Exam 1 Review Flashcards
Values
personal opinions, positions, beliefs (subjective)
Facts
tested and proven information (objective)
Science
Search for true info, backed by evidence, facts
Importance of Science
science is an approach to learning true info
Goals of Science
- describe
- predict
- determine cause
Properties of Science
- empiricism: testable, observable
- critical thinking: skepticism (careful consideration of info)
Basic principles of critical thinking
- Extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence
- Falsifiability
- Occam’s razor: the simplest solutions are usually the best
-Replicability - Rule out rival hypotheses
- correlation does not equal causation
Pseudoscience
- a claim that seems scientific but isn’t
- a claim that’s designed to sound true, but lacks evidence and facts
- usually meant to persuade, rather than be accurate
Pseudoscience warning signs
- overuse of loopholes/ excuses to avoid falsification
- lack of self-correction
- exaggerated claims
- over-reliance on anecdotes
- evasion of peer review
- absence of connectivity
- psychobabble
Variable
- any attribute which can vary (have 2+ levels)
- conceptual variable: thing you want to measure (romance, intelligence, anxiety)
- Measured variable: variable that represents the conceptual variable (IQ test)
Population
group you hope to learn something about
Sample
subgroup of population to be tested
Experimental Group
group that receives manipulation
Control group
group does not receive manipulation
Placebo
a fake testing condition, people think they’re getting treatment but are not
placebo effect
change in behavior due to the subject’s expectation
Blind
participant is unaware of the group they’re in
Double-blind
the administering researcher is also blind to the condition/group
Blind/ D-Blind controls
expectancy effect: unintentional bias from knowledge
Independent variable
the thing that is manipulated
dependent variable
the thing that is measured
Confound
anything other than independent variable that causes a difference between the groups
Random assignment
randomly sorting participants into groups; makes sure the groups do not have pre-existing differences that could cause an effect
Reliability
the consistency of measurement