PSYC 203 Cumulative Final

Chapters 1-9 & 11

authority

nonscientific way of knowing; accepting the validity of information from a source that we judge to be an expert

reason

nonscientific way of knowing; arriving at a conclusion by using logical and sensible thinking

the value of a logically drawn conclusion depends on the…

truth of the premises it is based upon

reasoning on false premises =

false conclusions

a priori method

a way of knowing, proposed by Charles Peirce, in which a person develops a belief by reasoning and reaching agreement with others who are convinced of the merits of the reasoned argument

empiricism

nonscientific way of knowing; the process of learning things through direct observation or experience

empiricism can be swayed by…

bias

belief perseverance

unwillingness to consider evidence that contradicts a strongly held view (similar to Pierce’s principle of tenacity)

confirmation bias

tendency to seek out and pay special attention to information that supports one's beliefs, while ignoring information that contradicts a belief

availability heuristic

experiencing unusual or memorable events which causes us to overestimate how often these events occur

what is the most reliable way to develop a belief

through science!

attributes of science as a way of knowing

determinism and discoverability; makes systematic observations; produces public, data-driven, but tentative knowledge; asks answerable questions; and develops theories that attempt to explain psychological phenomena (DDSODTAQTTE)

science assumes determinism

all events have causes

statistical determinism

events can be predicted, but with only a probability greater than chance

science assumes discoverability

all causes and phenomenon's can be discovered through scientific observation

science makes systematic observations

scientific observations that are less effected by the bias of everyday observations

systematic observations are made using…

* precise definitions of the phenomena being measured
* reliable and valid measuring tools that yield interpretable data
* accepted methodologies
* system of logic for drawing conclusions

science produces public knowledge

through objectivity, results of research increase public confidence that a psychological phenomenon is true

objectivity

eliminating human factors (e.g. bias) in research, exists when observations can be verified by more than one observer

science produces data based conclusions

research is data-driven and expect conclusions about behaviour to be supported by evidence gathered through some scientific procedure

science produces tentative conclusions

conclusions from data-driven research are always tentative, subject to revision based on future research

science asks answerable questions

asks empirical questions that can be answered via data

empirical questions

questions answerable with data through systematic observations and techniques to characterize specific methodology

science develops theories that can be falsified 

open to new ideas and optimistic about using scientific methods to test these ideas; hypotheses pose research questions in a way that can be disproven

pseudoscience

any field of inquiry that appears to use scientific methods and tries hard to give that impression, but is actually based on inadequate, unscientific methods and makes claims that are false or overly simplistic

characteristics of pseudoscience

* attempt to associate itself with true science
* rely on anecdotal and testimonial evidence
* develop theories that are too vague to be adequately tested with scientific methods
* fail the test of falsification
* explain complicated phenomena in overly simplistic concepts 
* large popular appeal  

goals of research in psychology

* provide clear and detailed descriptions of behavioural phenomena
* develop laws that enable scientists to predict behaviour with probability greater than chance
* provide adequate explanations of the causes of behaviour 
* apply principles of behavior learned through research

purpose of ethics systems

create a set of "standards of governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession"

ethical obligations encompass the following areas…

fair treatment of human research participants, animal welfare, scrupulously honest in the treatment of data

Watson & Rayner (1920) - Little Albert Experiment

ethically questionable research; exposed and conditioned a fear response in a child

Dennis (1941) experiment

ethically questionable research; sensory and social deprivation  

McGraw (1941) experiment

ethically questionable research; effects of repeated pinpricks 

Milgram (1963) experiment

ethically questionable research; high levels of participant stress for an extended period 

first ethics code was developed and published in…

1953 and called "Ethical Standards in Research"  

principles of the belmont report

* respect for persons
* beneficence
* justice

most recent amendment to the APA code of ethics

2016

APA ethics code - 5 principles

* beneficence and nonmaleficence
* fidelity and responsibility
* integrity
* justice
* respect for people's rights and dignity

APA principle - beneficence and nonmaleficence

researchers must constantly weigh the benefits and costs of the research they conduct and seek to achieve the greatest good in their research with little harm done to others

APA principle - fidelity and responsibility

researchers must be aware of their responsibility to society and reminds them to maintain the highest level of professionality

APA principle - integrity

researchers must be scrupulously honest  

APA principle - justice

researchers must treat everyone in the research enterprise with fairness and maintain a level of expertise the chances of bias in their work

