Learn: Experimental Methods Exam 1

Nuremberg Code

First major international documentation providing guidelines for research ethics; formed in 1946 as a result of Nazi experiments during WWII.

Informed Consent

Participants are informed about the purpose, procedures, and risks of research and agree to participate.

Coercion

Forcing participants in research without their consent; participation must be voluntary.

Nuremberg Code: Research Requirements

Research must contribute to scientific knowledge; researchers must be qualified; unnecessary harm must be avoided; risks must be considered; benefits must outweigh risks; participants can discontinue at any time.

Belmont Report

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

Beneficence

Reduce risk of harm to participants; benefits of the study should outweigh risks; confidentiality must be maintained.

Justice

Selection of participants must be fair; all participants must receive benefits of research; no participants may be selected for harmful research.

Respect for Persons

Provide information about the study; obtain consent; give participants the opportunity to ask questions; inform them of their right to withdraw.

APA Code

American Psychological Association's ethical standards; adopts the Nuremberg Code and Belmont Report.

APA Additional Ethical Guidelines

Researchers must reduce harm by deception and ensure confidentiality of participant data.

Research Article

Describes one or more studies; submitted to a psychology journal and reviewed by experts (peer reviewed).

Meta-Analysis

Study that combines results from multiple studies.

Systematic Review

Summarizes all studies/papers in a particular area.

Review

Publication that summarizes past findings and does not present new findings.

Books and Book Chapters

Summarize past findings; are more extensive than a single paper and sometimes include new data.

Abstract

Provides the general topic, methodology, results, and what was learned.

Introduction

Introduces the topic, provides background information, justifies the present study, explains the problem being addressed, and gives hypotheses.

Method

Provides information about the study conducted.

Participants

Method subsection describing who participated in the study.

Design of Study

Method subsection describing the design of the study.

Materials

Method subsection describing materials/apparatus used, including operational design.

Procedures

Method subsection describing what participants went through.

Results

Provides a summary of the data and a description of findings.

Discussion

Compares findings to predictions; explains what was learned if predictions were correct and provides an explanation if predictions were wrong.

References

Alphabetical list of references for all cited papers.

Multiple Experiment/Study Article

Article containing multiple studies; includes an introduction, method, and results for each study, followed by separate and general discussion of results.

Empiricism

Gaining knowledge through systematic observation/scientific method; observation provides a more accurate understanding.

"Show Me the Data!"

Before trusting a statement, ask for the data supporting it.

Determinism

Philosophy that everything in the universe has identifiable causes; nothing is random.

Parsimony

All things being equal, sometimes the answer is the simple one; simple explanations are more likely to be correct.

Testability

Only ideas that can be tested through observation are examined by the scientific method.

Falsifiability

A test of an explanation of behavior that allows the explanation to be falsified provides a stronger test of that explanation.

Confirmation Bias

Seeking out information that we want to be true.

Making Predictions

Using an explanation to account for past behavior and predict future behavior.

Basic Research

Research conducted to understand fundamental processes of behavior and how they operate.

Applied Research

Research conducted to answer questions related to solving real-world problems.

Descriptive Research Question

A question that describes behavior or a situation.

Causal Research Question

A question about the cause of behavior.

Literature Review

Review that helps researchers find existing information on a topic and ensures a new study adds to what is already known.

Goal of Literature Review

Avoid duplicating previous research and make informed hypotheses.

Hypothesis

Researchers cannot prove hypotheses; they can only support hypotheses.

Psychology Before 1879

Mental and behavioral disturbances were believed to be caused by evil spirits/demons.

Trepanation

Drilling a hole in the skull so spirits could escape.

Exorcism

Used when mental and behavioral disturbances were believed to be caused by evil spirits/demons.

Insane Asylums

Had horrible living and medical conditions.

Freak Shows

Wealthy people viewed patients from insane asylums.

1879

Year the first psychology laboratory was established; psychology became more scientific rather than philosophical.

Wilhelm Wundt

Established the first psychology laboratory in 1879.

Leipzig, Germany

Location of the first psychology laboratory established by Wilhelm Wundt.

Peer Review

Research articles are reviewed by experts before being published in psychology journals.

