Methods Flashcards
scientific explanation
invokes principles that are fewer in number, more general and earlier in the causal chain
appeal to something simpler and more basic generates broader phenomenon
steps for scientific method
- hypothesis
- compare prediction to observation/experiment
- assess if it matches prediction
- repeat, share, refine
problems in scientific practice
vague/unfalsifiable theories
sloppy methods
improper statistical analyses
too broad conclusions
publication bias
data fraud (manipulation)
reproducibility
p-hacking
meaning of unfalsifiable
no amount of experimentation can disprove claim or find a way to explain the results
explain publication bias
failing to publish not significant results; leads to only positive results in the literature
3 dimensions of psychological studies
research design
research setting
data-collection method
research designs
observational or experiment
research settings
lab or field
data-collection methods
self-report or behavior
good + bad of laboratory studies
controlled variables, application to the real world?
good + bad of self-reports
easy to collect, inexpensive, quick
but response bias, lie, lack of insight
personal space invasion leads to what?
increased arousal, slower peeing
problem with urinal experiment
no consent (even in public space)
limits of observational studies
give correlation not causation (no direct causality)
when is a study experimental
random assignment to condition
good + bad of experimental studies
can isolate variables to determine causality
manipulate predictor variable
measure outcome
random
control vs. experiment
confounding
not everything can be manipulated through random assignment
convenience (changing diet)
operation definition
defines how something is measured and used in data collection
6 levels of analysis
biology (hormones, neurons),
culture
evolution (natural selection, survival)
individual development (at what age..)
individual differences
social
how could you measure emotion
facial action coding system (muscle movements)
skin conductance (arousal levels)
examples of physiological measures
blood pressure, heart rate
how could you measure brain activity
compare to non-primates (show evolutionary)
EEG
fMRI
transcranial magnetic simulation
CAT
PET
EEG
electrodes measure electrical activity in brain
+ good temporal resolution
+ non-intrusive
- poor spatial resolution
fMRI
measures blood flow to areas of brain
+ spatial resolution
- poor temporal resolution, expensive, inconvenient
transcranial magnetic stimulation
electromagnetic induction over scalp to disrupt neuronal activity in targeted region
+ treatment for depression
+ temporal resolution
- low spatial resolution, side-effects (headaches)
CAT
noninvasive, X-ray images of brain
PET
detection of positrons -> blood flow
- invasive
- poor spatial resolution
3 developmental methods
- cross-sectional: compare 3yrs to 5yrs
- longitudinal: same 3yrs then 5 yrs
- twin studies: identical vs. fraternal
what is preferential looking techniques
study infant cognition and see what they are looking at (get bored with correct answers)
what is triangulating the truth
synthesizing studies using multiple methods to try to understand the whole truth
p-hacking
exploiting researcher degrees of freedom to get significant results
examples of p-hacking
ending data when it seems significant or continuing when not significant
excluding certain students to make data significant
pre-registration
data analysis plan to distinguish between confirmatory and exploratory analysis
solutions to p-hacking
disclose (report how sample size was determined), pre-registration, replication, sharing materials/data
underpowered study
studies do not collect sufficient observations to detect the effects
If most published studies are underpowered,
how are most published studies statistically significant?
p-hacking
