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PSYC 1200 > Reading and Evaluating Scientific Research > Flashcards

Reading and Evaluating Scientific Research Flashcards

1
Q

Objective Measurements

A

Are the measure of an entity or behaviour that, within an allowed margin of error, is consistent across instruments and observers

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2
Q

Variable

A
  • Refers to the object, concept, or event being measured
    • Behavioural measures
    • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
    • Blood or saliva
    • Self-reporting
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3
Q

Operational Definitions

A

Statements that describe the procedures (or operations) and/or specific measures that are used to record observations

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4
Q

Reliability

A
  • Is when a measure provides consistent and stable answers across multiple observations and points in time
    • Test-retest reliability
    • Alternate-forms reliability
    • Inter-rater reliability
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5
Q

Validity

A

Is the degree to which an instrument or produce actually measures what is claims to measure

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6
Q

Generalizability of Results

A
  • Refers to the degree to which one set of results can be applied to other situations, individuals, or events
    • Study large groups
      • Sample to population
    • Critical evaluation of findings
    • Beware of cases of over-generalization
      • “Mozart effect”
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7
Q

What are the 2 types of samples?

A
  1. Random Sample
  2. Convenience Sample
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8
Q

Random Sample

A

Every individual of a population has an equal chance of being included

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9
Q

Convenience Sample

A

Samples of individuals who are the most readily available

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10
Q

Location of study

A

Laboratory vs naturalistic research

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11
Q

Ecological validity

A

The degree to which the results of a laboratory study can be applied to or repeated in the natural environment

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12
Q

Sources of Bias in Research

A

Researcher Bias vs Subject Bias

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13
Q

Hawthorne Effect

A

A term used to describe situations in which behaviour changes as a result of being observed

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14
Q

Demand Characteristics

A
  • Inadvertent cues given off by the experimenter or the experimental context that provide information about how participants are expected to behave
    • Clever Hans effect
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15
Q

Clever Hans Investigation

A
  • Isolated Hans and questioner from any spectators
  • Using people other than his owner to ask the questions
  • Tested Hans with blinders
  • Varied whether the questioner knew the answer to the question in advance
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16
Q

Social Desirability Responding

A
  • Research participants respond in ways that increase the chances they will be viewed favourably
    • Can minimize through assurances of anonymous/confidential questioning
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17
Q

Observer Expectancy Effect

A
  • Researcher’s expectations can influence subject’s behaviour
    • Teacher ‘favouritism’
    • ‘Bright’ rats vs. ‘dull’ rats
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18
Q

Placebo effect

A
  • A measurable and experienced improvement in health or behaviour that cannot be attributable to a medication or treatment
    • “All in their head” or actual physiological response?
      • Some evidence of physiological pain relief and changes in brain activation
      • Conditioning effects
      • Nocebo effect
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19
Q

What are the techniques that reduce bias?

A
  1. Anonymity
  2. Confidentiality
  3. Inform Participants
  4. Single-blind Study
  5. Double-blind study
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20
Q

Anonymity

A

Each individual’s responses are recorded without any name or other personal information that could link a particular individual to specific results

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21
Q

Confidentiality

A

Means the results will only be seen by the researcher

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22
Q

Inform Participants

A

Reduces participant’s anxiety and social desirability bias

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23
Q

Single-blind Study

A

The participants do not know the true purpose of the study, or else do not know which type of treatment they are receiving (e.g., placebo or treatment drug)

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24
Q

Double-blind study

A

A study in which neither the participant nor the experimenter knows the exact treatment for any individual

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25
Q

Sharing the Results
(Academic Journals)

A
  1. Peer Review
  2. Replication
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26
Q

Peer Review

A

Is a process in which papers submitted for publication in scholarly journals are read and critiqued by experts in the specific field of study

27
Q

Replication

A

The process of repeating a study and finding a similar outcome each time

28
Q

The Replication Crisis

A
  • Chance results can and do happen
  • Publication bias results in studies with affirmative evidence being more likely to be accepted into academic journals
  • The original report or the failed replication
    • Studies can fail to be replicated for any number of reasons
    • We must base our beliefs on the entirety of the evidence
29
Q

Weak forms of evidence

A
  1. Anecdotal evidence
  2. Appeal to authority
  3. Appeal to common sense
    • Tradition or novelty
  4. Selective use of data
    • Statistics are often inappropriately used to bolster weak arguments
30
Q

Anecdotal evidence

A

An individual’s story or testimony about an observation or event that us used to make a claim as evidence

31
Q

Appeal to authority

A
  • The belief in an “expert’s” claim even when no supporting data or scientific evidence is present
    • Biased expert?
32
Q

Descriptive Research

A
  • Descriptive data
    • From observations
    • No attempt to explain the ‘why’
33
Q

What are descriptive research generated from?

