unit 1 exam Flashcards
what factors constitute science?
-generation of laws
-hypotheses can be generated
-something you do
what is empiricism?
says that knowledge is obtained by making careful observations of the natural world
where did empiricism come from?
charles darwin
what did charles darwin do?
he went to the galapagos islands and observed finches on different islands differed in their beak size, insisting that genetic traits are adaptive (evolution)
what does karl popper believe?
-scientific theories cannot be tested directly or verified, instead they can only be tested by their implications
-key to science is refutability
-scientific knowledge is cumulative
what is an example of karl popper’s theory?
gravity cannot be observed, only its implications can be tested by letting go of an object and having it fall
what does thomas kuhn believe?
-argues that models/theories are not rejected due to refutability
-science is not just an accumulation of knowledge but rather an accumulation of inconsistent evidence that leads to a paradigm shift
how is science not objective?
-different questions are considered important to different people
-hypotheses are influenced by assumptions and biases
-interpretation of results is influenced by assumptions and biases
what is diversity science?
the study of diversity and of diverse individuals or groups
what did Mendoza-Denton (2010) believe?
psychology itself is the science of diversity because culture is fundamental to understanding human behavior and cognition
what is psychic unity?
-psychological processes should remain invariant even if culture or context differs
what does the contemporary perspective suggest? an example?
-it suggests that almost nothing in psychology is universal
-the picture with the fish showed that people in the west noticed big fish in the front first while people in the east thought about the relationships between the fish
what is the difficulty with researching diversity?
-the interconnected nature of social categorizations like race, class, gender, etc, create overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination
what are the problems with comparing groups of individuals?
-how do you choose with variants to compare
-risk that one variant will be considered the norm/standard (ex. men have bigger brain than women)
what is open science?
an umbrella term used to describe a movement whose goals include openness, transparency, reproducibility, and rigor
what is the replication crisis?
-frequent failure to replicate findings, especially prominent in fields that depend on statistical significance
what is p-hacking?
-strategies used (intentional or not) to increase the likelihood of finding statistically significant results (p<0.05)
-means that there is a less than 5% chance that the results would not have been obtained if null hypothesis is true
what are p-hacking strategies?
-conduct a large number of statistical tests and many exploratory analyses
-keep conducting statistical tests until they find a bunch that are statistically significant
-analyze data as you collect it and stop collecting data when you like how the results turn out
what are open science practices?
open data, access, materials, data analysis code, large sample sizes and no p-hacking, preregistration, replication research,
how is research defined?
a systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge
what is generalizable knowledge?
intended to draw general conclusions, inform policies, or generalize findings
what is the definition of a human subject?
a living individual about whom an investigator conducting research obtains data through intervention/interaction or identifiable private info
what is the belmont report?
guideline for ethical principles regarding human subjects of biomedical and behavioral research
what are the 3 key elements of the belmont report?
1.Respect for persons: subjects should be treated as autonomous agents and fully informed about the research they are participating in. people with diminished autonomy (prisoners/children) should be protected.
2.Beneficence: benefits of participating in research should outweigh the risks.
3.Justice: selection of research subjects should be fair and participants should also receive benefits of the research (ex. medical treatment/medicine)
what are the 3 elements of informed consent?
1.information: research procedure/purposes, risks/benefits, alternative procedures
2.comprehension: adapt presentation of info to subject’s capacity (language, intelligence, rationality)
-if subject in incompetent, third party needed to act in the person’s best interest.
3.voluntariness: no coercion or undue influence, reward cannot be excessive, caution regarding people in positions of power.
when can deception be used?
-incomplete disclosure is truly necessary to accomplish research goals
-risks are no more than minimal
-there is an adequate plan for telling the subjects later
