Process of Science Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering basic scientific inquiry, experimental design, and reasoning from Week 1 study guide notes.

Three Basic Questions of Science

The core questions science asks: 1. What is there? 2. How does it work? 3. How did it come to be this way?

Scientific Method Steps

The sequential steps of scientific inquiry: Observation, Question, Hypothesis, Experiments, Conclusions, and Communicate Your Results.

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning from general to specific (a top-down approach).

Inductive Reasoning

Reasoning from specific to general (a bottom-up approach).

Theory (Scientific)

A well-supported model used in science to explain a phenomenon; largely synonymous with model.

Theory (Everyday Speech)

A speculation, guess, or hunch.

Controls

Experimental setups that provide the basis of comparison for variables.

Variables

Defined, measurable components of an experiment.

Placebo Effect

A psychological response to receiving a treatment where an individual feels better even though there is no physiological reason for it.

Placebo Group

A control group whose participants think they are receiving a valid treatment, used to control for the placebo effect.

Single Blind Experiment

An experiment in which participants do not know if they are receiving an experimental treatment or a placebo, but the data collectors do.

Double Blind Experiment

An experiment in which neither the participants nor the data collectors know which group received experimental treatments or a placebo, removing potential bias.

Nemoria arizonaria

A species of moth whose caterpillars (larvae) display seasonal polymorphism depending on environmental conditions.

Nemoria arizonaria Tested Variables

The three variables tested in the Nemoria arizonaria experiment: temperature, day length, and food.