Research Psychology Exam I

What criteria are required to move from the simple language of association to the language of causality?

1) Establish that the 2 variables are correlated 2) Must show that the casual variable came first and the outcome variable came later 3) Must establish that no other explanations exist for the relationship

What is the availability heuristic?

A bias in thinking that states that things that pop up easily in our mind tend to guide our thinking. When events or memories are vivid, recent, or memorable, they come to mind more easily, leading us to overestimate how often things happen

Define conceptual definition

A careful, theoretical definition of the construct e.g. "a person's cognitive evaluation of his or her life"

What is a scientific journal?

A collection of articles written by scientists that have been peer reviewed

Define the abstract

A concise summary of the article. It briefly describes the study's hypotheses, method, and major results

What are confounds?

A confound occurs when you think one thing caused an outcome but in fact other things changed, too, so you are confused about what the cause really was

What is a meta-analysis?

A quantitative technique which combines the results of many studies and gives a number that summaries the magnitude, or the effect size, of a relationship. It is valued by psychologists because it weighs each study proportionately and does not allow cherry-picking particular studies

What is the confidence interval?

A range designed to include the true population value a high proportion of the time

What is data?

A set of observations

What is a theory?

A set of statements - as simple as possible - that describes general principles about how variables relate to one another

What does falsifiability mean?

A theory should lead to hypotheses that when tested, could fail to support the theory

What is a manipulated variable?

A variable that a researcher controls

What is a scatterplot?

A way used to represent an association - a graph in which one variable is plotted on the y-axis and the other variable is plotted on the x-axis

What does it mean for hypothesis to be preregistered?

After the study is designed but before collecting any data, the researcher states publicly what the study's outcome is expected to be

What is a claim

An argument someone is trying to make

What is a positive association?

An association in which high goes with high and low goes with low (scattergram would have upwards slope)

What is a negative association?

An association where high goes with low or low goes with high (scattergram would have downwards slope)

Define association claims

Argue that one level of a variable is likely to be associated with a particular level of another variable

What is a causal claim?

Argues that one of the variables is responsible for changing the other. The verb 'enhance' makes it a causal claim, regardless of any softening or qualifying language. Advice is also a causal claim

What is an advantage of systematic data collection?

Basing conclusions on systematic data collection has the simple but tremendous advantage advantage of providing a comparison group

Why is basing conclusions on personal experience problematic?

Because daily life usually doesn't include comparison experiences and even if a change has occurred, we often can't be sure what caused it.

Define the method

Explains in detail how the researchers conducted their study. It usually contains subsection such as Participants, Materials, Procedure and Apparatus

Interrogate frequency claims using internal validity

Frequency claims do not usually assert causality, so internal validity is not relevant

Define operational definition/operationalisation

How the construct is measured or manipulated in an actual study e.g. "Five questionnaire items on the Satisfaction with Life scale, answered on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). An example is "all in all, I am satisfied with my life"

Interrogate association claims using construct validity

How well has the researcher measured each of the 2 variables in the association?

Interrogate causal claims using construct validity

How well has the researcher measured of manipulated the variables in the study?

Interrogate frequency claims using construct validity

How well has the researcher measured the variable in question?

Define statistical validity

How well the numbers support the claim - that is, how strong the effect is and the precision of the estimate (the confidence interval). Also takes into account whether the study has been replicated

Define construct validity

How well the variables in a study are measured or manipulated. The extent to which the operational variables in a study a study are a good approximation of the conceptual variables

What can be done about confounds?

Identify them and do random assignment

How does statistical validity improve?

Improves with multiple estimates

Define internal validity

In a relationship between one variable and another variable, the extent to which A, rather than some other variable, is responsible for changes in B

What is empiricism?

Involves using evidence from the senses or from instruments that assist the senses as the basis for conclusion

What is a hypothesis?

It's stated in terms of the study design. It's the specific outcome the researcher will observe in a study if the theory is accurate

What does replication mean?

Means that the study is conducted again to test whether the result is consistent.

What is zero association?

No association between variables

What is a measured variable?

One whose levels are simply observed and recorded

What are scientific conclusions based on?

