Questions From Lectures

Question 1

What doesitmean to reason empirically?

Answer 1

.Using verifiable evidence as the
basis for conclusions; collecting data and using
it to develop, support, or challenge a theory.

Question 2

Explain what the consumer of research and producer of research roles have in common, and describe how they differ. Provide two reasons why itis beneficial to be a good consumer of research, even if you are not a psychologist. Use the example of facilitated communication to illustrate the importance of being a savvy consumer.

Answer 2

.share a desire to ask, answer, and communicate interesting questions interesting questions
.share a commitment to the practice of
empiricism and to communicate with others
about what they have learned
.BENEF CONSU: constant bombard of info, need to determine what is useful and accurate, separate the noise
.need to know how to ask the right questions, interrogate information, crucial to many careers

Question 3

Name three types of research data or information that people are exposed to every day, even if they are
not psychologists.

Answer 3

Internet, TV, Magazines/Newspapers?

Question 4

Four scientific cycles are discussed in your textbook. Name each and explain what it means that it is a “cycle.”

Answer 4

.theory-data cycle: Cycle in which scientists collect data to test, change, or update their theories. go thru all the time, cell phone ain’t working
.basic-applied research cycle (basic increases knowledge, used by applied, which can inspire new basic… etc.)
.peer-review cycle
.journal-to-journalism cycle (journalism can inspire new research ideas)

Question 5

Describe the Harry Harlow (1958) study described in class which found that attachment to a caregiver is
important in the early months of life. What contrasting theories were investigated in this research?
Describe the theory‐data cycle as it relates to this research. What is the criticism and significance of this research? How might a researcher use this basic research study as inspiration for an applied research
study? What recent applications have been made?

Answer 5

.Cupboard theory: A mother is valuable to a baby mammal because she is a source of food.
.Contact comfort theory: Babies are attached to their mothers because of the comfort of cozy touch.
.criticize work because of the ethics of performing such experiments on infant monkeys.
.significance: hospitalized children need touching and now get it, showed that fathers can be effective parents too, shed light on child abuse (children still seek comfort from mother even if abusive)
.recent applications on humanistic/holistic therapies????

Question 6

What is the difference between a theory and a hypothesis?

Answer 6

.theory: A statement or set of statements that describes general principles about how variables relate to one another.
.hypothesis: A statement of the
specific relationship between a study’s variables that the researcher expects to observe if a theory is accurate.

Question 7

What are the three components of a good theory?

Answer 7

1. Good theories are supported by data (multiple studies, variety of methods)
2. Good theories are falsifiable (possible to collect data that will prove theory wrong) GREEN MAN
3. parsimonious: simplest explanation of a phenomenon

Question 8

What happens to a theory when the data do not support the theory’s predictions? What happens to a theory when the data do support the theory’s predictions? Explain why we do not say that a single study proves a theory and why a single study does not disprove a theory.

Answer 8

.don’t support: revise theory or improve research design
.supports: strengthens theory
.must always look at the WEIGHT of the evidence for a theory, across all studies and results
.new information may force to change theory/ideas the very next day

Question 9

Describe the peer‐review cycle in your own words. Explain what it means that peer reviewers are “gatekeepers” for quality science.

Answer 9

.editor receives manuscript, sends to 3 to 4 experts on the subject
.sometimes told to revise-resubmit and send back for subsequent review that will be fast-tracked

Question 10

What are two ways that journalists might distort the science they attempt to publicize? What two important questions should we ask about a popular press story and why are they important to consider
as you evaluate a story?

Answer 10

.choose to cover the sensational stories over the important accurate ones
.distory the findings in summarization in their articles
1. Is the story important?
2. Is the story accurate?
Important because we want to be savvy consumers of data!

Question 11

How are journal articles different from review journal articles? How is each type of article different from a chapter in an edited book?

Answer 11

Empirical Article: Reports results of research study for first time
Review: summarizing all studies that have been done in one research area (meta-analysis does this MATHEMATICALLY)
.Book Chapter: in an edited book, a collection of chapters on common topic, each chapter by diff contributor
.usually a summary of research and big picture behind it

Question 12

Describe two pros and two cons of reading about scientific research in popular magazines compared with scientific journals.

