Chapter 2/3 (week 2)

Question 1

Why should we not rely on personal experience over research?

Answer 1

Experience has no comparison group and is confounded.

Question 2

Why is a comparison group important when conducting research?

Answer 2

Because what if there is a better method/solution than the initial one used? Ex: radical mastectomies vs simple mastectomies. Radical were used for years but after a long time simple ones were found to do the exact same thing AND save the lymph nodes and chest wall.

Question 3

Confound

Answer 3

a potential alternative explanation

Question 4

What does it mean that experience is confounded?

Answer 4

We can be biased in what we think causes an outcome, but there’s usually confounds that we didn’t eliminate. Ex: a bath at bedtime is what helps my baby sleep better. Could it really be due to your interaction with the baby?

Question 5

6 points that make research better than personal experience

Answer 5

-comparison groups
-rules out confounds
-dig deeper
-looks at weight of evidence
-theory-data cycle
-publication/peer-review

Question 6

Although we know research is better than personal experience what is one thing to keep in mind about research?

Answer 6

Scientific findings are not expected to explain 100% of cases. There are always exceptions and research is probabilistic!!!

Question 7

4 things to consider before trusting authority figures

Answer 7

-source of their ideas?
-did they provide subjective/personal opinion?
-they may be biased
-different authorities may disagree

Question 8

Halo effect

Answer 8

people who think that since they excel in their field they excel in all fields

Question 9

consensus/common sense

Answer 9

accepting a conclusion because it’s accepted by the majority of people

Question 10

famous example of a consensus that’s actually incorrect

Answer 10

“opposites attract” is widely believed but there’s actually research that supports the opposite.

Question 11

intuition (in research)

Answer 11

believing something based on a gut feeling

Question 12

what’s the main limitation of relying on intuition?

Answer 12

it’s often biased and can lead to worse decisions

Question 13

4 non-scientific sources of knowledge

Answer 13

personal experience
authority
intuition
consensus

Question 14

5 forms of intuition bias

Answer 14

present/present bias
availability heuristic
being swayed by a good story
confirmation bias
bias blind spot

Question 15

being swayed by a good story

Answer 15

accepting something because it feels natural/”makes sense”

Question 16

availability heuristic

Answer 16

-incorrectly estimating the frequency of an event by relying on what comes to mind easiest

Question 17

example of availability heuristic

Answer 17

“im scared of planes because they crash often”
-do they crash often or are plane crashes just reported more frequently than successful plane travel?
-example of overestimation

Question 18

present/present bias

Answer 18

incorrectly estimating the relationship between event and outcome. we rely on what’s present and FAIL TO CONSIDER WHAT’S ABSENT

Question 19

confirmation bias

Answer 19

tendency to look only at info that agrees with our beliefs

Question 20

bias blind spot

Answer 20

denying/being unaware of biases in oneself

Question 21

why is there typically a group of researchers/hiring committee/etc. rather than just 1 person in charge?

Answer 21

bias blind spot.

Question 22

what 2 things are people with a bias blind spot less likely to do?

Answer 22

accept advice from others & learn from training that would help them make better decisions

Question 23

primary sources

Answer 23

report DIRECTLY from the results of an empirical study/ies

Question 24

secondary sources

Answer 24

summarize past findings or produce a new theory

Question 25

components of a journal article IN ORDER

Answer 25

1. abstract
2. introduction
3. methods
4. results
5. discussion
6. references

Question 26

3 parts of a research introduction

Answer 26

-background info/motivation for study
-review of past literature
-study’s purpose and hypotheses

Question 27

abstract

Answer 27

concise summary of the article

Question 28

research paper discussion

Answer 28

interpretation of the results WITH RESPECT TO THE HYPOTHESES

Question 29

in articles with multiple studies, each study can have its own what?

Answer 29

intro, methods, results and discussion

Question 30

disinformation

Answer 30

a news story, photo, video, etc. deliberately created to be false or misleading

Question 31

what may stay the same in one study but could vary in another?

Answer 31

a constant

Question 32

how many levels does a variable have?

Answer 32

at least 2

Question 33

measured vs manipulated variables

Answer 33

measured: levels are observed/recorded
manipulated: controlled by researchers

Question 34

in what type of study are variables manipulated?

Answer 34

causal/experiments.

Question 35

2 reasons why some variables can only be measured and not manipulated

Answer 35

1. naturally occurring attributes (age, gender, etc.)
2. ethics

Question 36

most of this type of variable can be both measured and manipulated

Answer 36

physiological

Question 37

4 types of “roles” of variables

Answer 37

subject variables (self-esteem)
context variables (privacy)
stimulus variables (something presented that provokes a response)
response variables (test performance)

Question 38

2 data types of variables

Answer 38

quantitative: levels differ in amount
qualitative: levels differ in quality/type

Question 39

where do categorical, ordinal and nominal variables belong to?

Answer 39

categorical and nominal - qualitative
ordinal - quantitative

Question 40

main difference between conceptual definition and operational definition of a variable

Answer 40

the operational definition defines the method that a variable is measured/manipulated; a conceptual definition is just an abstract/theoretical statement about a variable.
ex: hunger: number of hours of food deprivation (operational)
hunger: desire for food (conceptual)

Question 41

3 reasons why operational definition are important

Answer 41

-replication
-forces researchers to clarify ideas
-objectivity and public verification

Question 42

relation of variables in experimental studies vs non-experimental studies

Answer 42

experimental: IV is manipulated, DV is measured
non-experimental: predictor variable is assumed IV, criterion variable is assumed DV

Question 43

difference in IV in experimental vs non-experimental studies

Answer 43

experimental: manipulated
non-experimental: measured