Research Methods- Features If Psychology As A Science Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

Empiricism

A

is the philosophical position that factual knowledge can only come from our experience with the world. This means that ideas supported only by speculation, logical argument, belief, accepted wisdom or direct from theory are not empirical.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

The empirical method

A

The empirical method is the process of collecting data from direct experience; in psychological research, this is the data we gather from direct observation of participants. This includes observation but also experimentation, self-report, case studies and content analysis.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Objectivity

A

Data should be collected and interpreted in ways that avoid bias, meaning the data is not influenced by the researcher’s opinions or expectations. Research that has been affected by bias produces subjective conclusions.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Improving objectivity

A

• Systematic data collection: Data gathering is carefully planned out and consistent for each participant. The data collection measures like questionnaire questions or experimental procedures should be carefully designed, or the researcher should use established questions or tests.

• Double-blind: Researchers who don’t know the research aims collect the data.

• Peer review: One purpose is to identify biased research, such as researchers making conclusions that are not supported by the data and stopping that work from being published. Knowing this, researchers carefully consider if they can justify their conclusions objectively before sending the research to peer review.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Control

A

In an experiment, it is assumed the change measured in the dependent variable is a result of the difference in the levels of the independent variable. But this may not be true if the experiment is not controlled, resulting in extraneous variables.
Without sufficient control (including controlling for bias), it is not possible to demonstrate a cause and effect relationship.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Replicability

A

Scientists are required to carefully record their methods and produce standardised procedures so that other scientists can repeat their experiments and observations.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Replicability
Positive results

A

Positive results could have been the result of fraud, an unknown variable in the participants or a feature of the experimental environment, or the positive result could have happened by chance.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What can increase confidence in validity?

A

A replication by scientists using the same methods and finding the same results increases confidence in the validity of the original experiment. As well as the validity of the theory the first experiment set out to test.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Falsifiability

A

Karl Popper argues that the ability to collect supporting evidence for a theory is not enough for that theory to be genuinely scientific. For a theory to be scientific, it needs to be constructed in a way that it can be empirically tested. This means the theory can be tested in a way that demonstrates it is not true.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Falsifiability
Black Swan

A

Popper gave the example theory “all swans are white” as an example of a falsifiable theory. While all previous observations of swans had been of white swans, one single observation of a black swan in Australia was sufficient to falsify the theory that “all swans are white”. Scientists must always be open to the possibility of contradictory evidence; this is why we can never finally “prove” a theory is
correct.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Falsifiability in Psychology.

A

Claiming “human behaviour is due to the existence of a soul which gives us free will” is not a scientific argument. The soul is an unfalsifiable concept; it’s used to explain, but it is not observable, so it cannot be shown not to exist.

We can criticise several of Freud’s ideas as unfalsifiable such as the ID, EGO and Superego.

They are classified as unscientific because the way Freud explains the concepts means they are not open to observation or empirical experimentation, so they can’t be falsified.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Paradigm shift

A

Philosopher of science Thomas Khun (1972) suggests scientific fields develop in a series of “scientific revolutions” known as paradigm shifts.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Scientist within each scientific field share a set of established known as…

A

paradigms, and scientists gather evidence to support these shared views. However, sometimes new contradictory evidence and theories are generated that don’t fit into the old paradigm. As most scientists are committed to the old paradigm, this conflicting evidence is initially rejected.

However, eventually, sufficient evidence to support the new paradigm is collected, and at this point, the majority of the scientific community feels they can no longer support the old paradigm and move at once to the new paradigm in a paradigm shift.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Paradigm shifts in psychology
What did early psychologists used introspection to…

A

develop theories of the mind, Freud used case studies, and Wundt used controlled scientific experimentation. This was a paradigm shift away from earlier religious and philosophical explanations that explained human behaviour as the result of concepts like “sin.”

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

The movement from …. to behaviourism is another paradigm shift

A

The movement from psychoanalytic approaches to behaviourism is another paradigm shift. Researchers rejected the study of internal mental processes, seeing them as unscientific as they were not directly observable, and Behaviourists instead focused on fully observable stimulus-response mechanisms. The behaviourists used large-scale and highly controlled studies that provided strong evidence to support their theories.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Next paradigm shift to ____ neuroscience

A

The next paradigm shift to cognitive neuroscience happened in the 1970s.
Psychologists developed theories and techniques that included internal mental processes again. Highly controlled experiments back up these new theories along with scientific devices such as fMRI. FMRI scanners allow researchers to directly observe the functional brain, mapping mental processes onto brain regions.

17
Q

Stages of scientific theory construction

A

Inductive/bottom-up process of theory construction.

Observation:
Psychologists start by observing naturalistic behaviour in “the real world”.

Construct a testable hypothesis:
To allow the observed behaviour to be tested under controlled conditions.

Conduct an experiment and gain experimental data:
The collection of empirical data using controlled conditions. If the data is significant using statistical tests, the researcher can claim there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the variables.

Propose a theory that explains the results:
The researcher constructs a theory that can explain the significant results gained in the experiment.

18
Q

Stages of scientific theory construction

A

The top-down (deductive method) of theory construction

Top-down method: Researchers start with an established theory and develop hypotheses that test one of the theory’s assumptions. The result of this study can support the existing theory, add to the theory, or even discredit the current view.

Hypothesis testing: The more a theory can withstand testing its assumptions