Behavioral Science Comprehensive Final

Intuition

• The ability to know something instinctively rather than through conscious reasoning or systematic observation

Description

• Researchers are often interested in describing the ways in which events are systematically related to one another

Prediction

• Once events have been shown to be related to one another, predictions can be made and it becomes possible to make other, follow-on, predictions

• Determining causes

• To know how to change behavior, we need to know causes

Temporal order

• in which cause precedes the effect

Covariation of cause and effect

• when cause is present, effect occurs; when cause is not present, effect does not occur

Eliminating alternative explanations

• nothing other than a causal variable could be responsible for the observed effect

Falsifiable

Can be proven wrong

Peer review

• reviewed by someone else

pseudoscience

The use of seemingly scientific terms and demonstrations to substantiate claims that have no basis in scientific research

Basic research

addresses fundamental questions about behavior

Applied research

• addresses questions that have immediate practical implications

Hypothesis

• A statement of the way in which variables are predicted to be related, A study can be designed to test it, A tentative idea/question waiting for evidence to support or refute it, No direction

Prediction

• A statement of the expected outcome of a research investigation, Follows directly from a hypothesis, is directly testable, and includes specific variables and methodologies, Assertion regarding a direction within a study

• Common sense

• A statement of the expected outcome of a research investigation

Practical problems

Tangible problems seen in society

Observation

Events or the world

Theories

• Organize and explain facts or description of behavior, Generate new knowledge, Past research

Past research

Become familiar with past research

Anatomy of research paper

Abstract, Literature review, methods, results and conclusion

Active deception

Blatantly lying to people

Passive deception

Withholding key elements

When was Belmont report published

1979 by the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research

What was the Belmont report

• An important foundational document guiding ethical research with human subjects

Main 3 principles

Beneficiaries, autonomy, and

Active deception

Passive deception

Must tell participants the truth after (debriefing)

Beneficence

• Research should confer benefits and risks must be minimal, Can’t replicate old science unless adding/changing something, Informed consent document outlining the risks and benefits is necessary, Conduct a risk-benefit analysis

Autonomy

• Participants are treated as autonomous, Informed consent - participants must have all the information that might influence their decision on whether to participate, Right to withdraw, have their own data pulled, and are debriefed

Justice

• There must be fairness in receiving the benefits of research as well as bearing the burdens of accepting risks, Directly targeting the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, There should be no bias in selection and interpretation of data unless there is scientific merit or basis for excluding certain group

IRB

Institutional review board

What is IRB

Responsible for review of research conducted within the institution

Categories of variables

Situational, response, participant, mediating

Operational definition

• Definition of a concept that specifies the method used to measure or manipulate the concept, objectify/operationalize an abstract concept - to make it concrete

• Benefits to operationally defining a variable:

• Forces scientists to discuss abstract concepts in concrete terms - can result in realization that the variable is too vague to study, Can help researchers communicate their ideas with others - forces them to agree on what terms mean in the context of the research

Nonexperimental (correlational)

• Use of measurement of variables to determine whether variables are related to one another, Just measure, don’t manipulate, Assess relationships, Cannot say cause and effect,Third-variable problem

Experimental method

• A method of determining whether variables are related, in which the researcher manipulates the IV and controls all other variables ether by randomization or by direct experimental control, Direct manipulation and control of IV, observe DV Reduces ambiguity and uncertainty in interpretation of results,Can look at cause and effect, Attempts to eliminate influence of confounding third variables