PsycINFO

Useful database for conducting a literature review; available through EBSCOhost.

Google Scholar

Database/search tool used to find research articles.

PubMed

Contains articles with topics that overlap with psychology, including research in biological and medical areas.

ERIC

Contains articles with topics that overlap with psychology.

Psychology Conferences

Provide the most up-to-date information.

Keywords

Words used to search databases; it can be tricky to find the right keywords, so starting broad with 1-2 keywords is recommended.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

Used to find full text when it is not immediately available.

Milgram's Obedience Study

Study conducted by Stanley Milgram in which participants were recruited to administer a memory task to a confederate (paid actor).

Milgram's Findings

Concluded that the presence of authority greatly influenced people's behavior.

Milgram's Ethical Violation

Coercion; the experimenter told participants to continue the experiment, forcing them to continue.

Tuskegee Study

Study examining the effects of untreated syphilis specifically in Black men.

Tuskegee Ethical Violations

Participants were promised free medical treatment, but those confirmed to have syphilis were not treated; there was no consent and lots of deception.

Tuskegee and Penicillin

Penicillin was withheld because researchers wanted to see the effects of the disease.

Nazi Experiments

Experiments conducted on twin children, including bone, muscle, and nerve transplants, freezing, seawater, and high-altitude experiments.

Unit 731

WWII experiments run by the Imperial Japanese Army on people including criminals, political prisoners, homeless people, and handicapped people.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Reviews proposed research to provide an objective evaluation of ethics and oversees research to ensure ethical guidelines are followed.

IRB Requirement

All institutions that conduct research must have an IRB.

Exempt Studies

Studies involving the smallest amount of risk; examples include educational or cognitive testing; receive a brief review and exempt status.

Full Review Studies

Studies in which each IRB member reviews the study because there is a high risk of harm, such as an invasive medical procedure or emotional distress.

IRB Approval: Risk

Research must minimize unnecessary risk and risk must be justified by benefits.

IRB Approval: Participants

Selection of participants must be fair and informed consent must be included.

IRB Approval: Safety

Research must monitor data to ensure safety and confidentiality must be protected.

IRB Approval: Special Participants

Procedures must be included to protect the rights of special participants.

Deception and IRB

Deception must be justified; researchers must explain why alternative procedures are not being used; deception cannot be used if harm is involved.

CITI

Collaborative Institution Training Initiatives; website with modules covering ethical guidelines.

Ethical Guidelines for Animals

Animal research must meet specific criteria regarding justification, personnel, care and housing, acquisition, and procedures.

Animal Research: Justification

Study must have a clear scientific purpose, contribute important knowledge of behavior, and justify the use of the specific species.

Animal Research: Personnel

Only trained personnel may be involved; effects on animals must be anticipated; researchers must have knowledge about the species.

Animal Research: Care and Housing

Researchers are responsible for animal care; the Animal Welfare Act provides standards; housing must keep animals in good health.

Animal Research: Acquisition

APA has criteria for ethically obtaining animals; animals must be carefully transported and humanely obtained from the wild.

Animal Research: Procedures

Animals must be treated humanely; discomfort should be minimized; animals must be monitored for unexpected negative effects; they cannot be released into the wild after the study.

IACUC

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee; oversees research conducted with animals.

Animal Research Risk-Benefit Analysis

Risk-benefit analysis is important because animals cannot verbally indicate discomfort unlike humans.

Research

Foundation of the field of psychology.

Why Research Matters

To effectively treat a disorder, you must understand the underlying cause; better understanding leads to better treatments.

Intuition

Based on previous knowledge.

Deduction

Act of using knowledge to make inferences; if A is true, then B might be true.

Authority

A source of information that is most likely accurate because it is a reputable source.

Observation

Direct gathering of information; the best version because you are verifying it yourself.

Ethics in Reporting Research

APA has guidelines for reporting research ethically.

Two Primary Reporting Issues

Errors in reported data and plagiarism.

Accurate Reporting

Research reports must be accurate.

Plagiarism

Can occur while writing directly from a source; researchers must properly cite the source.

Why Research Methods Is Required

Research is the foundation of psychology and allows psychologists to understand underlying causes of disorders and develop better treatments.