Exam 1

Question 1

the study of behavior and mental processes across the lifespan using a scientific approach

Answer 1

psychology

Question 2

defined by empiricism and appropriate skepticism; produces facts

Answer 2

science

Question 3

an abstract concept that refers to ways in which questions are asked and the logic and methods used to gain answers; used by psychologists with empiricism and skepticism

Answer 3

scientific method / approach

Question 4

claims based on evidence and evidence derived from observation and experimentation / emphasizes direct observation and experimentation as a way of answering questions; the most important characteristic of the scientific method; using this, psychologists focused on behaviors and experiences that could be observed directly

Answer 4

empiricism / empirical approach

Question 5

skeptical of all types of claims, especially personal anecdotes, experiences, and/or gut intuitions (but not to the point of ignoring when evidence converges)

Answer 5

“appropriate” skepticism

Question 6

the spirit of the times; the trend of the time; reflects how people are thinking; attitude toward different things

Answer 6

zeitgeist

Question 7

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic countries; where most of the participants in psychological research come from; this skews research findings, and therefore, we need to be cautious about our interpretations of findings

Answer 7

WEIRDos

Question 8

can occur when researchers fail to recognize when experiences and values of their own culture affect their interpretations of behavior observed in other cultures (eg: research involving Americans applied to other cultures leads to potential of this)

Answer 8

ethnocentric bias

Question 9

our natural tendency to seek evidence that’s consistent with our intuitions and ignore or deny contradictory evidence; selectively accepting evidence that confirms an already held belief and dismissing evidence that counters that belief; must try to disprove “facts,” which is where the null hypothesis comes in; influences the choices people make and motivates them to avoid info that challenges them, even when doing so causes them to be wrong

Answer 9

confirmation bias

Question 10

a tendency to perceive relationships between events when none exists (eg: remembering things that are consistent w/ expectation in a memory test – gender stereotype test)

Answer 10

illusory correlation

Question 11

a claim, belief, or practice presented as scientific, but which does not adhere to the scientific method; a field, practice, or body of knowledge can reasonably be called pseudoscientific when it is presented as consistent with the norms of scientific research, but it demonstrably fails to meet these norms

Answer 11

pseudoscience

Question 12

1) description
2) prediction
3) explanation
4) application

Answer 12

goals of the scientific method

Question 13

when two different variables measuring the same people, events, or things vary together

Answer 13

correlation

Question 14

when scores on one variable tend to be associated with scores on another variable; when two events vary together; when one changes, the other must also change; when particular scores on one variable tend to be associated with particular scores on another variable; first condition of a causal inference

Answer 14

covariation

Question 15

aka contingency; the presumed cause must occur before the presumed effect; 2nd condition of a causal interference

Answer 15

time-order relationship

Question 16

occurs when two potentially effective IVs are allowed to covary simultaneously; when this happens, it’s impossible to determine what variable is responsible for any obtained difference in performance

Answer 16

confounding variable

Question 17

psychologists primarily seek to understand behavior and mental processes; seeking knowledge for its own sake, typically carried out in a lab setting with the goal of testing a theory about a phenomenon

Answer 17

basic research

Question 18

psychologists conduct research in order to change people’s lives for the better; done in a variety of settings

Answer 18

applied research

Question 19

searching for an answer using various research methodologies and measures of behavior; any one method or measure of behavior may be flawed or incomplete in its ability to answer research questions fully, and when researchers use multiple methods, the flaws associated with any particular method are surmounted by other methods that “fill in the gaps”; enables researchers to obtain a more complete understanding of behavior and mental processes

Answer 19

multimethod approach

Question 20

a concept or idea (intelligence, memory, depression, aggression, etc.); given meaning through an OD

Answer 20

construct

Question 21

explains a concept solely in terms of the observable procedures used to produce and measure it; facilitates communication

Answer 21

operational definition

Question 22

tentative explanation for a phenomenon; often stated in form of a prediction for some outcome along with an explanation for the prediction
(starts with a grasp of the existing research; offers a relationship between variables; must be testable/constructs adequately defined; is not circular; is falsifiable / ideas are recognized by science)

Answer 22

hypothesis (and what makes a good hypothesis)

Question 23

indicated by consistency (works consistently, results show high level of agreement, etc.); just bc something is this doesn’t mean it’s the other

Answer 23

reliability

Question 24

truthfulness of a measure; measures what it claims to measure; supported when people so as well on it as on other tasks presumed to measure the same construct

Answer 24

validity

Question 25

connection to the real-world; the extent to which the results of a study can be generalized to other situations and to other people

Answer 25

external validity

Question 26

produces verbal summaries of research findings with few statistical summaries or analysis; focuses on events and their context

Answer 26

qualitative research

Question 27

studies in which the findings are described using statistical summary and analysis; used more frequently than the other; research that is translated into and analyzed as numerical

Answer 27

quantitative research

Question 28

scientists manipulate one or more factors and observe the effects of this manipulation on behavior

Answer 28

experiment

Question 29

element investigated in studies that is manipulated, compared, or controlled; a factor that changes

Answer 29

variable

Question 30

factors researcher controls or manipulates in order to determine their effect on behavior; there are at least 2 levels in the simplest of studies (which often represent the presence and absence of some treatment, respectively)

Answer 30

independent variable

Question 31

measures of behavior that are used to assess the affect (if any) of the IVs

Answer 31

dependent variable

Question 32

essential ingredient of science; distinguishing it from nonscientific procedures; involves manipulating conditions and using controlled observation

Answer 32

control

Question 33

random assignment impossible

Answer 33

quasi-experiment

Question 34

choose one that represents the population; if possible, do so by random assignment; the bigger it is the more you can generalize to world population (but there is such a thing as too big of a sample--you'll find a difference regardless of what you do-- or too small); depends on the power to detect whether IV affected DV

Answer 34

sample

Question 35

points to same or similar conclusion ?

