exam 1 Flashcards
empiricism
acquiring knowledge through observation and experience
scientific method
process of systemically collecting and evaluating evidence to test ideas and answer questions
features of science
systematic empiricism, empirical questions, public knowledge
systematic empiricism
learning based on observations systematically
empirical questions
questions about the way the world actually is and can be answered by systematically observing it
pseudoscience
activities and beliefs that are claimed to be scientific by their proponents and may appear so at first glance but are not
falsifiable
scientific claims must be expressed in a way that there are observations that would - if they were made - count as evidence against the claim
basic 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
three goals of science
to describe, predict, and explain
applied research
conducted primarily to address some practical problem
folk pyschology
intuitive beliefs about peoples behavior, thoughts and feelings
heuristics
mental shortcuts
confirmation bia
we tend to focus on cases that confirm our intuitive beliefs and not on cases that dis-confirm them
skepticism
pausing to consider alternative and to search for evidence - especially systematically collected empirical evidence - when there is enough at stake to justify doing so
tolerance for uncertainty
accept there are many things they simply do not know
simple model of scientific research in psychology
research literature <–> research question –> empirical study –> data analysis –> conclusions –> research literature
professional journals
periodicals that publish original research articles
empirical research reports
describe one or more new empirical studies conducted by the authors
review articles
summarize previously published research on a topic and usually present new ways to organize or explain the results
theoretical article
when a review article is devoted primarily to presenting a new theory
meta-analysis
when a review article provides a statistical summary of all of the previous results
double-blind peer review
researchers submit a manuscript to the editor who sends it to 2 ro 3 experts on the topic which write a review - no one knows who each other are
scholarly books
books written by researchers and practitioners mainly for use by other researchers and practitioners
monograph
written by a single or small groups of authors and usually gives a coherent presentation of a topic much like an extended review article
edited volumes
have an editor or small group who recruit many authors to write separate chapters on different aspects of the same topic
interestingness of a research question
the answer is in doubt, fills a gap in the research literature, and has important practical implications
feasibility of answering research questions
factors including time, money, equipment, materials, technical knowledge and skill, and access to research participants
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
researchers begin with a set of phenomena and either construct a theory to explain or interpret them or choose an existing theory to work with. then make a prediction about some new phenomenon that should be observed if the theory is correct.
characteristics of a good hypothesis
must be testable and falsifiable, logical and make a positive statement about the existence of a relationship/effect
variabel
a quantity or quality that varies across people/situation
quantitative variable
a quantity that is typically measured by assigning a number to an individual
categorical variable
a quality and is typically measured by assigning a category label to each individual
operational defintion
a definition of a variable in terms of precisely how it is to be measured
simple random sampling
every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected for the sample
convenience sampling
the sample consists of individuals who happen to be nearby and willing to participate in the study
independent variable
variable the experimenter manipulates
dependent variable
variable the experimenter measured
extraneous variables
any variable other than the dependent 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
internal validity
the degree to which we can confidently infer a causal relationship between variables
laboratory experiments typically have high _______ validity
internal
external validity
the degree to which we can generalize the findings to other circumstances or settings
field studies are high in _______ validity
external
inferential stats
allow researchers to draw conclusions about a population based on data from a sample
type 1 error
false positive
type 2
false negative - missed opportunity
confederate
a helper who pretends to be a real participant
autonomy
right to make their own choice and actions free from coercion
informed consent
researchers obtain and document peoples agreement to participate in a study after having informed them of everything that might reasonably be expected to affect their decision
nuremberg code
earliest ethics codes
declaraction of helsinki
1964
seeking justice
the importance of conducting research in a way that distributes risks and benefits fairly across different groups at the societal level
respect for persons
acknowledges individuals autonomy and protection for those with diminished autonomy and translates to the need for informed consent
beneficence
underscores the importance of maximizing the benefits of research while minimizing harm to participants and society
institutional review board (IRB)
a committee that is responsible for reviewing research protocols for potential ethical problems
federal policy for protection of human subjects
laws that apply to research conducted, supported or regulated by the federal government
exempt research
lowest level or risk
expedited research
poses a somewhat higher risk than exempt but still exposes participants to risks that are no greater than minimal risk
greater than minimal risk research
must be reviewed by the full board of IRB members
deception
allowed when the benefits of the study outweigh the risk, the participants cannot reasonably be expected to be harmed and the research question cannot be answered without the use of deception and participants are informed the deception asap
debriefing
information research participants asap of the purpose of the study, revealing any deception and correcting any other misconceptions they might have as a result of participating
pre-screening
minimize risks, identify and eliminate participants who are at high risk
measuremnt
assignment of scores to individua so the scores represent some characteristic of the individuals
psychometrics
psychological measurement
constructs
other variables studied by psychologists that are not so straightforward or simple to measure
conceptual definition
describes the behaviors and internal processes that make up that construct along with how it related to other variables
operational definition
a definition of a variable in terms of how precisely it is to be measured
self-report measures
participants report on their own thoughts, feelings and actions
behavioral measures
some other aspect of participants behavior is observed and recorded
physiological measures
recording any of a wide variety of physiological processes
converging operations
using multiple operational definitions of the same construct
nominal level
used for categorical variables - assigning scores that are categorical labels
ordinal level
assigning scores so they represent the rank order of individuals
interval level
assigning scores using numerical scales in which interval have the same interpretation throughout.
ratio level
assigning scores in such a way that there is a true zero point that represents the complete absence of the quantity
reliability
the consistency of a measure
over time
test-retest reliability
across items
internal consistency
across different researchers
inter-rater reliability
test-retest reliability
be consistent across time with scores
internal consistency
consistency of peoples responses across the items on a multiple-item measure
split-half correlation
splitting the items into two sets, a score is computed and the relationship is viewed
Cronbach’s a
a is the mean of all possible split-half correlations for a set of items
inter-rater reliability
the extent to which different observers are consistent in their judgments
validity
the extent to which scores from aa measure represent the variable they intend to
face validity
the extent to which a measurement method appears “on its face” to measure the construct of interest
content validity
the extent to which a measure “covers’ the construct of interest
criterion validity
the extent to which peoples scores on a measure are correlated with other variables that one would expect them to be correlated with
criterion
any variable that one ahs reason to think should be correlated with the construct being measured
concurrent validity
when the criterion is measured at the same time as the construct
predictive validity
when the criterion is measured at some point in the future
convergent validity
when criteria include other measures of the same construct
discriminant validity
the extent to which scores on a measure are NOT correlated with measures of variables that conceptually distinct
socially desirable responding
people doing/saying things that they think is socially appropriate thing
demand characteristics
subtle cues that reveal how the research expects participants to behave
