PSYC1000 Week 1: Scientific Method Flashcards

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key concepts from PSYC1000 Week 1 lecture on the scientific method, theory-data cycle, characteristics of good theories, pseudoscience, and peer review.

Producers of Research

Individuals who generate research information by performing experiments, analyzing data, and publishing results (e.g., researchers, PhD students, professors).

Consumers of Research

Individuals who read research information and incorporate findings into practice (e.g., psychologists, teachers, general public).

Scientific Theory

A set of statements that attempt to explain observations and general statements about how variables relate to one another, enabling testable predictions.

Theory-Data Cycle

An iterative scientific process where a theory leads to research questions, designs, hypotheses, and data collection, which then feeds back to strengthen or revise the theory.

Empiricism

An approach in science where knowledge and scientific theories are grounded in and supported by systematically collected observational and experimental data.

Falsifiability

A essential characteristic of a good theory specifying that observable data could exist that would contradict or disprove the theory.

Parsimony

The scientific principle, also known as Occam's razor, stating that all other things being equal, the simplest solution or theory is the best.

Pseudoscience

A set of claims or practices presented as scientific but lacking scientific standards, characterized by non-falsifiability, lack of self-correction, confirmation bias, and evasion of peer review.

Phrenology

An example of a pseudoscience, historically advanced by Franz Gall ($1758-1828$), claiming that character traits and faculties could be read from the shape and bumps of the human skull.

Facilitated Communication

A pseudoscientific technique that evades empirical testing and peer review by using ad hoc arguments, such as claims that testing conditions destroy the process or require total belief.

Learning Styles Theory

A popular but empirically unsupported theory positing that individual learning modes (e.g., visual vs. verbal) are stable traits and that teaching must match a student's preferred style for optimal learning.

Peer Review Process

The multi-stage evaluation mechanism in scientific publishing where submitted manuscripts undergo screening, review by independent experts, and editorial feedback prior to publication.