Psych 302 Final Exam Study Guide

Producer role

People who conduct research in scientific fields have assumed what role?

Consumer role

People that read research and apply it to their life have assumed what role?

Empiricism

The use of verifiable evidence as the basis for conclusions; collecting data systematically and using it to develop, support, or challenge a theory

Basic research

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Applied research

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

translational research

research that uses knowledge derived from basic research to devlop and test solutions to real-world problems

Theory-Data Cycle

theory, research questions, research design, hypothesis, data; scientists collect data to test, change, or update their theories

Research questions, research design, hypothesis, data, support, theory, revision

What are the components of the Theory-Data Cycle?

Theory

A statement or set of statements that describes general principles about how variables relate to one another

Hypothesis

A statement of the specific result the researcher expects to observer form a particular study, if the theory is accurate

Data

A set of observations representing the values of some variables, collected from one or more research studies

Preregistered

Hypothesis are usually ___________

Preregistered

A term referring to a study in which, before collecting any data, the researcher has stated publicly what the study’s outcome is expected to be

Replication

The process of conducting a study again to test whether the result is consistent

Weight of the evidence

A conclusion drawn from reviewing scientific literature and considering the proporition of studies that is consistent with a theory

Falsifiable

Good theories are _________? (starts with f)

Falsifiability

A feature of a scientific theory, in which it is possible to collect data that will indicate that the theory is wrong

Self-correcting

A process in which scientists make their research available for peer review, replication, and critique, with the goal of identifying and correcting errors in the research

Universalism, communality, disinterestedness, organized skepticism

What are Merton’s (4) Scientific Norms?

Universalism

scientific claims are evaluated according to their merit, independent of the researcher’s credentials or reputation. The same preestablished criteria apply to all scientists and all research

Communality

Scientific knowledge is created by a community and its findings belong to the community

Disinterestedness

Scientists strive to discover the truth, whatever it is; they are not swayed by conviction, idealism, politics, or profit.

Organized skepticism

Scientists question everything, including their own theories, widely accepted ideas, and “ancient wisdom.”

Peer-reviewed journal

Where can scientists publish their work?

journal

A monthly or quartely periodical containing peer-reviewed articles on a specific academic discipline or subdiscipline, written for a scholarly audience

journalsim

news and commentary published or broadcast in the popular media and produced for a general audience

Empirical journal article

a scholarly article that reports for the first time the results of a research study

Abstract, introduction, methodology, results, discussion, conclusion, references

what is the structure of an empirical article?

Review journal article

an article summarizing all the studies that have been published in one research area

Reviewers

These people evaluate the quality of work presented in the manuscript of a review or empirical article and determine whether it provides new or signficant contribution

Experimental research

a study in which you are manipulating a variable

Control group, iv, dv, manipulation, random assignment

What are the components of an experimental research design?

Comparison group

a group in an experiment whose levels on the independent variable differ from those of the treatment group in some intended and meanignful way

Confound

a general term for potential alternative explanation for a reserach findng; a threat to internal validity

Confederate

an actor who is directed by the researcher to play a specific role in a research study

Probabilistic

Describing the empirical method, stating that science is intended to explain a certain proportion of the possible cases

Good story, availability heuristic, present/present bias, confirmation bias, bias blind spot

What are the 5 ways that intuition can be biased

no comparision group

Why should beliefs be based on personal experience in the scientific community? (What does personal experience not have?)

Intuition

immediate insight or perception, as constrasted with conscious reasoning or reflection

Good story, availability heuristic, present/present bias

What are 3 ways that intuition can be biased by faulty thinking?

Availability heuristic

A bias in intuition, in which people incorrectly estimate the frequency of something, relying predominantly on instances that easily come to mind rather than using all possible evidence in evaluating a conclusion

Present/present bias

A bias in intuition, in which people incorrectly estimate the relationship between an event and its outcome, focusing on times the vent and outcome are present, while failing to consider evidence that’s absent and harder to notice.

confirmation bias, bias blind spot,

What are 2 ways intuition can be biased by motivation?

