting information as true simply because it comes from a prestigious or trustworthy source like a news anchor or professor.

Empiricism

The scientific approach of using objective, structured observations and hard data to reach conclusions.

Evolved Theory of Science

The idea that science is defined by the central role of data, shared observations among scientists, and an adversarial process where ideas are challenged.

Falsifiability

The requirement that a scientific idea must be capable of being proven wrong by data to be considered valid.

Peer Review

The process where experts evaluate a study's merit before it is published to ensure quality.

Skepticism

The practice of doubting claims and requiring evidence before accepting them as truth.

Pseudoscience

Claims that sound scientific but lack evidence, often using vague language or relying on personal testimonials.

Description

A goal of science focused on detailing observable behaviors or internal states and how they relate.

Prediction (General)

Using known relationships to guess future outcomes (e.g., using a student's high school GPA to predict their college success).

Determining Causes

Identifying why a behavior occurs; requires showing the cause came first and that no other factors were involved.

Temporal Precedence

A rule of causality stating the cause must happen before the effect (e.g., a person must drink caffeine before their heart rate increases).

Covariation of Cause and Effect

A rule of causality stating that the effect should only happen when the cause is present.

Alternative Explanations

The process of ruling out other variables that might have caused an outcome.

Basic Research

Research that seeks to answer fundamental questions about the nature of behavior, like "how does memory work?"

Applied Research

Research aimed at solving practical, real-world problems, such as "which therapy best treats depression?"

Research Question

The first step in a project; a general question that is specific enough to be answered by a study.

Hypothesis

A tentative, testable answer to a research question.

Prediction (Specific)

A specific guess about a study's outcome based on the hypothesis.

Theory

A systematic set of ideas that organizes facts, explains behavior, and helps generate new hypotheses.

Literature Reviews

Articles that summarize previous research on a specific topic to provide a broad overview of what is already known.

Meta-analysis

A statistical method that combines results from many different studies to find an overall trend.

Empirical Research Articles

Reports on original studies that usually include an Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion.

Abstract

A brief summary of the entire research report, usually under 120 words.

Introduction

The section that explains the research problem, reviews past studies, and states the hypothesis.

Method Section

The part of an article detailing how the study was done; includes Participants, Instruments, and Procedure.

Results Section

The section where findings are presented through text, statistics, and graphs.

Discussion Section

The final part of an article that explains if the hypothesis was supported and suggests future research.

Belmont Report

A 1979 document defining the three ethical pillars of research.

Principle of Beneficence

The ethical rule to maximize benefits and minimize risks to research participants.

Principle of Autonomy

Respect for persons; ensuring participants are treated as independent agents who give informed consent.

Principle of Justice

The ethical requirement that the groups who bear the risks of research should also receive its benefits.

APA Ethics Code

Guidelines including Beneficence, Fidelity, Integrity, Justice, and Respect for Rights.

Construct Validity

The degree to which a test or measure actually captures the theoretical idea it is supposed to (e.g., does an IQ test truly measure intelligence?).

Internal Validity

The ability to say with certainty that the independent variable caused the change in the dependent variable.

External Validity

The extent to which study results can be applied to other people, places, or times (generalizability).

Variable

Any event, behavior, or characteristic that can change and be measured (e.g., age, stress level, or temperature).

Operational Definition

The specific procedure used to measure or change a variable (e.g., defining "hunger" as "not eating for 12 hours").

Positive Linear Relationship

A pattern where both variables increase together (e.g., more study hours lead to higher test scores).

Negative Linear Relationship

A pattern where one variable increases while the other decreases (e.g., more exercise leads to lower body fat).

Curvilinear Relationship

A relationship where variables increase together up to a point, then the pattern changes (e.g., medium anxiety helps performance, but too much hurts it).

Independent Variable

The variable the researcher changes or manipulates (the "cause").

Dependent Variable

The variable the researcher measures to see the effect (the "outcome").

Experimental Control

Keeping all environment features the same for all groups except for the one variable being tested.

Randomization

Assigning participants to groups by chance to ensure the groups are equal at the start of the study.

Field Experiment

A study done in a real-world setting rather than a lab; it is more realistic but harder to control.