Research Methods Scientific Thinking in Psychology Chapter 1

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Research MethodsScientific Thinking in
PsychologyChapter 1
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Why take this course?

• Psychology is a behavioral science - through
  scientific research we attempt to understand
  behavior, so we must be well-grounded in
  scientific principles
• 1. Begin process of learning how to do research
  in psychology - Get you to start thinking like a
  scientist
• Even if you do not plan to do research
• 2. Provides solid foundation for other psy
  courses
• 3. Makes you a more informed and critical
  consumer of information
• 4. Any advanced study of psychology will
  involved some research

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Ways of knowing

• Tenacity __________________
• Authority ___________________
• Reason Logic ______________
• Empiricism __________________
• Science _____________________

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Tenacity
Tenacity repetitive claims (adverts).
Repetitive claims Example advertisements
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Tenacity

• _________________
• Development of a positive attitude toward
  something as a function of increased familiarity
  with it.
• Other examples

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Authority

• basing our beliefs on what we are told
• Children (generally) listen to their parents
• Students accept information from textbooks
• Patients listen to doctors advise
• Benefits __________________________
• Problem___________________________

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Use of Reason Logic

• Example Deductive Reasoning
• Primates are capable of using language
• Bozo the chimp is a primate
• Bozo the chimp can use language
• Or
• Psychologists love statistics!
• Dr. Z is a psychologist
• Therefore Dr. Z loves statistics!
• Problems
• a priori method
• ______________________________________

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Empiricism

• Process of learning via direct observation or
  experience
• Example Weather in Maine is cold!
• Problem____________________________
• _____________________________________________

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Belief in God

• Many people have a strong belief in God and
  believe that God has a personal influence in
  their life. Consider the different ways of
  knowing that we just discussed. Explain how each
  source may or may not contribute to a persons
  belief in God.

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Scientific Thinking is

• a set of procedures to provide a convincing
  argument
• is _____________- free from human bias or
  preconception is verifiable by more than one
  observer
• is ___________- show me the data!
• asks empirical questions that can be answered
  through systematic observations experiences
• has 2 main assumptions
• ___________ Assumption
• events have causes
• _____________assumption
• causes can be discovered via scientific methods

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Psychology is a Science because

• Follows the 4 basic Canons of Science
• _________ events have causes - actions events
  follow certain rules are therefore predictable
• _________ The method of making observations.
  (Making observations is the best method.)
• _________ If we have two competing theories, we
  should choose the simpler or more frugal of the
  two.
• __________ Validation, Falsification,
  Qualification

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The Scientific Method

• Scientific method refers to
• An___________,
• not a_______________.
• The scientific method refers to ways in which
  scientists ask questions and the logic and
  methods they use to gain answers.

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The Scientific Method (continued)

• Two important aspects of the scientific method
  are
• the reliance on an _________, and
• the __________scientists adopt toward
  explanations of behavior and mental processes.

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The Scientific Method (continued)

• An empirical approach to gaining knowledge
  emphasizes
• observation of behaviors that can be observed
  directly,
• experimentation in which scientists employ
  _____________ in the situation to be observed.

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Components of the Scientific Method

• The scientific method rocks!!! ROCQS

• R - __________
• O - __________
• C - __________
• Q - ___________
• S - ____________

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Components of the Scientific Method

• ___________ study is repeated

• ___________ free from bias, verified by more
  than one observer (so we have to define terms and
  procedures carefully so others can replicate)

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Components of the Scientific Method

• ________________
• By manipulation of things of interest
• Example amount of drugs or training
• By elimination of unwanted factors
• Example random assignment

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Components of the Scientific Method

• ____________ must define concepts in terms of
  numbers (72 inches). Research is data-drivenfor
  examplein examining the claim excessive TV
  reduces creativity, one might ask, how is
  creativity measured, how large is the data
  set?

• __________ conclusions drawn from data are
  tentative (subject to revision). So we must
  share data, publish rebuttals, and be open to
  change!

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Psychological Science in Context

• Historical Context
• The scope of scientific psychology has increased
  dramatically in 100 years.
• The ________________ and the____________________
  promote the science of psychology.
• At the turn of the 20th century, early
  psychologists adopted the __________as the best
  means for developing the science of psychology.
• The __________ has been a key factor in the shift
  from behaviorism to cognitive psychology as the
  dominant theoretical perspective in psychology.

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Social and Cultural Context

• Scientists questions, resources, and acceptance
  are influenced by the current ________ the
  social and cultural spirit of the times.
• Because scientists conduct psychological research
  in a social and cultural context, they are
  susceptible to the potential bias of___________.

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Social and Cultural Context (continued)

• ____________
• A ____ in which we try to understand the behavior
  of individuals in a different culture through the
  framework or views of our own culture.
• Be aware of cultural influences.
• The way we __________and others is heavily
  influenced by the culture in which we live.
• Our understanding of psychology is based on
  research done primarily within the______________.