Patterns that emerge only when researchers set up comparison groups and test many people. Your own experience is only one point in that overall pattern.

Interrogate association claims using internal validity

People who make association claims are not asserting causality, so internal valid is not relevant. A writer should avoid making a causal claim from a simple association.

Define validity

Refers to the appropriateness of a conclusion or decision, and in general, a valid claim is reasonable, accurate, justifiable

What is the role of empirical journal articles?

Report, for the first time, the results of an (empirical) research study

How do researchers make claims in comparison to journalists?

Researchers make claims about theories based on data. Journalists make claims when they report on studies they read in empirical journals

Define universalism

Scientific claims are evaluated according to their merit, independent of the researcher's credentials or reputation. The same preestablished criteria apply to all scientists and all research

Define communality

Scientific knowledge is created by a community and its findings belong to the community Science and research is shared with the community

What happens in the theory-data cycle?

Scientists collect data to test, change or update their theories

Define organised skepticism

Scientists question everything, including their own theories, widely accepted ideas, and "ancient wisdom"

Define disinterestedness

Scientists strive to sicker the truth, whatever that is; they are not swayed by conviction, idealism, politics or profit

Define the results

Section describing the quantitative and, as relevant, qualitative results of the study, including the statistical tests the authors used to analyse the data

Define the references

Section that contains a full bibliographical listing of all the sources the authors cited in writing their article

What is a constant?

Something that could potentially vary but has only one level in the study in question

What is a variable?

Something that varies, so it must have at least 2 levels, or values

What is journalism?

The activity of assessing, creating, and presenting news and information

Which of the following indicates that an article's causal claims are based on research? -The article includes a direct quote from an expert in the field. -The author describes their creative solution to a scientific problem. -The article compares two groups of individuals. -The article describes how manipulated variables were operationalized.

The article describes how manipulated variables were operationalized.

What is the difference between popular-newsstand magazines and articles in a scientific journal?

The articles in a scientific journal are peer-reviewed

What is bias blind spot?

The belief that we are unlikely to fall prey to the other biases

Define external validity

The extent to which the results of a study generalise to some larger population, as well as to other times or situations

Define covariance

The extent to which two variables are observed to go together

Define probabilistic

The findings do not explain all cases all of the time

What are independent and dependent variables?

The manipulated variable is called the independent variable and the measured variable is called the dependent variable

Define construct/conceptual variable

The name of the concept being studies e.g. "satisfaction with life"

Define the discussion

The opening paragraph of the discussion section generally summarised the studies research question and methods and indicates how well the results of the study supported the hypotheses. Next the authors usually discuss the study's importance. In addition they may discuss alternative explanations for their data and pose interesting questions raised by the research

How do you evaluate the construct validity of a frequency claim?

The question is how well the researchers measured their variable of interest. To ensure construct validity, researchers must establish that each variable has been measured reliably and that different levels of a variable accurately correspond to true differences

What is confirmation bias?

The tendency to look only at information that agrees with what we want to believe

What is translational research?

The use of lessons from basic research to develop and test applications to health care, psychotherapy, or other forms of treatment and intervention. It represents a dynamic bridge from basic to applied research

What happens in a correlational study?

The variables are measured and the relationship between them is tested. Correlational studies measure 2 variables instead of 1

Define frequency claims

They describe a particular rate or degree of a single variable e.g. claims that mention the percentage a variable, the number of people who engage in some activity, or a certain group's level on a variable

How can frequency claims be identified?

They only focus on one variable. In studies that support frequency claims, the variables are always measured, not manipulated

What do scientists say instead of 'prove'?

They say that a study's data 'support' or are 'consistent with' a theory

What is the goal of basic research?

To enhance to general body of knowledge rather than to address a specific, practical problem

Define temporal precedence

To say tat a study establishes temporal precedence means that the method was designed so that the causal variable clearly comes fist in time, before the effect variable

What is the role of review journal articles?

To summarise and integrate all the published studies that have been done in one research area

What does it mean to operationalise a concept of interest?