A
  1. Case studies
  2. Naturalistic observation
  3. Surveys and questionnaires
34
Q

Case Studies (Descriptive Research)

A
  • Are in-depth reports about the details of a specific case
    • Difficult to generalize findings
    • E.g., Phineas Gage
      • Drastic personality changes
35
Q

Naturalistic Observation (Descriptive Research)

A

When psychologists unobtrusively observe and record behaviour as it occurs in the subject’s natural environment

36
Q

Surveys and Questionnaires
(Descriptive Research)

A

Participant makes the observations

37
Q

Correlational Research

A
  • Involves measuring the degree of association between two variables
  • Correlations have:
    1. Direction: Positive vs negative
    2. Magnitude: Correlation coefficient (-1 to +1)
38
Q

Illusory Correlations

A
  • Relationships that really exist only in the mind rather than in reality
    • Crime increases when the moon is full
    • Opposites attract
    • Gamblers on a “hot streak”
    • Stereotypes
39
Q

Experimental Group
(Experimental Research)

A

Receives special treatment in regard to the IV

40
Q

Control Group
(Experimental Research)

A

Similar subjects who do not receive the special treatment

41
Q

Random Assignment
(Experimental Research)

A

A technique for dividing samples into two or more groups

42
Q

Experimenter Control
(Experimental Research)

A

Variables are manipulated

43
Q

Independent Variable
(Experimental Research)

A

Presumed cause

44
Q

Dependent Variable
(Experimental Research)

A

Presumed effect

45
Q

Confounding Variables
(Experimental Research)

A

Variables outside of the researchers control that might affect the results

46
Q

Between Subjects Design
(Experimental Research)

A
  • Participants who are in different groups are compared
    • A large sample and random assignment makes equal groups likely, but not guaranteed
47
Q

Within Subjects Design
(Experimental Research)

A
  • All participants respond to all types of stimuli or experience all experimental conditions
    • Order effects
      • Separating measurements in time
      • Counterbalancing
48
Q

Quasi Experimental Method

A
  • A research technique in which two or more groups that are compared are selected based on predetermined characteristics, rather than random assignment
    • E.g., Comparing men and women
    • Cannot determine cause-and-effect
49
Q

Research Ethics Board (REB)

A

A committee of researchers and officials at an institution charged with the protection of human research participants

50
Q

What are the potential stress to participants ?

A
  • Physical stress
  • Cognitive and emotional stress
    • Writing about traumatic experiences
  • Stress usually minor; benefits need to outweigh risks
51
Q

Informed Consent

A
  • A potential volunteer must be informed of the purpose, tasks, and risks involved in the study, and give consent to participate based on the information provided
    • Topic
    • Nature of stimuli
    • Nature of tasks
    • Duration
    • Risks
    • Steps taken to minimize risks
52
Q

Deception

A

Misleading or only partially informing participants of the true topic or hypothesis under investigation
- Given enough information to consent

53
Q

Full Consent

A
  • Can refuse participation without fear of penalty
  • Given equal opportunities
  • The right to withdraw
  • Withhold responses
54
Q

Debriefing

A

Means that the researchers should explain the true nature of the study, and especially the nature of and reason for the deception

55
Q

When are animals used?

A
  • Treatments cannot be applied to humans
  • Heritability studies require species with short lifespans
  • Examining evolutionary origins of behaviour and cognition
56
Q

Committes oversee ethical treatment

A
  • Given appropriate housing, feeding, and sanitation
    • Studies of sick or stressed animals do not provide generalizable results
  • Risk and discomfort needs to be justified and managed humanely
57
Q

Ethical Collection, Storage, and Reporting of Data

A
  • Data kept for 3 to 5 years
    • Replication
  • Honesty with data paramount
    • Acknowledge conflicts of interest
    • Scientific misconduct has lasting repercussions
      • The unfounded panic surrounding vaccines and autism
58
Q

Descriptive Statistics

A
  • Are a set of techniques used to organize, summarize, and interpret data
    • Frequency
    • Central tendency
    • Variability
59
Q

Frequency

A

The number of observations that fall within a certain category or range of scores

60
Q

Central Tendency

A

A measure of the central point of a distribution (mean, median, mode)

61
Q

Variability

A

The degree to which scores are dispersed in a distribution

62
Q

Standard Deviation

A
  • A measure of variability around the mean
  • 75% +_ 10%
  • This means that 68% of the class scored between 65%and 85%
63
Q

Hypothesis test

A

A statistical method of evaluating whether differences among groups are meaningful, or could have been arrived at by chance alone

64
Q

Statistical significance

A

Implies that the mean of the groups are farther apart than you would expect them to be by random chance alone

PSYC 1200 (8 decks)

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