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Social and Cultural Context (continued)

• An ethnocentric bias can influence the research
  areas questions we choose.
• For example
• Do we focus on deficits in aging people (e.g.,
  declining memory) rather than strengths (e.g.,
  wisdom)?
• Do we examine questions of aggression and race
  rather than nurturance and race?
• When developing a research question, be sure to
  consider whether you are being ethnocentric.
• Consider developing a research question that goes
  against the cultural norm.

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Social and Cultural Context (continued)

• An ethnocentric bias also influences how we
  ___________.
• Consider, for example, how we stereotype people
  based on their dress or hairstyle (e.g., Goths,
  Hip-Hop).
• Has your behavior ever been interpreted in terms
  of an ethnocentric bias?

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Psychological Science in Context

• Moral Context
• Scientists maintain the highest standards
  for_________________.
• Scientists do not fabricate data, plagiarize, or
  selectively report research findings.
• Psychologists consult the ethical principles of
  the_______________________.
• The code of ethics helps researchers to
  evaluate dilemmas, such as the risks and benefits
  associated with deception and the use of animals
  in research.

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Thinking Like a Researcher

• To think like a researcher is to be
  _________regarding claims about the causes of
  behavior and mental processes
• even claims made on the basic of published
  scientific findings.
• The strongest evidence for a claim about behavior
  comes from __________across many studies
• although scientists recognize that claims are
  always probabilistic.

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Thinking Like a Researcher

• Scientists are similar to detectives and others
  in the legal system.
• In the legal system, a small amount of evidence
  leads to ________, but a large amount of evidence
  is needed to ________ someone of a crime.

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Thinking Like a Researcher

• Similar to legal evidence, scientific evidence
  varies according to the_________________.
• _________ of behavior
• __________ about behavior
• Evidence for the ______ of a behavior
• _________ (repetitions) of findings for the cause
  of behavior
• The stronger the evidence, the more confident we
  can be about the claim about behavior.

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Evidence and Decision Making
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Guidelines for Evaluating Reports of
Psychological Research

• Dont confuse pseudoscience or nonscience with
  science.
• Be skeptical.
• Be aware that scientists may disagree.
• Keep in mind that research is generally about
  averages.
• Whenever possible, go to the original source.

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Science Vs. Pseudoscience

• Pseudoscience
• "false science" literally
• "claims presented so that they appear scientific
  even though they lack the supporting evidence and
  plausibility" (Sherman, 1997, p. 33)
• appears to use scientific methods and tries to
  give a science-y impression

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Characteristics of Pseudoscience

• associates itself with true science
• relies on and accepts ___________________
• sidesteps disproof (any possible outcome is
  explained away)
• a theory is not a good theory if it can explain
  everything b/c it cannot make specific
  predictions
• dangerously reduces complexity to simplicity

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Applying Characteristics of Pseudoscience for
Graphology

• associates itself with __________
• Forensic experts analyze handwriting
• relies on __________________
• Famous persons well-known traits can be
  predicted from their handwriting
• sidesteps disproof
• If an extrovert doesnt cross a t like an
  extrovert should, a graphologist may use the
  letter size to offset this inconsistency
• reduces _________________________
• How can a complicated phenomenon as personality
  be adequately understood from handwriting?

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Other Examples?
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Psychology Questions

• We dont always know how people will behave or
  what they think, even if we have an _____ about
  it. So we need to do research.
• For example, answer True or False to these
  questions

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Psychology Questions (continued)

• Mothers talk to their younger children
  differently than they talk to their older
  children. True or false?
• __________ Haden (1998) found that mothers use
  the same conversation styles (elaborative or
  repetitive) with their different-age children.
• Haden, C. A. (1998). Reminiscing with different
  children Relating maternal stylistic consistency
  and sibling similarity in talk about the past.
  Developmental Psychology, 34, 99-114.

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Psychology Questions (continued)

• Few students will confess to ruining a computer
  program if they didnt do it. True or false?
• ________ Kassin and Kiechel (1996) found that 69
  of students in their study falsely confessed to
  ruining a computer program and signed a written
  confession.
• Kassin, S. A., Kiechel, K. L. (1996). The
  social psychology of false confessions
  Compliance, internalization, and confabulation.
  Psychological Science, 7, 125-128.

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Psychology Questions (continued)

• Most individuals will notice if a person they are
  talking to is replaced by another person. True or
  false?
• _______ Simons and Levin (1998) found that only
  47 of participants in one study and 33 of
  participants in a second study noticed that the
  person changed to a different person mid-way
  through their conversation.
• Simons, D. J., Levin, D. T. (1998). Failure to
  detect changes to people during a real-world
  interaction. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 5,
  644-649.

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Non-scientific vs. Scientific Approaches
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General Approach

• Nonscientific
• ________
• judgments and decisions are based on what feels
  right.

• Scientific
• ________
• judgments and decisions are based on direct
  observation and experimentation.

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Observation

• Nonscientific
• _____
• ____________
• personal biases and other factors influence
  observation.

• Scientific
• ________
• __________
• control is the essential ingredient of science.
• Scientists gain the greatest control when they
  conduct an experiment.

