Lecture 1

Question 1

What is research?

Answer 1

Process of systematic inquiry

Question 2

What is the scientific method?

Answer 2

1) Definition of the problem
2) Development of hypotheses to be tested
3) Development of a procedure for testing the hypotheses
4) Collection of data
5) Analysis of data
6) Support or rejection of hypotheses

Question 3

What is a belief bias?

Answer 3

The strength of an argument altered by how believable the conclusion is

Question 4

What is a confirmation bias?

Answer 4

Tendency to search for/remember information that confirms your preconceptions

Question 5

What is an experimenter’s bias?

Answer 5

Tendency for experimenters to believe, certify, and publish data that agree with their expectations for the outcome of an experiment, and to disbelieve, discard, or downgrade the corresponding weightings for data that appear to conflict

Question 6

What is the availability heuristic?

Answer 6

Tendency to overestimate the probability of events that are more available in memory (e.g., recent, unusual, emotionally charged)

Question 7

Why conduct systematic research (5)?

Answer 7

1) Biases
2) Conjunction Fallacy
3) Availability Heuristic
4) Gambler’s fallacy
5) Introspection Illusion