Answer 12

.pros: more readable, can show how applies to everyday life

.cons: sometimes distorted, author inserts own opinion without back up or citations, distorts research findings

Question 13

What are the differences between PsycINFO, Google Scholar, and PsychWiki? Provide three reasons that
you would recommend use of PsycINFO instead of Google Scholar to search for sources

Answer 13

.PsychINFO: maintained by APA, 2.5 million records mostly peer-reviewed
.Google Scholar can find recent articles, usually very limited, can’t actually read them
.Purest source of academic info, not always changing, access all articles no limitations

Question 14

Provide at least three reasons that explain why using a wiki is a less‐than‐ideal source for psychological research

Answer 14

.Not comprehensive
.Researchers have posted bogus info and only 5% ever changed in 1.5 years
.Only very small sliver of people that use wiki maintain it
.Not current references

Question 15

If you encounter a psychological trade book, what signals that it is research based?

Answer 15

.CITATIONS CITATIONS CITATIONS

Question 16

What are two general problems with basing belief on experience? Describe and give examples of confounds and discuss why a lack of comparison group is a problem. How does empirical research work
to correct these problems?

Answer 16

.Personal experience has no comparison group! What happened to people that DIDN’T do what you did?
.Confound! think one thing caused an outcome but in fact other things changed too
.Provides comparison group and uses careful controls to isolate variables

Question 17

Name the three forms of “thinking the easy way.” Explain each process and how it can interfere with good decision‐making, or bias our conclusions. Provide examples to illustrate these processes. How do
these processes differ from conclusions based on empirical research?

Answer 17

1. Accept a conclusion just b/c it “makes sense” (freud and catharsis anger, stomach ulcers and stress, actually just a bacteria)
   .Present/present bias (confirmation bias) What happened when we DIDN’T do this?
   .Pop-up principle/Availability heuristic (death by fire heard more but in fact by falling more common!
   .the times when things DID happen are more memorable, and therefore easier to use as justification

Question 18

Name the three forms of “thinking what we want.” Explain each process and how it can interfere with good decision‐making, or bias our conclusions. Provide examplesto illustrate these processes. How do these processes differ from conclusions based on empirical research?

Answer 18

.Cherrypicking Evidence: seek evidence that supports what we think. don’t seek opposing (IQ low scorers looked at articles criticizing IQ tests, IW high scorers looked at articles supporting them)
.Ask biased questions to get answers we want (interviewers), not the opposite
.Being overconfident (once decide on something, we get overconfident in our ideas)(sneaky!)

Question 19

When might it be wise to accept the conclusions of authority figures? When might it not?

Answer 19

.When they are verified experts that back up their claims with data
.When it is their own research or they speak from personal experience

Question 20

Name three ways that the scientific reasoner is different from the intuitive thinker

Answer 20

.Ask questions objectively
.Generate data through several rigorous studies
.Only accept data provisionally

Question 21

What two guiding questions can help you read any academic source?

Answer 21

1. What is the argument?

2. What is the evidence to support the argument?

Question 22

What is the difference between a variable and its levels?

Answer 22

.Variable: Attribute that varies

Value: One of its possible variations or levels

Question 23

Discriminate between measured and manipulated variables. Explain why some variables can only be measured, not manipulated.

Answer 23

.Measured: levels observed and recorded
.Manipulated: controlled by assigning participants to its different levels
.Some can’t be manipulated because it would be unethical!

Question 24

What is the difference between the conceptual level and the operational definition of a variable? How
might the conceptual variables affection or intelligence or stress be operationalized by a researcher?
Why might operationalization be difficult?

Answer 24

.Conceptual: definition of variable at abstract level
.Operational: specific way a conceptual variable is measured or manipulated
.Operationalization can be especially difficult for abstract concepts like happiness… how the hell do we measure that?

Question 25

Name the three types of claims. Explain the difference between claims.

Answer 25

1. Frequency claim: A claim that describes a particular rate or level of a single variable
2. Association claim: A claim about two variables, in which the level of one variable is said to vary systematically with the level of another variable such systematically with the level of another variable, such
   that when one variable changes, the other variable tends to change, too
3. Causal claim: A claim arguing that a specific change in one variable is responsible for influencing the level
   of another variable.

Question 26

How can the language used in a claim help you differentiate between association and causal claims?

Answer 26

.Causal has words like May, Makes, Gives, Fights, Distracts, Prevents, Adds… no matter how soft the language, it is causal
Association claims usually say things like Tied to, Linked, Goes with, Assoc w/, prefers, more likely/less likely, predicts, at risk for (USUALLY MORE THAN ONE WORD)

Question 27

Describe positive, negative, zero, and curvilinear associations.

