Exam 1 Flashcards
Intuition
we are relying on our guts, our emotions, and/or our instincts to guide us
Authority
This method involves accepting new ideas because some authority figure states that they are true
Rationalism
involves using logic and reasoning to acquire new knowledge
Empiricism
involves acquiring knowledge through observation and experience
Scientific Method
is a process of systematically collecting and evaluating evidence to test ideas and answer questions
Systematic Empiricism
refers to learning based on observation, and scientists learn about the natural world systematically, by carefully planning, making, recording, and analyzing observations of it
Empirical Question
These are questions about the way the world actually is and, therefore, can be answered by systematically observing it
Public Knowledge
This usually means writing an article for publication in a professional journal, in which they put their research question in the context of previous research, describe in detail the methods they used to answer their question, and clearly present their results and conclusions
Pseudoscience
refers to activities and beliefs that are claimed to be scientific by their proponents—and may appear to be scientific at first glance—but are not
falsifiable
A scientific claim that must be expressed in such a way that there are observations that would—if they were made—count as evidence against the claim
to describe
is achieved by making careful observations
To predict
Once we have observed with some regularity that two behaviors or events are systematically related to one another we can use that information to predict whether an event or behavior will occur in a certain situation
To explain
goal involves determining the causes of behavior
Basic research
Research conducted primarily for the sake of achieving a more detailed and accurate understanding of human behavior, without necessarily trying to address any particular practical problem.
Applied Research
Research conducted primarily to address some practical problem
Folk psychology
Intuitive beliefs about people’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings
heuristics
Mental shortcuts in forming and maintaining our beliefs
confirmation bias
Tendency to focus on cases that confirm our intuitive beliefs and to disregard cases that disconfirm our beliefs.
skepticism
Pausing to consider alternatives and to search for evidence—especially systematically collected empirical evidence—when there is enough at stake to justify doing so
tolerance for uncertainty
Accepting that there are many things that we simply do not know
empirically supported treatments.
A treatment that that has been shown through systematic observation to lead to better outcomes when compared to no-treatment or placebo control groups.
Three of the most common sources of inspiration
informal observations, practical problems, and previous research
Informal observations
include direct observations of our own and others’ behavior as well as secondhand observations from non-scientific sources such as newspapers, books, blogs, and so on
Practical problems
can also inspire research ideas, leading directly to applied research in such domains as law, health, education, and sports
previous research
Recall that science is a kind of large-scale collaboration in which many different researchers read and evaluate each other’s work and conduct new studies to build on it
research literature
All the published research in that field
Professional journals
Are periodicals that publish original research articles.
Empirical research reports
Research reports that describe one or more new empirical studies conducted by the authors
Review articles
Articles that summarize previously published research on a topic and usually present new ways to organize or explain the results
meta-analysis
A review article that provides a statistical summary of all of the previous results
theoretical article
A review article that is devoted primarily to presenting a new theory.
double-blind peer review
A process in which the reviewers of a research article do not know the identity of the researcher(s) and vice versa.
Scholarly books
Books written by researchers and practitioners mainly for use by other researchers and practitioners
monograph
A coherent written presentation of a topic much like an extended review article written by a single author or a small group of authors
Edited volumes
Books that are collections of chapters written by different authors on different aspects of the same topic, and overseen by one or more editors
PsycINFO
A comprehensive electronic database covering thousands of professional journals and scholarly books going back more than 100 years—that for most purposes its content is synonymous with the research literature in psychology.
empirically testable research questions
questions expressed in terms of a single variable or relationship between variables.
Evaluating Research Questions
This means they must have some way of evaluating the research questions they generate so that they can choose which ones to pursue.
interestingness
How interesting the question is to people generally or the scientific community. Three things need to be considered: Is the answer in doubt, fills a gap in research literature, and has important practical implications.
feasibility
How likely is the research question going to be successfully answered depending on the amount of time, money, equipment and materials, technical knowledge and skill, and access to research participants there will be
theory
A coherent explanation or interpretation of one or more phenomena
hypothesis
A specific prediction about a new phenomenon that should be observed if a particular theory is accurate.
hypothetico-deductive method
A cyclical process of theory development, starting with an observed phenomenon, then developing or using a theory to make a specific prediction of what should happen if that theory is correct, testing that prediction, refining the theory in light of the findings, and using that refined theory to develop new hypotheses, and so on.
