Research Exam 1

Folk Psychology

everyday beliefs about people's behavior,, thoughts, and feelings

Folk psychology is formed by

individual intuition, authority, and individual observations and experiences

Individual Intuition

your own gut feelings

Individual Intuition Example

heuristics (mental short cuts)

Authority Example

media, doctors, parents, professors

Individual Observations and Experiences Example

Anecdotal Evidence (individual stories)

Cautions about Folk Psychology (6)

Sometimes accurate, but not always

Can be contradictory

Gut feelings are often wrong

Authority and expertise are not always the same

Individual experiences do not have comparison groups

People fall prey to confirmation bias

Comparison Groups

allows us to compare what would happen with and without x

Confirmation Bias

looking for evidence that reinforces/confirms while failing to look for exceptions

Science (Psychology)

using systematic empiricism to answer falsifiable empirical questions and publicly sharing it in peer reviewed places

Systematic Empiricism

collecting and evaluating evidence in a methodical manner to test ideas and answer questions

using the scientific method

Falsifiable, Empirical Questions

questions about the way the world is, where we could possibly find evidence for or against the idea

Empirical

you could collect/observe data about is

Ethical

how the world should be

Falsifiable

when tested, it could fail

Peer Reviewed Public Knoeledge

scientists publish their work in scholarly media

Peer Review

a process where other scientific experts provide critical review prior to publication

Double Blind

reviewers don't know who the author is and vice versa

minimizes confirmation bias

Open Science Movement

scientific knowledge should be for everyone, not just other scientists or people who pay

Open Science Movement Includes

materials used, the data and the articles from research

Pseudoscience

claims/implies it is science, but does not have all 3 factors of science

Pseudoscience is different than folk psychology because

it claims to be scientific

Pseudoscience could be debunked by science but

still claims to be true/scientific

Meaning behind "not all scientific research may replicate"

some results may not turn out to be real/exist

that does not mean the original research ==was== necessarily pseudoscience

Scientists search for

alternatives to combat confirmation bias

Scientists rely on

the weight of evidence, the quality of the science

Scientists update knowledge/understanding based on

evidence, many things are not yet conclusively assumed

Goals of Science

describe, explain, predict, (control)

Frequency Claim

says how often x occurs (x is one variable) "this is this structure"

Frequency Claim Example

4 in 10 teens admit to texting while driving

Association Claim

says if x changes, then y changes "relationship"

Association Claim Example

people with higher incomes spend less time socializing

Causal Claim

says x causes y "this causes this"

Causal Claim Example

music lessons enhance IQ

Basic Research

just to understand human behavior better, expand knowledge

Basic Research Example

how do patients with Alzheimer's disease experience emotion?

Applied Research

address a practical problem

Applied Research Example

How can we use the intact emotional responses of some Alzheimer's patients to improve their quality of life?

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Is there life after death beyond this world, not detectable by the living?

No

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: If you cloned a person, would that clone have the same soul as the original person?

No

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Is it fair to ask students who understand the material to explain it to their group members who don't?

No

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Do educational outcomes (grades, other measures of understanding) increase for all students when students work in small groups?

Yes

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Do students who say they often explain material to others rate the professor as not teaching them as much?

Yes

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Should terms of agreement be written in less confusing language for consumers?

No

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Do terms of agreement that are written in less confusing language lead to fewer lawsuits?

Yes

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Do certain kinds of crystals improve immune system functioning?

Yes

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Should professors have loose boundaries with their graduate students?

No

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Do professors who hang out with their graduate students outside of work have better mentoring relationships (e.g., increased trust, comfort with asking all kinds of academic questions, more productive time at work, clearer communication) than professors who do not hang out with their graduate students outside of work?

Yes

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Can artificial intelligence make complex decisions accurately with minimal negative effects?

Yes

Falsifiable, empirical question? Why or why not: Should we train artificial intelligence to make complex decisions?

No

Science is

iterative

Iterative

a cycle that aims to get closer to the truth

List of reliable scientific information

research literature/scholarly sources

review articles

scholarly books

Research Literature/scholarly books are written by \_____ for \_____

scientists, scientists

Research Literature/scholarly books are

articles in professional journals

Research Literature/scholarly books example is

empirical research report

Empirical Research Report describes

empirical studies (individual studies/experiments)

Review Articles

summarize previous research with new ways to organize or explain the results

Review Article Types

theoretical article and meta analysis

Theoretical Article is a

review article focused on a new theory

Meta Analysis is

review article providing a statistical summary of all of the previous studies results

Meta Analysis is the

gold standard for evidence

Scholarly Books contain

some peer reviewed but not as rigorous as journals

Order of Scholarly Sources (most to least)

Meta Analysis, Theoretical article, and scholarly books

A good research question is

interesting (to the scientific community or society) and feasible

What makes an interesting question

answer is in doubt

fills a gap in the research

has important practical implications

What makes a question feasible

time, money, materials, technical knowledge, access to research participants

helpful to use pre established methods

Theory

a coherent explanation of phenomena, including multiple variables, processes, functions, etc

Does a theory mean we do not know the answer

no

Hypothesis

a specific prediction of what will happen in this study

ideally preregistered

Preregistered Hypothesis

researcher publicly states what the study's outcome is expected to be before collecting any data

Variable

something that varies across people/situations

Dependent/Outcome/Criterion Variable

the outcome (what you measure)

Independent Variable

what we think causes the dependent variable

When should independent variable be used

when we are doing a "true experiment"

Predictor Variable

what we think predicts the dependent variable

When should we use predictor variable

when we are doing, anything other than a "true experiment", for example a correlation study

Population

everyone we're interested in saying something about

Sample

the people we actually observe in our study

Most psychology research will analysis data using

quantitative methods (inferential statistics, like p-values)

Drawing conclusions are based on the analysis (significant or not) what can we say about our

hypothesis

There is only scientific \____ not scientific \______

evidence, proof

Confirming a hypothesis with a study provides

evidence

Rely on replication for the weight of the

evidence

Reporting the Results is done by

peer reviewed publications or conference presentations

Is material shown at conference presentations always already published

no, but will be soon

Research Ethics are principles of right conduct that guide

professional behavior

Who is impacted by ethics

research participants, scientific community, society

How are research participants impacted by ethics

they have less power in the situation

immediate risk

How are scientists impacted by ethics

needs to be able to trust the research

How is society impacted by ethics

needs to be able to trust the research so it can be accurately applied with minimal harm

Belmont Report is missing what Principles of Ethics

Principle B and C

Belmont Report Principles

1. Respect for persons
2. Beneficence
3. Justice

American Psychological Association contains

5 general principles and 10 sections with many standards

APA General Principles are values we

aspire to

APA Sections and Standards are

specific behaviors and are more enforceable

Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

No good, avoid harm

Balance risks and benefits

Principle A: Beneficence and Nonmaleficence harm is max when

harm is more than minor or lasts for more than a short time

Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility and Principle C: Integrity

meet your professional obligations and be truthful, promoting trust

avoid conflicts of interest

Principle D: Justice

strive to provide everyone with fair, equitable, and appropriate access to treatment and the benefits of scientific knowledge