Answer 27

.Positive: High levels of var go with hi levels, LO levels go with LO!!!
.negative: INVERSE, high with lo or vice versa
.curvilinear: either negative or positive, but not zero

Question 28

How many variables are there in a frequency claim? In an association claim? In a causal claim?

Answer 28

.ONE variable in freq

.TWO variables in both association and causal

Question 29

How are causal claims special, compared with the other two claims?

Answer 29

.MUST satisfy three things
.covariance (correlation.
.temporal precedence (this comes before that)
.internal validity (MUST rule out all alternative explanations for change in B, or A is only thing that has changed)
.ONLY experiments can make causal claims

Question 30

Which of the four big validities should you apply to a frequency claim? To an association claim? Causal?

Answer 30

.Freq: Construct and External
.Assoc: Construct, External, Statistical
.Causal: Construct, External, Statistical, Internal

Question 31

What question(s) would you ask to interrogate a study’s construct validity? What’s construct validity?

Answer 31

Construct Validity: Concerns how accurately a researcher has
operationalized each variable
.Has each variable been measured reliably?
.Do the diff levels of var accurately correspond to true differences?

Question 32

In your own words, describe at least three things that statistical validity addresses.
What are Type I and II errors?

Answer 32

.Type I (false alarm) or Type II errors (miss)?
.Type I mistakenly finds something where there is nothing
.Type II finds nothing where there is something!
.Strength of Assoc
.Statistical Significance (due to chance?)

Question 33

Define external validity, using the term generalize in your definition.

Answer 33

.A measure how well the

results of a study generalize to, or represent, the individuals or contexts besides those in the study itself

Question 34

What is internal validity? Why is it mostly relevant for causal claims?

Answer 34

Internal Validity: The are no possible alternative explanations for the change in B; A is the only thing that changed.
.Because it is one of the criteria that must be met before something can be called causal

Question 35

Name the three criteria/rules necessary for making a causal claim. Describe why each is important.

Answer 35

.MUST satisfy three things
.covariance (correlation.
.temporal precedence (this comes before that)
.internal validity (MUST rule out all alternative explanations for change in B, or A is only thing that has changed)
.ONLY experiments can make causal claims

Question 36

Why don’t researchers usually aim to achieve all four of the big validities at once?

Answer 36

.Impossible! So prioritize which is best.

Question 37

Describe the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. What three categories of ethical problems were illustrated by this study?

Answer 37

1. The men in the study were harmed (beneficence)
2. The men were not treated respectfully (respect for persons)
3. The researchers targeted/exploited a disadvantaged social group in this study (justice)

Question 38

What are two primary concerns that have been raised against Milgram’s study of obedience? How did Milgram and his supporters counter these concerns?

Answer 38

1. Extremely stressful to participant “teachers” (milgram should have modified study when he found this out)
2. Lasting effects of the study (trauma? however only 2% regretted participating)

Question 39

Explain informed consent and the protection of vulnerable groups (applying the principle of respect for
persons).

Answer 39

Informed consent: Research participants right to learn about a research project, know its risks and benefits and decide whether to participate.
Certain groups deserve special protections.

Question 40

Explain how researchers might evaluate the risks and benefits of a study (applying the principle of beneficence).

Answer 40

Researches must attempt to predict risks AND benefits of research both to participants and larger community.
Usually easy to predict harm to physical health, but psychological harm much harder!

Question 41

Explain how researchers would apply the principle of justice in selecting research participants.

Answer 41

Researchers should first ensure that the

participants involved in a study are representative of the types of people who would also benefit from its results.

Question 42

What are the five ethical principles outlined by the APA? Which two are notincluded in the three principles ofthe Belmont Report?

Answer 42

1. BENEFICENCE and NONMALEFICENCE
2. fidelity and responsibility (no sexual relationships!!!)
3. integrity (profs obligated to teach accurately, therapists obligated to update their methods with current research)
4. JUSTICE
5. RESPECT FOR PERSONS/RIGHTS AND DIGNITY

Question 43

The APA has 10 ethical standards. Ethical Standard 8 outlines ethical practices in research for psychologists. Name and define each of the separate points included in Ethical Standard 8.

