Exam 1 Study Guide: Behavioral Science, Research Design, and Ethics

Vocabulary flashcards covering key behavioral science concepts, cognitive biases, empirical research methods, design principles, historical ethics cases, and regulatory oversight.

Intuition

Accepting one's own judgment or a single story without question, which often leads to cognitive errors like illusory correlations.

Illusory Correlation

Incorrectly perceiving a relationship between two standout events when no actual relationship exists.

Problem of Authority

The tendency to accept information purely because it comes from a prestigious, trustworthy, or respectable source.

Scientific Skepticism

The rejection of faith-based acceptance of ideas, requiring that all claims be evaluated through logic and systematic investigation.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts used to simplify complex questions and avoid mental overwhelm, which can lead to systematic thinking errors.

Availability Heuristic

Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.

Representativeness Heuristic

Deciding the likelihood of an event based on how much it matches a typical prototype.

Better-Than-Average Effect

The tendency to overestimate one's own skills and performance compared to others.

Dunning-Kruger Effect

The phenomenon where people with low expertise in a task overestimate their own ability or knowledge.

Overconfidence Phenomenon

Being overly confident in the correctness of one's own judgments.

Hindsight Bias

The 'I knew it all along' feeling that occurs after an outcome has already taken place.

Confirmation Bias

Seeking out only evidence that supports existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence.

Focusing Effect

Emphasizing specific pieces of information while undervaluing other relevant details.

"What You See Is All There Is"

A failure to recognize limitations in immediate experience, making it difficult to predict alternative possibilities.

Pleasure Paradox

The phenomenon where an introspective, analytical evaluation of a positive experience makes that experience less enjoyable.

Belief Perseverance

Maintaining a belief even after being presented with direct evidence that contradicts it.

Introspection

Reflecting on one's own internal thoughts to gather evidence, which is systematically flawed due to the limited nature of immediate experience.

Anecdotal Evidence

Evidence relying on personal stories and isolated instances rather than systematic data collection.

Law of Small Numbers

The statistical reality that extreme outcomes are far more likely when examining a small sample size, which does not accurately represent the population.

"Person-Who" Statistics

A term coined by Keith Stanovich referring to the tendency to dismiss well-established statistical trends because of a single outlier instance.

Outliers

Extreme scores or data points that do not represent the general trend of a dataset.

Empirical Research

A research approach where knowledge and conclusions are derived from direct or indirect observation and collected data.

Falsifiability

The requirement that a scientific theory or hypothesis must be capable of being proven wrong by an empirical test.

Peer Review

The process by which expert scientists evaluate research for methodology and merit prior to publication.

Basic Research

Research conducted to expand general knowledge and develop theoretical understanding.

Applied Research

Research designed to solve a specific, practical real-world problem.

Pseudoscience

Claims or systems of explanation that present themselves as scientific but lack scientific rigor and empirical support.

Empirical Question

A testable question that can be answered through objective observation.

Boolean Operators

Search terms (AND, OR, NOT) used in scientific databases to narrow, broaden, or exclude specific search results.

Scientific Law

A statement based on repeated empirical observations that describes what happens in the natural world.

Scientific Theory

A well-substantiated, overarching explanation that describes why a phenomenon happens.

Hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction derived from a question or theory.

Parsimony (Occam’s Razor)

The scientific principle stating that when competing explanations exist, the simplest explanation is preferred.

Barnum Effect

The tendency for individuals to believe vague, general descriptions are tailored specifically to them.

Independent Variable (IV)

The factor in an experiment that is directly manipulated by the researcher to test its effect.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The factor measured by the researcher to determine the outcome or effect of the independent variable manipulation.

Conceptual Definition

The abstract, theoretical dictionary definition of a variable.

Operational Definition

The concrete, specific procedure used to measure or manipulate a variable in an empirical study.

Between-Subjects Design

An experimental research design where different groups of participants are assigned to each condition of the independent variable.

Within-Subjects Design

An experimental research design where the exact same group of participants experiences all conditions of the independent variable.

Longitudinal Design

A research design that follows and re-evaluates the same participants over an extended period.

Programmatic Research

A series of sequential studies that build upon one another to establish a comprehensive understanding of a research topic.

Open Science

The practice of sharing research protocols, materials, and raw data openly with the public to promote replication and transparency.

Informed Consent

The process of informing participants of study procedures, risks, and benefits prior to participation, emphasizing their voluntary involvement and right to withdraw.

Debriefing

A post-experimental session where researchers explain the true purpose of the study and address any deception utilized.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

An administrative committee that evaluates research proposals involving human participants to ensure adherence to ethical guidelines.

Meta-Analysis

A statistical technique that aggregates and analyzes data from multiple independent studies to determine an overall effect size.

Utilitarian Perspective

An ethical framework holding that actions should produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

Altruistic Perspective

An ethical standpoint that prioritizes helping others and participant welfare without personal gain for the researcher.

Egoism

An ethical perspective where decisions are made strictly to advance one's own personal self-interests.

Belmont Report

A foundational ethical framework established in the 1970s that outlines three key principles for human research: Beneficence, Justice, and Respect for Persons.

Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

The ethical duty to maximize potential research benefits while minimizing potential risks and doing no harm.

Anonymity

A research condition in which participant identities cannot be linked to their individual data by anyone, including the researcher.

Loss of Confidentiality

An ethical violation where participant response data is improperly linked or exposed alongside personal identity.

Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Study (1963)

A famous experiment where 65% of participants delivered maximum 450-volt shocks to a learner, causing extreme psychological distress and prompting ethical reform.

Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (1971)

A mock prison study that inflicted psychological and physical harm on participants due to role immersion and lack of impartial oversight.

Principle of Justice

The ethical imperative to distribute research risks and benefits equitably, ensuring vulnerable groups are not exploited.

Vulnerable Populations

Groups needing extra ethical protections (e.g., children, prisoners, pregnant women) due to reduced capacity for full autonomy or higher exploitation risks.

Tuskegee Syphilis Study (1932–1972)

An unethical study that monitored 600 Black men with syphilis while intentionally withholding Penicillin treatment, demonstrating severe violations of Justice.

Principle of Respect for Persons

The ethical principle requiring that individuals be treated as autonomous agents capable of making informed decisions regarding research participation.

John B. Watson’s Little Albert Experiment (1920)

An experiment that classically conditioned an infant to fear a white rat without consent or fear extinction, violating ethical norms.

Assent

Expressed agreement to participate in research given by a child or vulnerable individual in accessible language alongside formal guardian consent.

Nuremberg Code (1947)

The inaugural international ethical document written following WWII Nazi doctor trials that mandated voluntary human consent in research.

Declaration of Helsinki (1964)

A medical ethics document emphasizing participant health, patient-first care, and written research protocols.

Confederate

An actor working on behalf of the researcher who pretends to be a genuine participant during an experiment.

IACUC

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee; a regulatory body that evaluates animal research protocols and conducts bi-annual facility inspections.

Scientific Integrity

The adherence to honest, transparent, and ethical practices across all stages of scientific inquiry.

Plagiarism

Representing another person's ideas or written work as one's own without appropriate credit or accurate citation.