psych 209

ways of knowing

intuition, authority, empiricism, falsifiability, peer review, skepticism, pseudoscience

intuition

accepting one’s own judgement or single story unquestioningly

authority

more likely to be persuaded by a speaker who seems prestigious, trustworthy, and respectable

empiricism

requires knowledge to come from observations — collected and analyzed data based on the conclusion

Scientific skepticism means that ideas must be evaluated on the basis of careful logic and results from well-executed scientific investigations

falsifiability

an idea or theory should be capable of being shown to be false when tested using scientific methods

peer review

process of judging the merit of research through review by other scientists with expertise to evaluate it

skepticism

doubt regarding the truth of something

pseudoscience

use of seemingly scientific terms and demonstrations to substantiate nonscientific claims

• Claims that are untestable and therefore cannot be refuted.

• Claims that rely on imprecise, biased, or vague language.

• Evidence that is based on anecdotes and testimonials rather than scientific data.

• Evidence that is from “experts” who have only vague qualifications and do not support their claims with sound scientific evidence.

• Claims based only on confirmatory evidence, ignoring conflicting evidence.

• Reliance on “scientific” evidence that cannot be independently verified because the methods used to establish that evidence have not been described

8 key questions to ask a research study whether to trust it or not

1. What is the primary goal of this study? 

2. What did the researchers do? What was their method? 

3. What was measured? 

4. To what or whom can we generallize the results? 

5. What did they find? What were the results?

6. Have other researchers found similar results?

7. What are the limitations of this study? 

8. What are the ethical issues presented in the study? 

generalization

making broad or general inferences based on the procedures and findings in a specific study

goals of behavioral science

description, prediction, determining cause, explaining

description

how are events systematically related to one another?

behavior can be directly observable or less observable

prediction

once it has been observed that two events are related, it becomes possible to make predictions

determining cause

temporal precedence, covariation of cause and effect, alternative explanation

temporal precedence

order of events in which the cause precedes the effect

covariation of cause and effect

when the cause is presented, the effect occurs, and when the cause is not present, the effect does not occur

alternative explanation

alternative explanations must be eliminated to determine cause

explaining

understand why a behavior occurs

explanations often must be discarded or revised as new evidence is gathered

basic research

tries to answer fundamental questions about the nature of behavior

applied research

addresses issues in which there are practical problems and potential solutions

program evaluation

addresses the social reforms and innovations that occur in government, education, the criminal justice system, and health care/mental health institutions

part of applied research

research questions

first and general step in research process

must be specific enough that a research project can answer it

hypothesis

tentative answer to the research question

prediction

guess at the outcome of a study

• Must follow directly from the hypothesis 

• Must be testable 

• Must include specific variables and methodologies

sources of ideas

Common sense, Practical problems, Observations of the world around us, Theory Past research

literature review

provide summaries of previous research on a particular topic

theory articles

summarizes and integrates research to provide a new framework for understanding a phenomenon

empirical articles

report on studies in which data were gathered to answer research questions

Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion

empirical articles: abstract

Summary of the research report

150-250 words

Includes hypothesis, procedure, and broad pattern of results

Little information from the discussion section is included

empirical articles: introduction

Researcher outlines the problem that has been investigated

Past research and relevant theories are described

Specific expectations are noted often as formal hypotheses

empirical articles: method

Divided into subsections depending on the complexity of the research design

• Overview of design

• Characteristics of participants

• Procedure used

• Equipment or testing materials

empirical articles: results

Findings are presented

Description in narrative form.

Description in statistical language.

Material depicted in tables or graphs

empirical articles: discussion

The researcher reviews the research described in the Method and Results sections from various perspectives

Whether the results support the hypothesis and possible explanations.

How the results compare with past research on the topic.

Possible practical applications and future research

scholar journals

scholarly published journals with research publications

APA PsychInfo

digital database that maintains abstracts of articles in psych, indexed by topic, updated weekly, maintained by the American Psychological Association

meta-analysis

uses statistical procedures to analyze the results of a number of studies and draw statistical conclusions

numerberg code

10 codified rules such as voluntary consent, provide benefits and avoid harm

The legal document that resulted from the trials of Nazi doctors and scientists designed to prevent future research atrocities

Rooted in the context of Nazi experience, not general research

declaration of helsinki

expanded on the Nuremberg and codified requirements that also included that journal editors must ensure published research conformd to its ethical principles

belmont report

Establishment of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

Came from the syphilis study of African American men — there was a treatment for syphilis but these men weren’t informed

Beneficence: Research should confer benefits and risks must be minimal

Respect (Autonomy): participants are capable of making deliberate decisions

Justice: fairness in receiving the benefits of research as well as bearing the burdens of risks

APA ethics code

Principle of Fidelity and Responsibility

Principle of Integrity

Principle of Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

Principle of Justice

Principle of Respect for Persons

Principle of Fidelity and Responsibility

psychologists must establish relationships of trust and be aware of their responsibilities to society and to the specific communities in which they work

Principle of Integrity

psychologists must seek to promote accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness, and they do not steal, cheat, or engage in fraud, subterfuge, or intentional misrepresentation of fact

Principle of Beneficence and Nonmaleficence

the need for research to maximize benefits and minimize any possible harmful effects of participation

Principle of Justice

fairness and equity—all persons are entitled to access and benefit from the contributions of psychology and equal quality in processes, procedures, and services