To turn it into a measured or manipulated variable

Interrogate association claims using external validity

To what populations, settings, and times can we generalise this association claim? How representative is the sample? To what other situations might the association be generalised?

Interrogate causal claims using external validity

To what populations, settings, and times can we generalise this causal claim? How representative is the sample? How representative are the manipulations and measures?

Interrogate frequency claims using external validity

To what populations, settings, and times can we generalise this estimate? How representative is the sample? Was it a random sample?

What is disinformation?

Trying to mislead or give false information.

Define the introduction

Typically explains the topic of the study

Recall Merton's scientific norms

Universalism, communality, disinterestedness, organised skepticism

Interrogate causal claims using internal validity

Was the study an experiment? Does the study achieve temporal precedence? Does the study control for alternative explanations by randomly assigning participants to groups? Does the study avoid internal validity threats?

How do we evaluate statistical validity?

We start with the point estimate. Next we ask about the precision of that estimate. For a frequency claim, precision is captured by the confidence interval, or margin of error of the estimate

Interrogate frequency claims using statistical validity

What is the confidence interval of the estimate?Are there other estimates of the same percentage?

Interrogate causal claims using statistical validity

What is the estimated effect size: How are is the difference between groups? How precise is the estimate: What is the confidence interval? What do estimates from other studies say?

Interrogate association claims using statistical validity

What is the estimates effect size: How strong is the association? How precise is the estimate: What is the confidence interval? What do estimates from other studies say?

What is the present/present bias?

When testing relationships, we often fail to look for absences; in contrast, it is easy to notice what is present. This tendency reflects out failure to consider appropriate comparison groups

How is applied research done?

With a practical problem in mind and the researchers conduct their work in a local, real-world context

How do you interrogate an association claim?

You ask how well the correlational study behind the claim supports construct, external, and statistical validity

What is the weight of the evidence?

a conclusion drawn from reviewing scientific literature and considering the proportion of studies that is consistent with a theory

When reading an empirical journal article "with a purpose," which section should you read first? abstract method discussion introduction

abstract

Which of the following statements is an operational definition of "fear of snakes" that could be assessed as a structured question? -measuring heart rate following exposure to snakes -assigning the participant to keep a "daily fear diary" in which they track their fear level -asking the question "When was the last time you saw a snake?" -asking, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how afraid of snakes are you?"

asking, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how afraid of snakes are you?"

Lana is writing her first empirical journal article. Although she thinks she knows why she found the results she did, she also wants to mention some alternative explanations for her findings. In which section will she mention these alternative explanations? results method references discussion

discussion

Which of the following sections comes last in an empirical journal article? results introduction discussion method

discussion

What is a comparison group?

enables us to compare what would happen both with and without the thing we are interested in

To evaluate how well a study supports a frequency claim, you need to focus most on evaluating which of the following validities? -construct validity and external validity -statistical validity and external validity -internal validity and external validity -internal validity and construct validity

internal validity and external validity

Matthew is reading an empirical journal article and wants to know whether the authors used the Big Five Inventory or the NEO-PI to measure extraversion. In which section would he find this information? introduction discussion method results

method

Which of the following is a dependent variable? -one that is kept constant -one that is measured -one that is manipulated -one that has one level

one that is measured

Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Which of the following is the independent variable in Dr. Kang's study? -the length of the distractor task -the number of words remembered -the content of the words -the number of words on the list

the content of the words

Two biases of intuition discussed in the text are probabilistic thinking and nonintuitive thinking being swayed by a good story and being persuaded by what comes easily to mind. the present/present bias and the confederate bias. overconfidence bias and oversimplification bias.

the present/present bias and the confederate bias.

What is evidence based treatment

therapies that are supported by research

Why is it important to adopt the mindset of a scientific reasoner? to avoid falling into the pitfalls of personal biases to identify the most intuitive explanations to be able to sway people with a good story to know what evidence people like best

to avoid falling into the pitfalls of personal biases

A scatterplot is a graph -used to show causal associations. -that shows changes over time on a variable. -that shows the size of a difference on a variable between two groups. -with points plotted to show a possible relationship between two sets of data.

with points plotted to show a possible relationship between two sets of data.