Answer 43

.IRB
.Informed consent, risks/benefits, confidentiality
.Deception
.Debriefing (esp. w/ deception!!)
.Animal research (care humane, few as possible, justifies use of animals)

Question 44

Describe what institutional review boards do and who serves on them.

Answer 44

.A committee responsible for ensuring that research on humans is conducted ethically.
.Must come variety of scientific/nonscientific disciplines, at least ONE a member of local community not associated with institution in any way

Question 45

Describe what deception is, and explain when deception is considered permissible in a study.

Answer 45

.The withholding of some details of a
study from participants (deception through
omission) or the act of actively lying to them (deception through commission). In many cases necessary to obtain meaningful data.
Must include debriefing afterwards. Seems like violates respect for persons, but we must look at beneficence (deception used as last resort)

Question 46

Describe the debriefing process and the goals of debriefing.

Answer 46

1. Describes/explains any deception
2. Explains importance of research
3. Explains design of study

Question 47

Explain why many psychologists justify use of animals in research.

Answer 47

1. Animal research has resulted in numerous benefits to humans and animals alike.
2. Researchers are sensitive to animal welfare.
3. Researchers have successfully reduced the number of animals they need to use.

Question 48

Define three forms of research misconduct, explaining why each is considered a breach of professional ethics and a violation of the empirical method.

Answer 48

Data fabrication: An ethical problem that occurs when researchers invent data that it their hypotheses.
Data falsification: An ethical problem that
occurs when researchers influence a study’s results, perhaps by deleting observations from a data set or by influencing their research subjects to act in the hypothesized way.
The representation of the ideas or
words of others as one’s own.
 A violation of ethics because it is unfair for a researcher to take credit for another person’s intellectual property.

Question 49

Name the three common ways in which researchers operationalize their variables.

Answer 49

.Self-report
.Physiological
.Observational

Question 50

In your own words, describe the difference between categorical and quantitative variables.

Answer 50

.

Question 51

Describe the differences between ordinal, interval, and ratio scales

Answer 51

.ALL QUANTITATIVE

Question 52

Reliability is about consistency.Define the three kinds ofreliability, noting what kind of consistency each
is designed to show.

Answer 52

Inter-rater
Test/Retest
Internal

Question 53

For each of the three common types of operationalizations indicate which type(s) of reliability would be relevant

Answer 53

.Self-report, Physiological, Observational

Question 54

What do face and content validity have in common?

Answer 54

.Part of what makes something look face valid is whether it captures the constructs aspects in their entirety.

Question 55

What do predictive and concurrent validity have in common? How are they different?

Answer 55

.Both ask if measure is related to a concrete outcome
.Create a test to predict how well job applicants would do as sales people
.Concurrent, looking at scores and correlation to current employees
Predictive: looking at how well predicts future
.both are CRITERION based (some kind of outcome we expect our measure to be related to, in this case it would be sales performance)

Question 56

Identify convergent and discriminant validity. Which requires stronger correlations for its evidence:
convergent validity or discriminant validity?

Answer 56

Discriminant validity looking for LOW correlation coefficients in EITHER direction
Convergent looking for STRONG correlations in either direction, as in close to -/+1.0
Discriminant less important… More important that a measure of depression is not convergent with a measure of anxiety than is discriminant with your preference in movies

Question 57

Give examples of how question wording can change the results of a survey or poll.

Answer 57

.

Question 58

Explain how to increase the construct validity of questions by wording them carefully and by avoiding leading questions, double‐barreled questions, and double negatives.

Answer 58

No leading questions (positive or negative framing), so write every question as neutrally as possible
.Double-barreled, don’t ask two questions in one!
.Double negatives confuse!

Question 59

Explain how question order can change the meaning (and validity) of a question.

Answer 59

.Earlier questions can change way respondents understand and answer later questions
.So prepare different versions of survey, with questions in different orders.

Question 60

Explain ways to increase the construct validity of questions by preventing respondent shortcuts (such as
nay‐saying), biases (such astrying to look good), or simple inability to report.

Answer 60

Include mechanisms for measuring bias in responses, yaysaying (acquiescence) and naysaying. No fence sitting by making no middle number (like 3 on a five point scale)
-Mechanism for finding faking good or faking bad. Ensure anonymity, include filler items, use special measures to evaluate people’s implicit opinions about sensitive topics

Question 61

Describe how observational techniques for measurement are different from survey techniques.

Answer 61

Self reports are meaningful, but usually just reports what people think they think, not necessarily what is accurate!
So observational measuring can help find accuracy.

