Intro Flashcards
systemic observation
observations under controlled conditions
empirical methods
approaches to inquiry that are tied to actual measurement and observation
peer report measures
ask friends and fam about happiness of individual and compare to self report to find discrepencies
memory measures
positive people have easier time remembering pleasant events and negative people remember unpleasant events more often
biological measures
saliva cortisol samples or fMRI of brain activation
organizational psychology
interventions produce higher productivity and satisfaction in the workplace
ethics of scientific psychology (6)
- guidelines for research
- Informed consent
- confidentiality
- privacy
- benefits
- deception (researchers debrief after study)
Information Age
people have access to answers and explanation via the internet
induction
drawing conclusions from specific observations, which are drawn from a ‘sample’ of potential observations
commonly cited features of scientific theories and data (5)
1 . accuracy - match real world observations
- consistency - few exceptions and agrees w other theories
- scope - theory extends beyond currently available data
- simplicity - simplest explanation selected
- fruitfulness - usefulness of the theory
falsifiability
Karl Popper - science is distinguished by pseudoscience (practices that are not scientific), because scientific claims can be testable.
* Popper argued against statements that couldn’t be falsified because they block scientific progress
inductive reasoning
general conclusion inferred from a set of observations
deductive reasoning
form of reasoning in which a given premise determines the interpretation of specific observations
ex: All birds have feathers, since a duck is a bird, it has feathers
anecdotal evidence
a piece of biased evidence, drawn from personal experience (common sense)
Null Hypothesis significant testing (NHST)
asses the probability that the collected data would be the same if there was no relationship between the variables in the study
Null Hypothesis = statement where 2 variables are not related
*NHST also involves an alternate hypothesis - would show that the statements are related
Steps in research
- collection of data
- compares expectations vs what they actually find
- determine if they can reject the null hypothesis in favour of the alternative hypothesis
Distribution
spread of values
accurate detection
best possible outcomes…researcher’s conclusions mirror reality, or they find no evidence and no evidence actually exists
ways research conclusions can be wrong
Type I error - when researcher concludes there is a relationship where there is not
Type II error - when data fails to show a relationship between 2 variables, when there is one
* significant If p
scientific theory
framework for making sense of evidence
- supported by research and has falsifiable competing explanations
- can be described, explained, empirically tested, falsified
levels of analysis
idea that a single phenomenon may be explained at a different level simultaneously
casuality
determination that one variable causes (or is responsible for) an effect
empiricism
all knowledge comes from experience
psychophysics
introduced methods for measuring relationships between physical stimuli and human perception