APA principle - respect for people's rights and dignity

researchers must be vigorous in their efforts to safeguard confidentiality and protect the rights of research volunteers 

institutional research board (IRB)

formal process associated with most educational institutions that attempts to judge the costs and benefits of research experiments

key role of the IRB is determining the degree of ___ encountered by participants

risk

no risk

observation or no interference

minimal risk

risk found in everyday life

at risk

greater risk than everyday life

IRB’s are controversial for three reasons

* extent to which IRB's should be judging the details of research procedures and designs
* researchers complain that IRB's are overzealous in their concerns about risk 
* IRB's sometimes overemphasize a biomedical research model to evaluate proposals

there is a lack of ___ across IRB’s

consistency

informed consent

the idea that human participants should be given enough information about the study's purpose and procedures to decide if they wish to volunteer

features of a consent form

* volunteers agree to participate after learning the general purpose of the study
* participants understand they can leave the session at any time without any penalty and no pressure to continue
* participants are informed that strict confidentiality and anonymity will be upheld  
* specific people to contact including someone from the IRB regarding questions/concerns
* participants are informed of any risks that may be encountered and given the opportunity to receive a summary of the results once completed

consent for infants

parents provide informed consent  

consent for children

parents provide informed consent, and children assent to the study 

assent

essentially means agree, done because children may not fully understand the risks and purposes of the study

with children and other special groups (e.g. prisoners) there is special care to avoid feelings of…

coercion

debriefing

process in which researcher answers questions and tells the true purpose of the study

dehoaxing

revealing the true purpose of the study and any deception used throughout the course of the study

desensitizing

reducing stress and negative feelings that may have been experienced by participants over the course of the study  

deception

intentional misleading of subjects or the withholding of full information about the nature of the experiment 

the use of deception must be…

granted by IRB's if the study cannot be achieved otherwise

problem with online research

cannot tell if people read informed consent form, problems conducting effective debriefing, unknown true demographic

ethical code for research with animals

APA code for animal research is guided by federal laws such as the animal welfare act (AWA) and the institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) 

to study with animals, the following is required

* justification (benefits to science outweigh the risks)
* proper acquisition and care of animals, both during and after the study, both during and after the study
* veterinarian on call
* must prioritize education over research  

data falsification

misleading data leading to misapplication of treatments

plagiarism

copying, researcher will lose all credibility within the scientific community

examples of data falsification

modifying data, tweaking data, simulating data

implications of data falsification

wrong clinical applications and inaccurate theories

basic research

emphasizes describing, predicting, and explaining the fundamental principles of behavior and mental processes

applied research

direct and immediate relevance to the solution of real-world problems

it is sometimes believed that applied research is more ___ than basic research because it is concerned with real problems and how to tackle them directly

valuable

lab research has…

greater control

field research is…

more realistic

relationship between lab and field research

field research can provide support for findings from lab research by the replication of results in a more realistic environment 

lab research

occurs inside a controlled environment (usually associated with basic) 

field research

occurs in a natural, less controlled environment (usually associated with applied)  

strengths of field research

conditions cannot be duplicated in a lab, can confirm results of research studies, can be good for basic research, can impact the lives of individuals

strengths of lab research

allows for better control, conditions can be specified more clearly, can be completed more systematically

mundane realism

how closely a study mirrors real-life experiences

experimental realism

the extent to which a research study has an impact on the subjects, forces them to take the matter seriously, and involves them in the procedures  

quantitative data

data is collected and presented in the form of numbers (averages, percentages, graphs, etc..) 

most psychological research is ___ in nature

quantitative

qualitative data

results are presented as analytical narratives which that summarize the project's main outcomes (e.g. case studies, interviews, etc...) 

empirical questions have two important features 

* must be answerable with data (qualitative or quantitative)  
* terms must be precisely defined  

precisely defining terms can be done through…

operational definitions

operational definitions

precise and objective terms which are defined in terms of a set of procedures to be performed 

benefits of operational definitions include…

* forces researchers to clearly define the terms of their studies 
* allows studies to be repeated (replication)  

converging operations

our understanding of some behavioural phenomenon's is increased when a series of investigations (all using slightly different procedures and definitions), converge on a common conclusion 

serentipidous events

discovering something while looking for something completely different 

theory

set of logically consistent statements about some phenomena

theories aim to…

* summarize existing empirical knowledge of the phenomenon
* organizes knowledge in the form of precise statements and relationships among variables
* proposes an explanation for the phenomenon
* serves as the basis for making predictions

cognitive dissonance

the state of discomfort as a product when people hold two opposing cognitions (thoughts) at the same time

construct

hypothetical factor that is not observed directly 

productivity

good theories advance knowledge by generating a great deal of research

falsification

the capacity for some proposition, statement, theory or hypothesis to be proven wrong

a theory that appears to explain everything is…

seriously flawed

parsimony

theories include the minimum number of constructs and assumptions needed to explain the phenomenon adequately and predict future outcomes

theories represent ___ about a phenomenon   

working truths

replication

refers to a study that duplicates some or all of the procedures of a prior study

two types of replication

direct and conceptual

direct replication

attempted replication of a study's results testing the same type of sample and using the exact procedures and statistical analyses as the original study