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Observation (continued)

• ________ Scientists investigate the effect of
  various factors one at a time in an experiment.
• An experiment has at least one independent
  variable and at least one dependent variable.
• __________(IV) A factor that researchers control
  or manipulate in order to determine the effect on
  behavior.
• ___________(DV) The measure of behavior that is
  used to assess the effect of the independent
  variable.

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Reporting

• Nonscientific
• _____________
• Personal impressions are reported.

• Scientific
• _____________
• observations and inferences are separate.
• interobserver agreement is important.

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Concepts

• Nonscientific
• Ambiguous
• We arent clear in the meaning of the words we
  use.
• For example, what do we mean by intelligence?

• Scientific
• Clear definitions
• Define specifically what we mean by our concepts
• A construct is a concept or idea used in
  psychological theories.

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Constructs

• There are many psychological constructs.
• Examples aggression, depression, emotion,
  intelligence, memory, personality, stress,
  well-being.
• An ______________is the specific procedure used
  to produce and measure a construct.

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Constructs (continued)

• _________of operational definitions
• Allow scientists to define specifically what they
  mean by their construct
• Allow clear communication among scientists.
• ___________
• A potentially limitless number of operational
  definitions exists for any particular construct.
• Some operational definitions may be meaningless.

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Constructs (continued)

• Match each construct with an operational
  definition
• Construct Operational Definition
• A. score on the Minnesota Multiphasic
• Aggression Personality Inventory
• Depression B. score on the final exam of this
  course
• Intelligence C. number of times person hits
  another person
• Memory D. number of depression symptoms from the
• Knowledge of Diagnostic and Statistical
  Manual
• research methods E. score on the Wechsler Adult
  Intelligence
• Personality Scale (WAIS)
• F. score on the Digit-Span Test of memory

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Instruments

• Nonscientific
• ______
• for example, clocks, gas gauges, measuring cup

• Scientific
• ____________
• ________ difference between what an instrument
  says and what is actually true
• ________ measures have different levels of
  precision.

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Measurements

• Nonscientific
• ____________
• measures of our concepts that are inaccurate or
  inconsistent.

• Scientific
• ______________
• valid measures get at the truth,
• reliable measures are consistent.

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Measurements (continued)

• _______ measurement involves dimensions that have
  agreed-upon standards and instruments.
• Examples length, weight, time
• _________ measurement is used to measure
  constructs for which there is no agreed upon
  standard or instrument.
• Are there agreed upon standards for what is
  considered beauty, intelligence, or aggression?
• Psychologists develop measures to assess these
  and other psychological constructs.

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Measurements (continued)

• Measures must be valid and reliable.
• ________refers to truthfulness a valid measure
  is one that measures what it claims to measure.
• Example Do exams in your courses test the
  material covered in course lectures and texts?
• ________ refers to the consistency of a measure.
• For example, a measure is considered reliable
  when different observers consistently agree about
  an observation.
• A measure may be reliable but not valid!!
• For example, a scale that consistently
  underreports someones weight is reliable but not
  valid.

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Hypotheses

• Nonscientific
• _________
• concepts not defined clearly,
• circular,
• appeals to ideas outside realm of science.

• Scientific
• _________
• concepts are clearly defined and can be measured.

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Hypothesis

• A tentative explanation of something
• Answers the questions How?, Why?
• At one level simply suggests how things might
  be related
• Example associate non-attractive and mean
  personality and attractive and nice personality
• At higher level it might suggest how something
  causes something else
• Example drivers ed classes decrease rate of
  accidents by young drivers

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Hypotheses (continued)

• Hypotheses are not testable if they have any of
  these three characteristics
• 1. Constructs are not adequately defined.
• Example People become aggressive following
  exposure to media violence because the violence
  is disturbing.
• 2. The hypothesis is circular the event itself
  is used as an explanation of the event.
• Example People become aggressive following
  exposure to media violence because they become
  verbally or physically abusive.
• 3. The hypothesis appeals to ideas or forces
  that are not recognized by science.
• Example People become aggressive following
  exposure to media violence because they are
  overcome by the Devil.

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Attitude

• Nonscientific
• ______________
• accept claims with insufficient evidence, ignore
  contradictory evidence

• Scientific
• ____________
• behavior and mental processes are complex,
• human mistakes are made (even in science).

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Goals of Psychological Research

• ________ behavior - identifying regularly
  occurring sequences of events
• Example Psychologists describe symptoms of
  depression. One operational definition of
  depression comes from the list of symptoms in the
  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual.
• ________ behavior - behavior follows laws if
  regular and predictable relationships exist
  between variable
• stronger relationships allow predictions to be
  made with some degree of confidence
• Example As level of depression increases,
  individuals exhibit more helplessness (failure to
  initiate activities and pessimism regarding the
  future).
• ________ behavior - knowing what caused it to
  happen
• _______ behavior - applying principles of
  behavior learned through research

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Basic Assumptions

• __________the things we see, hear, feel, and
  taste are real and have substance
• ________- there is a rational basis for the
  events that occur in nature and these can be
  understood through logical thinking

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Basic Assumptions cont

• _________- events in nature follow the same laws
  and occur the same way at all times and places
• _________- it is possible to discover the
  uniformities that exist in nature