Answer 35

converging evidence

Question 36

made when psychologists infer what causes a phenomenon; has 3 important conditions 1) covariation of events 2) time-order relationship and 3) plausible alternative causes have been eliminated

Answer 36

causal inference

Question 37

took place in WWII; tested various drugs, transplants, poisons, etc. and deliberately removed lymph nodes and other things without following scientific method and getting permission / behaving safely / ethically; lead to Nuremberg Code

Answer 37

Nazi Medical Research

Question 38

sponsored by NIH; happened in this location but also elsewhere; 400 African American men were involved; researchers followed the course of syphilis without treatment and didn't tell men what they were doing; the men were told they were receiving medical services (but did not know they had syphilis); didn't give the men the treatment for syphilis when it came out; lead to deaths and unnecessary contractions of syphilis

Answer 38

Tuskegee Experiment

Question 39

involved studying obedience to authority (why did people obey and commit terrible things under Hitler? , etc.); confederate experimenter and experimenter had script they followed throughout experiment; participant was told they were randomly assigned as teacher and told to administer increasingly high voltages when learner got word pair wrong; learner acted out complaints of intensifying pain; participants were told they had to continue and weren't debriefed immediately after nor told entire purpose of experiment

Answer 39

Milgram Experiments

Question 40

established in 1947; states that research has to be voluntary; researchers have to get informed consent; the benefit has to outweigh the risk; product of Nazi Medical Research in WWII

Answer 40

The Nuremberg Code

Question 41

established in 1974; established guidelines for IRBs and ethical practices in US; led to the creation of the National Commission for Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research; requires that institutions seeking research funds from specific federal agencies establish an IRB

Answer 41

The National Research Act

Question 42

reviews psychological research to protect the rights and welfare of human participants; ensures that researchers protect participants from harm and safeguard participants' rights; must be composed of at least 5 members with varying backgrounds and fields of expertise, both scientists and nonscientists must be represented, and there must be at least 1 member who isn't affiliated with the institution; has the authority to approve/disprove/require modification of the research plan prior to its approval of the research; has the ethical responsibility to review research proposals fairly by considering the perspectives of researchers, institution, and participants; is sponsored by the institution

Answer 42

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Question 43

asks "Is it worth it?"; IRB members rely on a subjective evaluation of the first and the second both to individual participants and to society and ask "Are the greater than the ?"; research is approved when the second outweighs the first

Answer 43

risk / benefit ratio

Question 44

harm/discomfort participants may experience is not greater than what they may experience in their daily lives / during routine physical or psychological tests;

Answer 44

minimal risk

Question 45

a person's explicitly expressed willingness to participate in a research project based on a clear understanding of the nature of the research, of the consequences for not participating, and of all factors that might be expected to influence that person's willingness to participate; 1) there must be a reasonable effort to respond to questions about research, 2) the dignity of participants must be respected, and 3) individuals have to be allowed to withdraw at any time

Answer 45

informed consent

Question 46

expressed willingness to participate; must be obtained from participants themselves whenever possible; this is especially important in studies dealing with vulnerable populations

Answer 46

assent

Question 47

rights of individuals to decide how information about them is to be communicated to others; information is decided to be __ based on 1) sensitivity of the info 2) the setting and 3) the method of dissemination of the info

Answer 47

privacy

Question 48

can occur through omission or commission; considered by some to be completely unethical bc it hurts the relationship between the researcher and the participant, may hurt the perception of psychology as a whole, and hurts society bc it leads to distrust of experts; others suggest it is a "technical illusion" that should be permitted in the interest of scientific inquiry and that psychologists should be allowed to suspend the moral principle in interest of science, especially in order to obtain information that would be impossible to get otherwise

Answer 48

deception

Question 49

withholding of information

Answer 49

omission

Question 50

intentionally misinforming participants about an aspect of research

Answer 50

commission

Question 51

necessary to explain to participants the need for deception, to address any misconceptions they may have had about their participation, and to remove harmful effects resulting from the deception; also has the important goals of educating participants about the research (rationale, method, results) and of leaving them with positive feelings about their participation; provides opportunity for participant to learn about their specific performance, helps researchers to learn how participants viewed the study, and enables researchers to identify any problems in procedures and provide ideas for future research

Answer 51

debriefibg

Question 52

attribute behavior to situational demands; let participants know that they behaved as expected / as most people do in the given situation; part of debriefing process

Answer 52

"normalize" behavior

Question 53

process of identifying as authors those individuals who have made significant contributions to research project; important bc authorship of a published scientific study frequently is used to measure an individual's competence and motivation in the field

Answer 53

publication credit

Question 54

presenting substantial portions / elements of another's work as your own; making decisions about "substantial" and avoiding giving the impression that another's work is one's own balance on the personal goal of being recognized for making a scholarly contribution and ethical obligation to recognize the previous contributions others have made

Answer 54

plagairism

Question 55

submitted manuscripts are reviewed by other researchers who are experts in the specific field of research addressed in the paper under review; these reviewers decide whether the research is methodologically sound and whether it makes a substantive contribution to the discipline of psychology; these reviews are then submitted to a senior researcher who serves as editor of the journal; editor decides which papers warrant publication; the primary method of quality control for published psychological research

Answer 55

peer-review process

Question 56

alphanumeric string that identifies the content and electronic location of an article or other information source found on the internet; is usually found on the title page of a published article; should be included in references whenever is available

Answer 56

digital object identifier (DOI)

Question 57

structure of APA report

Answer 57

- Title Page - Abstract - Introduction - Method - Results - Discussion - References - Footnotes - Tables and Figures - Appendices