Question 62

What are two ways that observers might make biased observations in a research study? Explain ways to improve the construct validity of observations by reducing observer bias and targetr eactivity.

Answer 62

Observer bias, their expectations influence their interpretations.
Observers can affect what they see (maze-bright, maze-dull rats, both same but bright ended up performing better wtf!)
BLIND/Masked design: observers unaware of experimental conditions participants have been assigned to.

Question 63

Define three sampling problems that lead to biased samples.

Answer 63

1. Sampling the easy to contact (e.g. students)
2. Sampling only those one is able to contact (phone lines, internet)
3. Sampling only those that invite themselves!

Question 64

Explain five techniques for random sampling: simple random, multistage, cluster, stratified random
sampling, and oversampling.

Answer 64

Simple random: completely at random out of a hat
Cluster sampling: randomly select clusters of participants within the population of interest and then collect data from all of the participants in each selected cluster
Multistage sampling: two random samples are taken from some population; a random sample of clusters and then a random sample of people within those clusters
Stratified random sampling: researcher identifies particular demographic categories of interest and then randomly selects individuals within each of the categories
Oversampling: variation of stratified random sampling in which the researcher intentionally over- represents one or more groups

Question 65

Describe the difference between random sampling and random assignment

Answer 65

Random sampling: random method to draw sample (names in a hat). Each member of pop. has equal chance of being in sample. Enhances EXTERNAL validity
Random Assignment: random method to assign to different groups (flipping coin)
Ensures comparison group and treatment group have same kinds of ppl in them. Enhances INTERNAL validity

Question 66

.Describe three techniques of nonrandom sampling: purposive, convenience, and snowball sampling.

Answer 66

Convenience: sample from those easiest to access
Purposive: inclusion of only certain kinds of people in sample
Snowball sampling: Var. on purposive, participants asked to recommend acquaintances for the study

Question 67

Explain why representative samples may be especially important for many frequency claims.

Answer 67

Because they are supposed to generalize to entire population as a whole, supposed to describe them!

Question 68

Why do you think researchers might decide to use an unrepresentative sample, when a random sample might be better for external validity?

Answer 68

Not feasible! Not necessary!

Question 69

Explain why it is more important to ask how a sample was collected rather than how large the sample is.

Answer 69

.??? TEXT

Question 70

Respect for Persons, Beneficence, Justice

Answer 70

1. Respect: Participants treated as agents and some groups get special protection (children, disabilities, prisoners). Truthful, no deception.
   Beneficence: “Do no harm” Must take cautions to protect from harm and maintain well being. If exp grp found effective, must offer to control after experiment over. Maximize benefits of research and minimize risk to participants
2. Justice: non-exploitative procedures administered fairly, fair distribution of cost/benefit to participants involved and the people who will benefit from the results (as in don’t harm blacks to help whites!!!)

Question 71

Animal Care Guidelines Three Rs

Answer 71

Replacement: Researchers should find
alternatives to animals in research when
necessary.
 Refinement: Researchers must modify
experimental procedures and other aspects of animal care to minimize or eliminate animal distress.
 Reduction: Researchers should adopt
experimental designs and procedures that require the fewest animal subjects possible

Question 72

What are the main limitations of using Google Scholar?

Answer 72

I have in my notes:

• harder to search for things
• may not be able to access the articles
• does not organize information as well as psycINFO
• information isn’t necessarily correct
• does not provide abstracts

Question 73

What are three main ways that scientific articles published in journals are different than journalistic articles?

Answer 73

So scientific articles are written by scientists, written for scientists and students, and are peer-reviewed.

Question 74

Translational research

Answer 74

Studies that use knowledge derived from basic research to develop and test solutions to real-world problems.

Question 75

4 Validities

Answer 75

1. Construct
2. External
3. Internal
4. Statistical

Question 76

How to ensure construct validity?

Answer 76

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

Question 77

Construct Validity

Answer 77

Does it measure what it intends to measure! So convergent and discriminant.

Question 78

Good way to remember Type I and Type II errors.

Answer 78

Think of the defendant on trial in court analogy.

A Type I error is a false alarm, or rejection of the null hypothesis (no r between variables), meaning convicting someone who is NOT guilty. Type I, I for INNOCENT.

Type II is failing to convict a guilty person. So failing to reject the null hypothesis. Type II, the II looks like two bars in a prison cell!