Psych 209 Test 1

Empiricism

the use of verifiable evidence as the basis for conclusions

• collecting data and using that information and using it to develop, support or challenge theories

Falsifiability

A feature in scientific theory where it is possible to collect data that will indicate your theory is wrong

• A theory cannot be valid if it cannot be falsified

• Self-correction

Operationalization

The process of turning abstract ideas into measurable variables

• reduces bias and allows replication

• ex: stress being measured in how many times an individual smiled over a certain time

replication

The practice of independently repeating a scientific study to see if its original finding can be reproduced

• enables reliability and validity

• removes the possibility of confounds

Weight of evidence

research principle that scientific findings should be based on the collective findings of independent studies rather than relying on a single dramatic breakthrough

Journal vs Journalism

Journalism: the practice of gathering, verifying, and reporting information to the news and the public

• Information understood by the public

• peer-reviewd

Journal: a scholarly, peer-reviewed periodical that publishes in-depth empirical research

• Information mainly understood by certain qualified/professional individuals

• fact checking

Producer vs Consumer

Producer of research: to generate new knowledge, test hypotheses, and discover empirical facts

• Designing a trial to test a new anxiety app and gathering statistical data

Consumer of research: to find, evaluate, and apply existing research to inform decisions or practice

• Reads the study and integrates the app into their private therapy

Theory data cycle

• observations and questions

• hypothesis

• experiment and data collection

• theory

universalism

scientific claims must be evaluated using preestablished impersonal criteria

community

scientific knowledge is common property and must be openly shared with everyone

Disinterestedness

the scientific norm that researches should look for the truth and advance knowledge rather than trying to achieve personal gain, financial profit or ideological outcome

organized skepticism

research must question everything, accept nothing at face value and varifty claims with with empirical evidence before believing them

Applied research

scientific investigation designed to solve a specific immediate real-world problem

Translational research

the direct bridge that turns abstract basic laboratory discoveries into practical real-world solutions

Basic research

scientific investigation designed to expand the general body of knowledge rather than solve a specific real world problem

confound

extraneous third variable that could be distorting the relationship between the independent and dependent variables

• ex: number of hours sleeping and energy level; confound: health, time spent awake, time on phone

comparison group

a group of individuals who did not receive the primary intervention or treatment

probabilistic

the likelihood of an event occurring rather than a fixed certainty

good story bias

human tendency to favor clean, well put together, satisfying stories over messy, random and chaotic stories

confirmation bias

tendency to recall information that matches with your existing beliefs or expectations, while ignoring contradictory evidence

Availability Heuristic

a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that comes to a specific mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept or method

• ex: when asked if you are more likely to die from a dog attack or falling furniture, many people assume that it is dog attack due to what we hear but in reality you are 30 times more likely to die by falling furniture

Fundamental attribution error

if someone is acting poorly we believe that it is because of who they are (deposition) rather than what situation they are in (situation)

illusionary correlation

the cognitive bias of believing there is a correlation between two variables when there really is none

bias blind spot

• the cognitive bias of recognizing that others have a bias but refuse to see the biases in our own judgement

false consensus affect

people overestimate the rate in which people share there opinions, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors

Sources of Information

• experience

• intuition

• authority

• research

• learning about the world through trial and error and lived events

• relying on gut feelings, what feels right rather than systematic logic

• accepting information as truth because it comes from prestigious and reliable sources

• the systematic and empirical collection of data

PsycINFO vs Google Scholar

• discipline-specific, strict quality control, controlled vocabulary, institutional subscription

• Multidisciplinary, no pre-vetting, keyword matching, free public engine

Paywalled article

published peer reviewed academic journal that requires a paid prescription

Open access articles

peer-reviewed articles that are published to the public completely free to download and distribute

Empirical Journal Article

• reports the methods of a single specific study

• contains new and freshly sourced data

• finding new specific method, scales or direct experimental evidence

Review Journal Article

• previously published articles

• getting a comprehensive high level overview

Parts of a Research paper

1. Abstract: overview and summary

2. Introduction

3. Method

4. Results

5. Discussion: interpreting the findings

6. References

disinformation

false or missing information that is deliberately created and disseminated

click restraint

resisting the urge to click information from the first results of a search engine

Lateral reading

leaving a tab without reading the entirity of the page