Task 1. Science Flashcards
2 kinds of research
Basic (theory dis/confirmation) & applied (real-life issues)
Overlap between basic and applied research
Quasi et al. Interrogation of young children: assist police officers and research memory
Confirmation bias
tendency to seek out info that confirms existing beliefs
Main objectives of psychology
1) build an organized body of knowledge
2) describe mental and behavioural processes, develop reliable explanations for them
What is psychology?
science of behaviour and mental processes
Protoscience
Fringe science, needs to have its ideas tested by the scientific method and can either become true science or descend into pseudoscience, computer science
Scientific explanation characteristics (7)
help: PATTERn-R
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
Commonsense explanation
limited info, observations & previous experience
Belief-based explanation
indoctrination, upbringing, personal need -> accept belief as truth;
when proof of the belief is disproven, the evidence is reinterpreted
Method of inquiry: method of authority
using expert sources (book or person)
Method of inquiry: rational method
using pure logic and deduction to reach a conclusion
Scientific method steps (4)
help: Look Think Test Fix
1) observing a phenomenon
2) formulating tentative explanations
3) further observing and experimenting
4) refining and retesting explanations
Steps of a research process
help: “Determined Scientists Can Create Amazing Research Today”
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
Theory
“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
Good theory characteristics?
- Accounts for Most Data
- Explanatory relevance
- Testability
- Prediction of novel events
- Parsimony: simple, straightforward, no bs
Hypothesis
“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
Strategies for testing theories
Confirmational
Disconfirmational
- best together!
Deception
actively misleading and purposefully withholding information
Cost-benefit analysis
needs of the participant, research and researcher – is it worth it?
Social contract theory
in social interaction (experiment) one party (participant) consensually gives up some of their rights to the party with power (researcher)
Deception
actively misleading and purposefully withholding info
2 reasons for deception
1) studying situations that are unlikely to occur naturally
2) behaviour that can only be induced when the participant is off-guard
Active deception
placebo & secret administration of drugs, pseudo subjects, misleading info about the point of the study
Passive deception
provocation; unrecognized observation
Unintentional deception
lack of information, misunderstanding
Solutions to the problems with deception
- Role Playing
- Prior Consent to be deceived
- Debriefing
Fabrication
study is completely made up
Falsification
of the data, process
Plagiarism
stealing someone else’s work
Causes of fraud
1) costs of a study
2) publish or perish
3) scientific elitism
Solutions to fraud
1) review (grand & peer)
2) protect whistle-blowers
3) publish regardless of the outcome