Principle of Respect for Persons

psychologists respect the dignity and worth of all people, and the rights of individuals to privacy, confidentiality, and self-determination

aware that special safeguards may be necessary to protect the rights and welfare of some persons or communities whose vulnerabilities impair autonomous decision making

aware of the many differences among people and consider these factors with an eye to eliminating the effect of biases on their work

risk-benefit analysis

physical harm, stress and distress, confidentiality and privacy

informed consent

potential participants in research projects should be provided with all information that might influence their active decision of whether or not to participate in a study

deception

withholding information is described (passive deception)

active deception: actively providing misinformation about the nature of a study

debriefing

explanation of the purposes of the research that is given to participants following their participation in the research

opportunity for researchers to deal with the issue of withholding information, deception, and potential harmful effects of participation

institutional review board (IRB)

issued by the US Department of Health and Human Services; ethics committee established to review research proposals

require faculty, students, and others conducting research to complete one or more online courses on research ethics

minimal risk research

the risks of harm to participants are no greater than risks encountered in daily life or in routine physical or psychological tests

exempt review research

exempt from the rigorous review requirements of the federal regulations

• Research in educational settings that dont have an adverse effect on learning 

• Research only involving cognitive tests, surveys, interviews, etc of public behavior 

• Use of secondary data

expedited review

research that is minimal-risk but does not match the exempt research categories 

• Biological/medical (blood samples, collection of hair, saliva) 

  • Physical measures made like heart rate, muscle tension, blood pressure 

  • Data from voice, video, digial, image recordings

limited review

includes benign behavioral interventions for which sensitive data are collected from adult participants under circumstances where participates would need to be identified

research with nonhuman animals

Animals used in behavioral research – control animal’s enviorment conditions, studying them over a long period, monitoring their behavior

Focused on learning and conditioning

Benefits human research, leading to many discoveries

IACUC

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

ethics review board that is in charged with reviewing animal research procedures and makes sure all regulations are adhered to

4 guidelines for ethical treatment of animals in research settings

providing animals with proper housing, feeding, cleanliness, and health care

fraud

making up data, data fabrication

detected when other scientists cannot replicate the results or by a colleague or a student who worked with the researcher

plagiarism

misrepresenting another’s work as your own

word-for-word plagiarism

When a writer copies a section of another person’s work word-for-word without placing those words within quotation marks to indicate that the segment was written by somebody else, and without citing the source of the information

paraphrasing plagiarism

Paraphrasing another person’s ideas without attribution

construct validity

“Are we measuring what we claim to?”

The extent to which the measurement or manipulation of a variable accurately represents the theoretical variable (construct) being studied

internal validity

“Is this cause-effect relationship accurate?”

the accuracy of conclusions drawn about cause and effect

external validity

“Do the findings apply beyond this study?”

the extent to which a study’s findings can accurately be generalized to other populations and settings

statistical validity

“Are our stats accurate and reliable?”

the accuracy of the conclusions drawn from the results of research investigations

variable

something that changes

Can be behavior, thought, feeling, situation, characteristic, event

Anything that varies and can be measured is a variable

operational definition of variables

a set of procedure sussed when you measure or manipulate the variable

positive linear relationship

An increase in the value of one variable is accompanied by an increase in the value of the second variable

negative linear relationship

An increase in the value of one variable is accompanied by a decrease in the value of another variable

curvilinear relationship

Increases in the values of one variable are accompanied by systematic increases and decreases in the values of the other variable

no relationship

The graph is simply a flat line

random variability

We reduce uncertainty (random variability) by increasing our understanding of the variables of interest

By identifying systematic relationships between variables, we can reduce that uncertainty

correlation coefficient

a numerical index of the strength of the relationship between variables

non-experiment method

relationships are studied by observing variables of interest

third variable

a variable that is extraneous to the two variables being studied

possibility that one or more extraneous variables exist in the relationship being studied

extraneous variable

Variables in a study other than the variables being investigated

confounding variable

when we know that an uncontrolled variable is operating, it is then called a confounding variable

independent variable

manipulated variable

dependent variable

measured variable

experimental control

extraneous variables are controlled, by making sure every feature of the environment except the manipulated variable is held constant

randomization

controlling for the effects of extraneous variables by ensuring that the variables operate in a manner determined entirely by chance

Ensures that an extraneous variable is just as likely to affect one experimental group as another 

I.e. Assigning groups randomly

field experiment

Experiments conducted in a natural setting

More realistic but offer less control

participants (subject) variable

characteristics of indidivuals (age, gender, ethnic group, nationality, etc.) – cannot be manipulated and only be measured

reliability

consistency or stability of measure

true score

someone’s real “true” value on a given variable

measurement error

the distance between an unobservable true state (the true score) and a measured (observed) score

pearson product-moment correlation coefficient

used with interval and ratio scale data

can range from 0.00 to +1.00 and 0.00 to -1.00

test-retest reliability

measuring the same individual at two points in time

internal consistency reliability

assessment of reliability using response at only one point in time 

split-half reliability

correlation of the total score on one half of the test with the toal score on the other half

conbach’s alpha

average of all possible split-half reliability coefficients

item-total correlations

the correlation between scores on individual items with the total score on all items of a measure

interrater reliability

an indicator of reliability that examines the agreement of observations made by two or more raters (judges) 

reliability vs. accuracy of measurment

reliability: degree to which a measure is consistent

accuracy: how accurate the measurement is

face validity

evidence for validity is that the measure seems “on the face of it” to measure what is supposed to measure

involves only a judgment of whether the content of the measure appears to actually measure the variable

content validity

based on comparing the content of the measure with the universe of content that defines the construct

predictive validity

construct validity of a measure based on examining the ability of the measure to predict a future behavior or outcome

concurrent validity

examines the relationship between the measure and a criterion behavior at the same time (concurrently)

discriminant validity

when the measure is not related to variables with which it should not be related

reactivity

a problem of measurement in which the measure changes the behavior being observed