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Psych 217 > Chapter 1 > Flashcards

Chapter 1 Flashcards

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1
Q

How do we know what we know?

A
  • scientific method
  • unscientific (not data-driven) methods
  • logic
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2
Q

Name 4 unscientific methods

A
  • experience
  • folk wisdom/common sense
  • authority
  • intuition
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3
Q

Experience

A
  • Relying on personal experience to make decisions
  • Pros: may represent some sort of universal truth, vivid examples that are easy to remember
  • Cons: may not be representative of collection of all possible experiences, cannot account for alternative explanations
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4
Q

Folk wisdom/common sense

A
  • Appealing to what one expects everyone else to know
  • Pros: explanation for almost every situation, a short and mutually understood way of communicating more complicated ideas
  • Cons: often contradictory -> renders them meaningless (ie. “opposites attract” vs. “birds of a feather flock together”), cannot be refuted or falsified
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5
Q

Authority

A
  • Knowledge based on information from a “credible other” (ie. Celebs in product advertising)
  • Pros: minimizes need to acquire knowledge on our own, many authority figures have legitimately more authority
  • Cons: authorities may be wrong or using unscientific methods (ie. Experience, folk wisdom, intuition, etc.), authority may be due to perceived cues of credibility (ie. Attractiveness, popularity)
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6
Q

Intuition

A
  • Unquestioning acceptance of own judgment -> gut feeling
  • Pros: quick access to knowledge, allows us to understand values that are important to us (intuition is affected by our values)
  • Cons: difficult to analyze and critique (b/c it’s all in our heads), subject to prejudice and misconceptions (ie. Feeling like Canucks are going to win Stanley Cup b/c you’re from Van) and illusory correlations (ex. finding love when you stop looking)
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7
Q

Logic

A
  • Knowledge derived from rules of logical thinking
  • Falls somewhere in between scientific and unscientific
  • Pros: leads to internally consistent reasoning and decisions, easy to analyze and critique
  • Cons: may be based on incorrect premises/info or fallacies, what may logically consistent to you may be different from what occurs in the world
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8
Q

Research Methods

A
  • give us a common language and set of tools to encourage & guide critical thinking -> research methods help us read things critically, evaluate the methods, then decide whether the conclusions are appropriate
  • Not the only way of knowing, but it is the way that all scientific fields abide by
  • By abiding by this, psychology is a data-driven, scientific field
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9
Q

scientific skepticism

A

realizing that our ideas/intuition can be wrong; questioning other people’s pronouncements of truth, regardless of prestige or authority

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10
Q

empiricism

A

knowledge is derived from structured, systematic observations

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11
Q

replication

A

replicating the methods of someone else’s study to see whether you obtain the same results. Helps ensure that results aren’t false positives or flukes

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12
Q

meta-analyses

A

studies that combine results from many studies of the same phenomenon to explain overall effect

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13
Q

peer-review

A

when scientists review research and evaluate whether or not it should be published. Helps ensure that flawed research won’t become part of scientific literature

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14
Q

falsifiable

A

can either be supported or refuted using empirical data

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15
Q

pseudoscience

A

uses scientific terms to make claims look compelling, but lacks scientific data

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16
Q

program evaluation

A

research that tests the efficacy of reforms and innovations in government, and education, criminal justice system, healthcare, etc. -> evaluating each program to see whether it’s having its intended effect

17
Q

steps of conducting research

A
  • Idea
  • Consult past research
  • State hypothesis
  • Design study to test hypothesis
  • Seek ethical approval
  • Collect data
  • Analyze data
  • Conduct another study
  • Write report in APA style
  • Submit report to a journal for peer review and publication
18
Q

how to detect pseudoscience

A
  • Claims aren’t falsifiable
  • Accuracy/methods of tests are questionable/unscientific
  • Evidence is anecdotal or relies on authorities; peer-reviewed scientific references aren’t cited
  • Claims ignore conflicting evidence
  • Claims are stated in scientific-sounding terminology and ideas
  • Claims tend to be vague, rationalize strongly-held beliefs, and appeal to pre-conceived ideas
  • Claims are never revised to account for new data
19
Q

5 goals of scientific behaviour/psychology (name and briefly explain each one)

A
  • Describe behaviour (basic research)
  • Predict behaviour (basic research)
  • Determine causes of behaviour (basic research)
  • Understand/explain behaviour (basic research)
  • Apply knowledge to solve problems (applied research
20
Q

criteria for causal claim

A
  • Covariation of cause and effect
  • Temporal precedence
  • Elimination of alternative explanations
21
Q

Covariation of cause and effect

A
  • when the cause is present, the effect occurs; when the cause is not present, the effect does not occur
  • ex. People who multitask on laptops during class scored lower on a test; people who did not multitask scored higher
22
Q

temporal precedence

A
  • the cause precedes the effect

- ex. Multitasking (or not) before taking the test

23
Q

Elimination of alternative explanations

A
  • nothing other than the causal variable could be responsible for the observed effect
  • can be achieved by using methods like random assignment
24
Q

2 types of research

A
  • basic research
  • applied research
  • they can be integrated!
25
Q

basic research

A
  • furthers theoretical knowledge (captures first 4 goals of scientific research) rather than a specific application
  • Ex. Testing to see which theory best explains how people create mental maps
26
Q

applied research

A
  • using theoretical knowledge to address practical problems and potential solutions
  • Ex. Testing to see how effective exposure therapy is at reducing spider phobia; Program evaluations
27
Q

4 canons of science (according to Cheung)

A
  • determinism
  • empiricism
  • parsimony
  • testability
28
Q

determinism

A
  • The assumption that the universe is orderly
  • Events occur due to some meaningful and systematic cause
  • Foundation of research
29
Q

parsimony

A
  • Like a tie-breaker: when 2 theories explain the same phenomenon, preference goes to simpler one
  • “simpler” means: requires fewer relationships/assumptions AND requires fewer adjustments to established scientific relationships
  • simpler ideas are more falsifiable
  • aka: Occam’s Razor
30
Q

testability

A
  • Researchers should be able to put scientific theories to empirical tests
  • falsifiability is a subset of testability

Psych 217 (14 decks)

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