Bio ph
🔸 Sources of Knowledge
Q: What is superstition as a source of knowledge?
A: Belief based on gut feeling, magic, or irrational thinking.
Q: What is authority as a source of knowledge?
A: Accepting knowledge because someone important said it.
Q: What is tenacity?
A: Holding on to beliefs through repetition.
Q: What is rationalism?
A: Using logical reasoning; accuracy depends on valid premises.
Q: What is empiricism?
A: Gaining knowledge through objective observation.
Q: What is science, in terms of rationalism and empiricism?
A: A combination of rationalism and empiricism—logical reasoning based on observation.
🔸 Biases in Human Thinking
Q: What is hindsight bias?
A: Belief that one "knew it all along" after the outcome is known.
Q: What is overconfidence?
A: Overestimating one’s knowledge or abilities.
Q: What is the issue with perceiving order in randomness?
A: Humans often see patterns where none exist.
🔸 Scientific Mindset
Q: What are the 3 components of a scientific mindset?
A: Curiosity, skepticism, humility.
Q: What is curiosity in science?
A: Desire to explore and understand the world.
Q: What is skepticism?
A: Requiring data to be convinced.
Q: What is humility in science?
A: Accepting when you're wrong or don’t know.
🔸 Scientific Method
Q: What is the scientific method?
A: A process for testing ideas through hypotheses, observation, and experimentation.
Q: What are the 3 main types of scientific study?
A: Description, correlation, and experiments.
🔸 Descriptive Research Methods
Q: What is a case study?
A: In-depth examination of one individual.
Q: What is naturalistic observation?
A: Observing subjects in their natural environment.
Q: What is ecological validity?
A: The extent findings apply to real-world behavior.
Q: What is disguised observation?
A: Participants don't know they're being observed.
Q: What is undisguised observation?
A: Participants are aware they're being observed.
Q: What is participant observation?
A: Researcher participates in the setting.
Q: What are expectancy effects?
A: Researcher’s expectations bias results.
🔸 Data Collection Techniques
Q: What are narrative records?
A: Full descriptive notes or recordings of behavior.
Q: What are standardized interviews?
A: Same questions, same order for all participants.
Q: What are semistandardized interviews?
A: Flexible question wording, some elaboration allowed.
Q: What are unstandardized interviews?
A: Unstructured, free-flowing conversation.
Q: What is a focus group interview?
A: Group discussion with 6–10 participants.
🔸 Survey Methods
Q: What is a Likert scale?
A: Numerical rating scale indicating agreement or frequency.
Q: What is a loaded question?
A: Includes emotionally charged or biased terms.
Q: What is a leading question?
A: Suggests a desired response.
Q: What is a double-barreled question?
A: Asks two things in one question.
Q: What is response bias?
A: Tendency to answer similarly across questions.
Q: What is reverse coding?
A: Reversing the scoring of a question to control bias.
Q: What are demographic questions?
A: Questions about personal characteristics (e.g., age, gender).
🔸 Correlational Research
Q: What is correlation?
A: Measure of how two variables vary together.
Q: What is a positive correlation?
A: Both variables increase or decrease together.
Q: What is a negative correlation?
A: One variable increases as the other decreases.
Q: What is the correlation coefficient (r)?
A: A number from -1.00 to +1.00 that indicates strength and direction.
Q: What is the Third Variable Problem?
A: A third factor influences both correlated variables.
Q: What is illusory correlation?
A: Believing there’s a relationship when none exists.
Q: What is regression toward the mean?
A: Extreme values tend to move closer to average on retesting.
🔸 Experimental Research
Q: What is an independent variable (IV)?
A: The variable that is manipulated.
Q: What is a dependent variable (DV)?
A: The variable that is measured.
Q: What is a confounding variable?
A: A variable that may affect the DV besides the IV.
Q: What is a double-blind procedure?
A: Neither researchers nor participants know group assignments.
Q: What is the placebo effect?
A: Behavior changes due to belief in treatment.
🔸 Research Methods Summary
Method | Purpose | Manipulated? | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
Descriptive | Observe/record behavior | None | No control, can't generalize |
Correlational | Detect relationships | None | Correlation ≠ causation |
Experimental | Determine cause & effect | IV | May lack generalizability or ethics |
🔸 Ethics in Research
Q: What is the IRB?
A: Institutional Review Board – oversees ethics in research.
Q: What is informed consent?
A: Participants agree after being informed about study details.
Q: What is minimal risk?
A: No more risk than in daily life.
Q: What is deception in research?
A: Withholding true purpose to avoid biasing responses.
Q: What is debriefing?
A: Explaining study purpose and answering questions after participation.
Q: What was the Tuskegee study?
A: Unethical study where Black men were denied syphilis treatment.
Q: What are examples of unethical studies?
A: Milgram's obedience study, Stanford prison experiment, Tuskegee syphilis study.
🔸 Statistics and Interpreting Data
Q: What are measures of central tendency?
A: Mean, median, mode.
Q: What is standard deviation?
A: Average amount each score differs from the mean.
Q: What is statistical significance?
A: Results unlikely due to chance (p ≤ 0.05).
Q: What makes a result reliable?
A: Representative sample, low variability, many observations.