testable and falsifiable
The ability to test the hypothesis using the methods of science and the possibility to gather evidence that will disconfirm the hypothesis if it is indeed false.
logical
Hypotheses should be informed by previous theories or observations and logical reasoning.
deductive reasoning
to generate a more specific hypothesis to test based on that theory
inductive reasoning
involves using specific observations or research findings to form a more general hypothesis
positive
the hypothesis should make a positive statement about the existence of a relationship or effect, rather than a statement that a relationship or effect does not exist
variable
A quantity or quality that varies across people or situations
quantitative variable
A quantity, such as height, that is typically measured by assigning a number to each individual.
categorical variable
A variable that represents a characteristic of an individual, such as chosen major, and is typically measured by assigning each individual’s response to one of several categories
operational definition
A definition of the variable in terms of precisely how it is to be measured.
population
A large group of people about whom researchers in psychology are usually interested in drawing conclusions, and from whom the sample is drawn.
Sample
A smaller portion of the population the researcher would like to study
Simple Random Sampling
which every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample
convenience sampling
A common method of non-probability sampling in which the sample consists of individuals who happen to be easily available and willing to participate
Experimental Research
Researchers who want to test hypotheses about causal relationships between variables need to use an experimental method.
independent variable
The variable the experimenter manipulates
dependent variable
The variable the experimenter measures (it is the presumed effect)
Extraneous variables
Any variable other than the dependent and independent variable.
Confounds
A specific type of extraneous variable that systematically varies along with the variables under investigation and therefore provides an alternative explanation for the results
Non-Experimental Research
Researchers who are simply interested in describing characteristics of people, describing relationships between variables, and using those relationships to make predictions simply measures variables as they naturally occur, but they do not manipulate them
laboratory study
A study that is conducted in the laboratory environment.
field study
A study that is conducted in a “real world” environment outside the laboratory.
internal validity
Refers to the degree to which we can confidently infer a causal relationship between variables
External validity
Refers to the degree to which we can generalize the findings to other circumstances or settings, like the real-world environment
field experiments
A type of field study where an independent variable is manipulated in a natural setting and extraneous variables are controlled as much as possible
Descriptive Statistics
used to organize or summarize a set of data.
mode
The most frequently occurring score in a distribution.
median
The midpoint of a distribution of scores in the sense that half the scores in the distribution are less than it and half are greater than it.
mean
The average of a distribution of scores (symbolized M) where the sum of the scores are divided by the number of scores
Range
A measure of dispersion that measures the distance between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.
standard deviation
sophisticated measure of dispersion that measures the average distance of scores from the mean
variance
A measurement of the average distance of scores from the mean.
correlation coefficient
Describes the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables
Inferential statistics
A research method that allows researchers to draw conclusions or infer about a population based on data from a sample
statistically significant
An effect that is unlikely due to random chance and therefore likely represents a real effect in the population.
Type I error
A false positive in which the researcher concludes that their results are statistically significant when in reality there is no real effect in the population and the results are due to chance. In other words, rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true.
Type II Error
A missed opportunity in which the researcher concludes that their results are not statistically significant when in reality there is a real effect in the population and they just missed detecting it. In other words, retaining the null hypothesis when it is false.
Randomized controlled trial
Experimental design/study
Cohort study
Student population, non experimental study
Case control study
Non experimental study
Peer review
Non basis reviewing
Parsimony
Simple explanation
Testability
Explanation that you can test
Ethics
The branch of philosophy that is concerned with morality—what it means to behave morally and how people can achieve that goal.
confederate
A helper who pretended to be a real participant in a study
autonomy
A persons right to make their own choices and take their own actions free from coercion
informed consent
This means that researchers obtain and document people’s agreement to participate in a study after having informed them of everything that might reasonably be expected to affect their decision.
privacy
A persons right to decide what information about them is shared with others.
confidentiality
An agreement not to disclose participants’ personal information without their consent or some appropriate legal authorization.
anonymity
When a participants name and other personally identifiable information is not collected at all.
Nuremberg Code
A set of 10 ethical principles for research written in 1947 in conjunction with the Nuremberg trials of Nazi physicians accused of war crimes against prisoners in concentration camps. Set of ethical guidelines developed for research with human sujects
Declaration of Helsinki
An ethics code that was created by the World Medical Council in 1964.
protocol
A detailed description of the research—that is reviewed by an independent committee.