Confirmation bias

The tendency to consider only the evidence that supports a hypothesis, including asking only the questions that will lead to the expected answer

bias blind spot

The tendency for people to think that compared to others, they are less likely to engage in biased reasoning

Disinformation

A news story, photo, or video deliberately created to be false or misleading

Variable

An attribute that varies, having at least two levles, or values

Levels

one of the possible variations, or values of a variable

Constant

an attribute that could potentially vary but has only one level in the study in question (ex. “smoking” would be a variable, and its levels would be smoker and nonsmoker)

Measurement

a variable whose levels are simply observed and recorded

Measured variable

a variable in a study whose levels (values) are observed and recorded

Manipulated variable

a variable in an experiment that researcher controls

Construct

a variable of interest, stated at an abstract level, usually defined as part of a formal statement of a psychological theory

conceptual variable

a variable of interest, stated at an abstract, or conservational, level

Conceptualization

being able to take a construct and define it or put it into words

Operationalization

To turn a conceptual definition of a variable into a specific measured variable or manipulated variable in order to conduct a research study

operational variable

the specific way in which a concept of interest is measured or manipulated as a variable in a study

claim

the argument a journalist, researcher, or scientist is trying to make

Frequency, association, causal

What are the 3 types of claims?

Frequency claim

A claim that describes a particular rate or degree of a single variable.

Association claim

A claim about two variables, in which the value (level) of one variable is said to vary systematically with the value of another variable.

Correlate/covary

To occur or vary together (covary) systematically, as in the case of two variables.

Correlational study

A study that includes two or more variables, in which all of the variables are measured; can support an association claim.

Causal claim

a claim arguing that a specific change in one variable is responsible for influencing the value of another variable

Temporal precedence, covariance, internal validity

What 3 things are needed to establish causal claim?

Internal validity

when making a causal claim, which one of the validities is the most important?

Validity

The appropriateness of a conclusion or decision

Construct, internal, statistical, external

What are the 4 types of validity?

Construct validity

how well a variable was measured or manipulated in a study

Internal validity

a study’s ability to rule out alternative explanations for a casual relationship between two variables

Statistical validity

the extent to which statistical conclusions derived from a study are accurate and resonable

confidence interval

a given range indicated by a lower and upper value that’s designed to capture the population value for some point estimate

External validity

the extent to which the results of a study generalize to some larger population

independent variable

in an experiment, a variable that’s manipulated

dependent variable

in an experiment, the variable that’s measured

Debriefed

to inform participants afterward about a study’s true nature, details, and hypotheses

Respect for persons, beneficence, justice

What are the 3 principles of the Belmont Report?

Respect for persons

states that research participants should be treated as autonomous agents and that certain groups deserve special protection

According to the principle of respect for persons, which groups deserve special protection

Beneficiance

states that researchers must take precautions to protect participants from harm and promote their well-being

anonymous study

a research study in which identifying information isn’t collected, thereby completley protecting the identity of participants

confidential study

a research study in which identifying information is collected, but protected from disclosure to people other than the researchers

Justice

calls for fair balance between the kinds of people who participate in research and the kinds of people who benefit from it

Voluntary consent

Informed consent

the right of research participants to learn about a research project, know its risks and benefits, and decide whether to participate

Protecting particpants vs gaining knowledge

What 2 priorities must reserachers balance when doing research?

Institutional review board (IRB)

a committee responsible for ensuring that research using human participants is conducted ethically

Scientific misconduct

Data fabrication

a form of research misconduct in which a researcher invents data that fit the hypothesis

Data falsification

a form of research misconduct in which a researcher influences a study’s results, perhaps by deleting observations from a data set or by influencing participants to act in the hypothesized way

Research fraud

Diederik Stapel

Which professor at Tilburg University committed both data fabrication and data faslification

Dan Ariely

Plagiarism

Representing the ideas or words of others as one’s own; a form of research misconduct

self-plagiarize

a potentially unethical practice in which researchers recycle their own previously published text, verbatim and without attribution, in a subsequent article.

Principle of fidelity

Principle of responsibility

Principle of integrity

Originality Score/analysis

How does the originality score help students and instructors reduce instances of plagiarism?