experimental psych exam 1

name the different aspects of the scientific approach

empiricism, falsifiability, peer review

describe the different aspects of the scientific approach

• empiricism: the idea that knowledge is based on observation, and helps us control for bias

• falsifiability: scientific ideas must be testable

• peer review: quality control

what are the four goals of research?

describe & explore, predict & evaluate, determining the causes of behavior, understand & explain

what are the 3 claims?

frequency, association, and causal claims

how do we use claims in relation to the 4 goals of research?

• describe and explore: frequency claims (statistical/number data)

• predict & evaluate: association claims (states 2 variables are related in a way)

• determining the causes of behavior: causal claims

• understand & explain: causal claims

name and describe what is necessary to make a causal claim

• temporal precedence: cause comes before effect

• covariation of cause and effect: being able to show how two variables relate to each other

• elimination of alternative explanations

give examples of the four goals of research

• describe & explore: is the use of social media associated with depression? what are the willpower challenges people face and how often do they ‘give in’?

• predict & evaluate: does IQ predict SAT scores? does GRE predicts success in graduate school?

• determining the causes of behavior: the study conducted that tested the testing effect where one group reads and re-reads an excerpt, one groups, read and re-reads but also tests once, and another that reads once and tests the other three times. found those that tested themselves did better after week than those who just read.

• understand & explain: romantic jealousy differs in men and women probably due to different selection pressures, where men react more to sexual infidelity while women react more to emotional infidelity

describe basic research

research whose goal is to enhance the general body of knowledge, without regard for direct application to practical problems (seeking to understand theoretical issues)

describe applied research

research whose goal is to find a solution to a particular real-world problem (seeking to evaluate or understand for the use of practical application)

quantitative methods

turning empirical observations into numbers: to estimate how strongly related certain variables are

qualitative methods

creating rich descriptions that are not simplified into numbers

reflexivity

a practice of self-consciously considering how your own background or privilege shapes what questions or interpretations you might make

theory

set of statements (as simple as possible) that describes general principles about how variables relate to one another

weight of the evidence

collection of studies, including replications, of the same theory

why should we question and not base research on experience?

experience has no comparison group, experience is confounded (too many cofounds to truly know what causes a change), experience is biased (our cognitive biases distort our view of reality)

define research question

description of the broad topic of study (must be specific enough to be answered with research project)

define hypothesis

a proposed answer to the question, but is waiting for evidence to support or refute it

define prediction

a specific statement that makes an assertion concerning what will occur in a particular research investigation

what are sources of ideas?

common sense, practical problems, observation of personal or social events, theories, and past research

give examples for each source of idea

• common sense: eyewitness identification, flashbulb memories

• practical problems: psychological disorders, substance abuse

• observation of personal or social events: can men & women just be friends?

• theories: spatial memory, attachment, mindset, men and women differ in spatial ability that reflects ancestral food acquisition

• past research: testing effect, cell phones & attention

describe abstract

a summary of the research report, includes the hypothesis, procedure, and the broad pattern of results (no statistics)

describe introduction

outlines the problems being investigated, describes past research and theories relevant to the current project, includes hypothesis and predictions as well as connections to past research

describe method section

this includes overview of design, participants, materials, and procedure

describe results section

presenting findings in three ways: description in narrative form, description in statistical language, and supporting material in table or graphs

describe the discussion section

review research from different perspectives, explain how the results compare with past results, present weaknesses and strengths, include suggestion for practical applications, include suggestions for future research

comparison group

enables us to compare what would happen both with and without condition

confound

alternative explanations

probabilistic

findings do not explain all all cases all the time

availability heuristic

things that easily come to mind tend to guide out thinking

confirmation bias

tendency to look only at information that agrees with what we want to believe

bias blind spot

belief that they will not fall prey to other biases like most people would

meta-analysis

combines the results of many studies to see what conclusion it comes to for the body of research