Belmont Report
A set of federal guidelines written in 1978 as a response to the abuses of the Tuskegee study that recognize three important principles in research with humans: justice, respect for persons, and beneficience, and that formed the basis for federal regulations applied to research.
respect for persons
One of the Belmont report principles that emphasizes the need for participants to exercise autonomy and protection for those with reduced autonomy, often through informed consent
beneficence
Underscores the importance of maximizing the benefits of research while minimizing harms to participants and society.
Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects
A set of laws based on the Belmont Report that apply to research conducted, supported, or regulated by the federal government.
institutional review board (IRB
A committee that is responsible for reviewing research protocols for potential ethical problems.
Exempt research
Research on the effectiveness of normal educational activities, the use of standard psychological measures and surveys of a nonsensitive nature that are administered in a way that maintains confidentiality, and research using existing data from public sources.
Expedited research
Research reviewed by the IRB that is not anonymous and/or may involve potentially stigmatizing information, or invasive or uncomfortable procedures, but exposes participants to risks that are no greater than minimal risk
greater than minimal risk research
Research that poses greater than minimal risk to participants and must be reviewed by the full board of IRB members.
APA Ethics Code
Stands for the APA’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. It was first published in 1953 and includes about 150 specific ethical standards that psychologists and their students are expected to follow.
Deception
Misinforming participants about the purpose of a study, using confederates, using phony equipment like Milgram’s shock generator, and presenting participants with false feedback about their performance
debriefing
This is the process of informing research participants as soon as possible of the purpose of the study, revealing any deception, and correcting any other misconceptions they might have as a result of participating.
pre-screening
A way to minimize risks in a study and to identify and eliminate participants who are at high risk.
Coercion
Without their consent or threatening them
Ethical guidelines in research
Modify protocol, pre-screening, maintain privacy and confidentiality, identify and minimize deception
Demand characteristics
When participants change their behavior because of the purposes of the study
Ethical guidelines for nonhuman subjects
Justification, everyone involved must be trained in animal care, care and housing, must treat animals humanly, institutional animal care and use committees
Scholarly integrity
Error in data that are reported, plagiarism, self plagiarism
Measurement
Is the assignment of scores to individuals so that the scores represent some characteristic of the individuals.
psychometrics
A subfield of psychology concerned with the theories and techniques of psychological measurement
constructs
Psychological variables that represent an individual’s mental state or experience, often not directly observable, such as personality traits, emotional states, attitudes, and abilities.
conceptual definition
Describes the behaviors and internal processes that make up a psychological construct, along with how it relates to other variables.
operational definition
definition of the variable in terms of precisely how it is to be measured.
Self-report measures
Measures in which participants report on their own thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Behavioral measures
Measures in which some other aspect of participants’ behavior is observed and recorded
physiological measures
Measures that involve recording any of a wide variety of physiological processes, including heart rate and blood pressure, galvanic skin response, hormone levels, and electrical activity and blood flow in the brain.
converging operations
When psychologists use multiple operational definitions of the same construct—either within a study or across studies.
levels of measurement
Four categories, or scales, of measurement are nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio that specify the types of information that a set of scores can have, and the types of statistical procedures that can be used with the scores.
nominal level
A measurement used for categorical variables and involves assigning scores that are category labels.
ordinal level
A measurement that involves assigning scores so that they represent the rank order of the individuals.
interval level
A measurement that involves assigning scores using numerical scales in which intervals have the same interpretation throughout
ratio level
A measurement that involves assigning scores in such a way that there is a true zero point that represents the complete absence of the quantity.
Reliability
Refers to the consistency of a measure.
Test-retest reliability
When researchers measure a construct that they assume to be consistent across time, then the scores they obtain should also be consistent across time.
internal consistency
The consistency of people’s responses across the items on a multiple-item measure.
split-half correlation
A score that is derived by splitting the items into two sets and examining the relationship between the two sets of scores in order to assess the internal consistency of a measure.
Cronbach’s α
A statistic that measures internal consistency among items in a measure
Inter-rater reliability
The extent to which different observers are consistent in their judgments
Validity
The extent to which the scores from a measure represent the variable they are intended to.
