Chapter 1, 1.5-1.12

Question 1

Critical thinking

Answer 1

making reasoned judgements

Question 2

4 basic criteria for critical thinking

Answer 2

1. There are very few “truths” that do not need to be subjected to testing.
2. All evidence is not equal in quality
3. Just because someone is considered to be an authority or have a lot of expertise does not make everything that person claims automatically true.
4. Critical thinking requires an open mind

Question 3

Scientific Approach

Answer 3

approach to research intending to reduce the likelihood of bias an error in the measurement of data.

Question 4

Psychology’s 4 goals

Answer 4

1. Description, observing a behavior and noting everything about it.
2. Explanation, finding a theory (general explanation of a et of observations or facts) as to why something happens
3. Prediction, determining what will happen in the future.
4. Control, to change an undesired behavior into a desired one

Question 5

Scientific Approach’s 5 steps

Answer 5

1. Question, pursue an idea of interest
2. Hypothesis, a tentative explanation for an observation
3. Test, design depending on best way to answer question
4. Conclusion, observe whether Hypothesis was correct and why or why not it was
5. Report, let other researchers know

Question 6

Replication

Answer 6

gives much more support to your research ( a good study can be easily replicated)

Question 7

Naturalistic Observation

Answer 7

observing subjects in the natural environment

Question 8

Observer Effect

Answer 8

subjects who know they’re being watched will behave differently

Question 9

Participant Observation

Answer 9

Experimenter pretends to be a member of the subject group

Question 10

Observer Bias

Answer 10

Disadvantage to Naturalistic Observation, when the observer has a an opinion on what they expect to see in the experiment

Question 11

Lab Observation

Answer 11

allows for more control and replication, but also may lead to artificial behaviors

Question 12

Case Study

Answer 12

Studying one individual with great detail (hard to apply to other cases)

Question 13

Surveys

Answer 13

Asking a series of questions to a broad audience (weaknesses in truthful answering and proper questioning)

Question 14

Representative Sample

Answer 14

randomly selecting a number of individuals from a population

Question 15

Population

Answer 15

the entire group “under observation”

Question 16

Correlation

Answer 16

measure of the relationship between two our more variables

Question 17

Correlation coefficient

Answer 17

represents both the strength and the direction of the relationship (strongest = 1 or -1)

Question 18

What does correlation prove

Answer 18

Not causation

Question 19

Experiment

Answer 19

researchers deliberately manipulate their target cause while holding all else constant to see its effect on another variable

Question 20

Operationalization

Answer 20

researchers specifically defining their variables so that they can be measured (I.e aggressive behavior is hard to quantify)

Question 21

Independent Variable

Answer 21

the variable directly manipulated by researchers

Question 22

Dependent Variable

Answer 22

the measured response of the participants

Question 23

Confounding variables

Answer 23

variables that interfere with each other and their possible effects on variables of interest

Question 24

Experimental group

Answer 24

group that receives the experimental manipulation

Question 25

Control group

Answer 25

either gets no treatment or a completely neutral treatment

Question 26

Random Assignment

Answer 26

each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to a group, controlling for extraneous variables (outside)

Question 27

Placebo Effect

Answer 27

the expectations and biases of the participants in a study can influence their behavior (the control group will show changes on the dependent variable even without receiving treatment)

Question 28

Experimenter Effect

Answer 28

the expectations and biases of the experimenters in a study can influence participant behavior

Question 29

Single-blind experiment

Answer 29

participants are blind to the treatment that they receive

Question 30

Double-blind experiment

Answer 30

neither participants nor experimenters know which treatment participants are receiving

Question 31

Institutional Review Boards

Answer 31

university appointed professionals who look over studies and judge by their safety and consideration for participants

Question 32

Ethical Guidelines

Answer 32

1. Rights and well-being must be weighed against benefit to overall science
2. Participants must be allowed to make an informed decision about participation (informed consent)
3. Deception must be justified (and debriefed later)
4. P can withdraw at anytime
5. P must be protected and informed of risks
6. Investigators must fully debrief Ps, telling the true nature of the experiment and expected results
7. Data must remain confidential
8. If a study might result in undesirable consequences for the P, the investigator is responsible for detecting, removing, and correcting these consequences

Question 33

Animal Research

Answer 33

Ethical guidelines push towards avoiding any unnecessary pain or suffering