Module 3 Flashcards
What is Confirmation Bias? And why is it problematic?
tend to seek out information that is consistent with our expectations
The confirmation bias is a cognitive phenomenon that is problematic to rational thinking: it occurs when we seek out or pay attention to information that supports our pre-existing beliefs or hypotheses, and ignore information or evidence that refutes them
What is Discounting Problem?
tend to seek out information that is inconsistent with our expectations
what are the limitations of personal experience regarding evaluating information?
Confirmation Bias and Discounting Problem
Very Little Data
Influence of Expectations
Absence of Base Rates or Comparisons
Influence of Authority Figures
Explain the Very little data problem.
When we base our inferences on very limited data, this can also lead to incorrect assessments or judgements
Explain the issues of Influence of Expectations.
Consider The placebo effect (Kirsch, 1998) defined as a measurable improvement in a condition or in health that cannot be attributed to a known treatment or medication (Beecher, 1955).
Some people believe that the placebo effect is purely psychological (Kirsch, 1998)
other people believe it is psychobiological, in that the placebo effect occurs within a clinical context or interaction that in turn has neurobiological effects
What is the issue of absent comparison? (Think of treatment for depression example)
(1) check that all participants were in fact reporting similar levels of depressive symptoms before they started on the herbal treatment
(2) allow for an assessment of change in symptoms
we still need to rule out competing explanations for the improvement in depression symptoms even if the herbal tea works
Let’s say that we develop a potential treatment for depression that involves a herbal alternative to antidepressant medications.
We want to test the efficacy of the treatment. So, we recruit volunteers who say they suffer from depression and we give them our new herbal treatment. To our delight, we find that most people report getting better after taking the herb!
We conclude that our new treatment is a success! But, is it? We cannot arrive at any definitive conclusions, as our study lacks two critical types of comparisons
Why is there an influence of Authority Figures?
reliance on authority figures can also get in the way of checking assumptions and evaluating evidence
suggesting that those speakers who are more prestigious, who appear more trustworthy and reliable, tend to be more persuasive
Explain Falsifiability and Replication.
Falsifiability; the idea that all research hypotheses must be refutable—that there must be a way to prove our ideas wrong within the context of a study
Replication; All studies must be replicated to be credible; the research must be repeated to provide stronger evidence to support its conclusions.
What 9 steps are in the Research Process?
- Develop your research idea: For your topic, you may need to do library research on past studies and will need to come up with a hypothesis.
- Define and measure variables: The measures must be reliable and valid.
- Identify participants or subjects: Which participants will you have? How many?
- Determine your research strategy: Which strategy will best answer the research question? Experimental, quasi-experimental, correlational, or descriptive study? (Be sure to consider the limitations of each.)
- Choose your specific research design: Will it be between or within subjects? A single subject? A factorial design?
- Do the study: Collect your data.
- Analyze your data: Use descriptive and inferential statistics.
- Write the research paper: Use APA formatting; remember ethical considerations.
- Assess your original idea: Alter, refine, expand on your idea
Explain hypothesis and theory. And what must the hypothesis be?
hypothesis; a prediction, based on past research and theory (Cozby, 2008)
A theory provides a framework for a body of data that has been collected
A hypothesis must be testable (Gravetter & Forzano, 2009),the concepts must be translated into measurable terms
what are variables and what must measures be?
Variables, within the context of scientific studies, are simply events, situations, behaviours, or individual characteristics that can vary
Measures must be reliable and valid. Reliability refers to the consistency or stability of a measure of behaviour
What’s the difference between test-rest reliability and inter-rater reliability?
a scale would have a good test-rest reliability because of the reliability to measure correctly each time in the same hour
Consider inter-rater reliability, if the measure we are using relies on the experimenter to provide the observations
- For example consider the way diagnostic interview rely on the way the interviews are understanding the response from the interviewee
When are case studies used? Provide one example.
Case studies are used when the subject matter is highly unusual or rare, i.e., medical case studies
Case studies are a way for clinicians to share their experiences, and perhaps to eventually develop hypotheses that are based on precise documentation of past experience and clinical presentation
Case of H.M.
What are benefits and limitations of a case study?
Benefits; include a way of studying a rare condition
Limitations; a difficulty with generalizability
What does the Correlational Method do? What are two challanges?
looking for relationships between variables
there are at least two challenges with correlational studies:
(1) the directionality problem; suggest that while it is possible that a lack of sunlight leads to more depressive symptoms, it is also possible that people with more severe depressive symptoms may choose to reside in cities with less sunlight or stay indoors more during the winter months.
(2) alternative explanations; Could it be that some other variable may cause both a lack of sunlight and depressive symptoms and is creating the appearance of a relationship between the two? Or could it be that something other than sunlight in Arizona is reducing the rates of depression in cities in that state?