Face validity
The extent to which a measurement method appears, on superficial examination, to measure the construct of interest.
Content validity
The extent to which a measure reflects all aspects of the construct of interest.
Criterion validity
The extent to which people’s scores on a measure are correlated with other variables (known as criteria) that one would expect them to be correlated with.
criterion
A variable that theoretically should be correlated with the construct being measured
concurrent validity
A form of criterion validity, where the criterion is measured at the same time (concurrently) as the construct.
predictive validity
A form of validity whereby the criterion is measured at some point in the future (after the construct has been measured), to determine that the construct “predicts” the criterion.
convergent validity
A form of criterion validity whereby new measures are correlated with existing established measures of the same construct.
Discriminant validity
The extent to which scores on a measure of a construct are not correlated with measures of other, conceptually distinct, constructs and thus discriminate between them.
socially desirable responding
When participants respond in ways that they think are socially acceptable.
Survey research
A quantitative and qualitative method with two important characteristics; variables are measured using self-reports and considerable attention is paid to the issue of sampling.
respondents
Participants in a survey or study
Cognitive Model
interpret the question, retrieve relevant information from memory, form a tentative judgment, convert the tentative judgment into one of the response options provided (e.g., a rating on a 1-to-7 scale), and finally edit their response as necessary.
context effects
Unintended influences on respondents’ answers because they are not related to the content of the item but to the context in which the item appears.
item-order effect
When the order in which the items are presented affects people’s responses
Open-ended items
Simply ask a question and allow participants to answer in whatever way they choose.
Closed-ended items
Questionnaire items that ask a question and provide a limited set of response options for participants to choose from.
rating scale
An ordered set of responses that participants must choose from.
BRUSO
An acronym that stands for “brief,” “relevant,” “unambiguous,” “specific,” and “objective,” which is used to create effective questionnaire items that are brief and to the point.
Probability sampling
Occurs when the researcher can specify the probability that each member of the population will be selected for the sample.
Non-probability sampling
Occurs when the researcher cannot specify the probability that each member of the population will be selected for the sample
Convenience sampling
A common method of non-probability sampling in which the sample consists of individuals who happen to be easily available and willing to participate (such as introductory psychology students).
snowball sampling
A form of non-probability sampling in which existing research participants help recruit additional participants for the study.
quota sampling
A form of non-probability sampling in which subgroups in the sample are recruited to be proportional to those subgroups in the population.
sampling frame
A list of all the members of the population from which to select the respondents
Simple random sampling
A probability sampling method in which each individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected for the sample
stratified random sampling
A common alternative to simple random sampling in which the population is divided into different subgroups or “strata” (usually based on demographic characteristics) and then a random sample is taken from each “stratum.”
Proportionate stratified random sampling
Is used to select a sample in which the proportion of respondents in each of various subgroups matches the proportion in the population.
Disproportionate stratified random sampling
Is used to sample extra respondents from particularly small subgroups—allowing valid conclusions to be drawn about those subgroups.
cluster sampling
A type of probability sampling in which larger clusters of individuals are randomly sampled and then individuals within each cluster are randomly sampled.
Sampling bias
Occurs when a sample is selected in such a way that it is not representative of the entire population and therefore produces inaccurate results.
non-response bias
Occurs when there is a systemic difference between survey non-responders from survey responders.
Correlation
Statistical measure of how strongly two or more variables are related to each other
Strongest possible positive correlation
1
Weakest possible positive correlation
-1
No correlation
0
Balance
Extremely unlikely, somewhat unlikely, as likely as not, somewhat likely, extremely likely
Unbalanced
Unlikely, somewhat likely, likely, very likely, extremely likely
Midpoints
Zero/neutral
Relevant
Do not ask questions related to outcome of interest
Unambiguous
Can be only one way to interpret question
Negatively worded questions
Negating phrasing may be confusing and difficult to interpret
innerconsistency
Intentionally use both negative and positive in the same question to see people respond similarly
Specific
Clearly worded questions
Objective
Do not reveal researchers own opinion, wording leads to particular response pushing opinion
Coding
Process of categorizing data, and be analyzed or interpret
Reverse coding
Numerical scoring statements run in opposite directions for negatively/positively worded questions such that low vs high scores represent same opinion/behavior
