Task 1. Science

Question 1

2 kinds of research

Answer 1

Basic (theory dis/confirmation) & applied (real-life issues)

Question 2

Overlap between basic and applied research

Answer 2

Quasi et al. Interrogation of young children: assist police officers and research memory

Question 3

Confirmation bias

Answer 3

tendency to seek out info that confirms existing beliefs

Question 4

Main objectives of psychology

Answer 4

1) build an organized body of knowledge
2) describe mental and behavioural processes, develop reliable explanations for them

Question 5

What is psychology?

Answer 5

science of behaviour and mental processes

Question 6

Protoscience

Answer 6

Fringe science, needs to have its ideas tested by the scientific method and can either become true science or descend into pseudoscience, computer science

Question 7

Scientific explanation characteristics (7)
help: PATTERn-R

Answer 7

1) empirical: objective, systematic observations carried out in controlled environment, can be verified by others
2) rational: follows rules of logic, consistent w/ the known facts
3) testable
4) parsimonious: simplest possible explanation (least # of assumptions)
5) general: broad explanatory power
6) tentative: open to the idea of being faulty
7) rigorously evaluated

Question 8

Commonsense explanation

Answer 8

limited info, observations & previous experience

Question 9

Belief-based explanation

Answer 9

indoctrination, upbringing, personal need -> accept belief as truth;
when proof of the belief is disproven, the evidence is reinterpreted

Question 10

Method of inquiry: method of authority

Answer 10

using expert sources (book or person)

Question 11

Method of inquiry: rational method

Answer 11

using pure logic and deduction to reach a conclusion

Question 12

Scientific method steps (4)
help: Look Think Test Fix

Answer 12

1) observing a phenomenon
2) formulating tentative explanations
3) further observing and experimenting
4) refining and retesting explanations

Question 13

Steps of a research process
help: “Determined Scientists Can Create Amazing Research Today”

Answer 13

1) developing a research idea/hypothesis
2) select a research design: where and how
3) choosing subjects: human or animal
4) choosing measures: pilot-study
5) apply the study
6) results: statistics
7) tell results: write a research paper

Question 14

Theory

Answer 14

“plausible or scientific acceptable, well-sustained explanation of some aspect of the natural world”

-> explanation of a naturally observed/occurring behaviour in the real world

Question 15

Good theory characteristics?

Answer 15

1. Accounts for Most Data
2. Explanatory relevance
3. Testability
4. Prediction of novel events
5. Parsimony: simple, straightforward, no bs

Question 16

Hypothesis

Answer 16

“tentative explanation of a phenomenon/observation or scientific problem, that can be tested by further investigation.”

-> not well substantiated, more like educated guesses to be tested

Question 17

Strategies for testing theories

Answer 17

Confirmational
Disconfirmational
- best together!

Question 18

Deception

Answer 18

actively misleading and purposefully withholding information

Question 19

Cost-benefit analysis

Answer 19

needs of the participant, research and researcher – is it worth it?

Question 20

Social contract theory

Answer 20

in social interaction (experiment) one party (participant) consensually gives up some of their rights to the party with power (researcher)

Question 21

Deception

Answer 21

actively misleading and purposefully withholding info

Question 22

2 reasons for deception

Answer 22

1) studying situations that are unlikely to occur naturally
2) behaviour that can only be induced when the participant is off-guard

Question 23

Active deception

Answer 23

placebo & secret administration of drugs, pseudo subjects, misleading info about the point of the study

Question 24

Passive deception

Answer 24

provocation; unrecognized observation

Question 25

Unintentional deception

Answer 25

lack of information, misunderstanding

Question 26

Solutions to the problems with deception

Answer 26

1. Role Playing
2. Prior Consent to be deceived
3. Debriefing

Question 27

Fabrication

Answer 27

study is completely made up

Question 28

Falsification

Answer 28

of the data, process

Question 29

Plagiarism

Answer 29

stealing someone else’s work

Question 30

Causes of fraud

Answer 30

1) costs of a study
2) publish or perish
3) scientific elitism

Question 31

Solutions to fraud

Answer 31

1) review (grand & peer)
2) protect whistle-blowers
3) publish regardless of the outcome