1. Thinking Critically with Psychology

2. Limits of Intuition and Common Sense
Hindsight Bias
tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it
the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon
Overconfidence
we tend to think we know more than we do

3. ----------------------------
The tendency to search for and use information that supports our preconceptions and ignore information that refutes our ideas
EX. Astrology
Clever Hans

4. Critical Thinking-The Scientific Attitude
thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions
Characterized by
__________
____________
Humility

5. Basic Terminology Hypothesis a testable prediction
Expresses a relationship between two_________
“If…then…”
Research never proves a hypothesis is right, rather it either ________or ___________a hypothesis

6. Basic Terminology Theory
Attempt to explain phenomena (subject of observation) and allows researchers to generate testable____________.

7. The Scientific Method theories lead to generate or refine research and
observations
lead to
hypothesis
theories

8. Basic Terminology __________________
a precise definition of a term in a hypothesis
Specifies how the phenomena in question are to be__________
Example-
intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures

9. Basic Terminology ____________
repeating the essence of a research study to see whether the basic finding _____________to other subjects and circumstances
usually with different subjects in different situations

10. Basic Terminology
____________– Things that can differ or vary among the participants
Remember, A hypothesis expresses the relationship between two variables
If A… Then B…

11. Basic Terminology
___________ Variable – The factor or variable that is being manipulated by the experimenter
________ Variable – The measurable factor that may change as a result of these manipulations
If (IV)…then (DV)…

12. Basic Terminology
__________– Anyone or anything that could possibly be selected to be in the sample
_________ – Individuals on which the research will be conducted; subgroup of the population
__________– Process by which subjects are selected
____________ – The sample selected must be represent the larger population

13. Basic Terminology ________ Sample
a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
Psychologists use the term random differently than laypeople
Random selection is best done using a computer, a table of random numbers, or picking names out of a hat

14. Research Strategies
If marbles of two colors are mixed well in the large jar, the fastest way to know their ratio is to blindly transfer a few into a smaller one and count them

15. Ways Psychologists Conduct Research
_________
______________
_______________

16. __________ Research Any research that observes and records.
What is going on in this picture?
We cannot say exactly, but we can describe what we see.
Thus we have…..
__________ Research
Any research that observes and records.
Does not talk about relationships, it just describes.

17. Types of Descriptive Research
The Case Study
The Survey
Naturalistic Observation

18. ______ Study
Detailed description of an individual being studied or treated
Freud’s theories are based on case studies
Ex. Ratman, Wolfman
Genie, The Wild Child

20. What are Case Studies Strengths and Weaknesses?

21. The ________ Method
Used in both descriptional and correlational research.
Use Interview, mail, phone, internet etc…
The Good- cheap, anonymous, diverse population, and easy to get random sampling (a sampling that represents your population you want to study).

22. Why do we sample?
One reason is the False Consensus Effect: the tendency to _________ the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors.

23. Survey Method: The Bad __________________
People Lie or just misinterpret themselves.
___________Effects
How accurate would a survey be about the frequency of diarrhea?

24. ___________Observation
Observing and recording behavior in natural environment.
No control- just an observer.
What are the benefits and detriments of Naturalistic Observation?

25. ____________________
Used to find out that people are more likely to laugh in social situations than in solitary situations
“There can never be enough said of the power of a shared laugh.” 
~Françoise Sagan

26. ___________ study
Study in which one group of subjects is followed and observed (or examined, surveyed, etc.) for an extended period of time (years)
Benefit – Same subject group throughout
Downfall – Time and expense

27. _____________ study
Study in which a representative cross section of the population is tested or surveyed at one specific time
Benefit – Avoids time and expense

28. ____________ Research
Detects relationships between variables.
Does NOT say that one variable causes another.
(Correlation does not =_________.)
Correlations may be strong or weak.

29. Correlational Research
Correlations of +1 and -1 are ___________strong
-1 is a perfect negative correlation
The presence of one thing does not predict the presence of another thing
+1 is a perfect positive correlation
The presence of one thing predicts the presence of another thing

30. Correlational Research
The number _ denotes the weakest correlation – no correlation
Which means that knowing something about one variable tells you nothing about the other

31. (positive or negative)
Correlation Research
________________________________
a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together and thus how well either factor predicts the other
Indicates direction
of relationship
(positive or negative)
Correlation
coefficient
r = +.37
Indicates strength
of relationship
(0.00 to 1.00)

32. Research Strategies ____________
a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables
the slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship
the amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation
little scatter indicates high correlation
also called a scattergram or scatter diagram

33. Research Strategies Perfect__________ correlation (+1.00)
____relationship (0.00)
correlation (-1.00)

34. Three Possible Cause-Effect Relationships
could cause
(1)
Low self-esteem
Depression or
(2)
Depression
could cause
Low self-esteem or
Low self-esteem
(3)
Distressing events
or biological
predisposition
could cause
and
Depression

35. Illusory Correlation Illusory Correlation
the perception of a relationship where none exists
Conceive
Do not conceive
Adopt
Do not
adopt
disconfirming
evidence
confirming

36. Experimental Research
Explores _____________relationships.
Constipation
Eating too many bananas causes

37. Experimental Vocabulary
_____________Variable: factor that is manipulated
_________ Variable: factor that is measured
_________ Group: Group exposed to IV
_______ Group: Group not exposed to IV, used for comparing results
__________ (Extraneous) Variables: Differences between the experimental group and the control group other than the IV’s

38. Experimental Vocabulary
___________ – process by which subjects are put into a group, experimental or control
__________ Assignment – The subject has an equal chance of being placed into any group
It controls for subject-relevant confounding variables

39. Experimental Vocabulary
____________ bias – unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of the experimental and control groups differently influencing the results
________ characteristics – (Subject Bias) – Cues about the purpose of the study
________ desirability – tendency to try to give politically correct answers
__________ effect – the mere act of selecting a group has been known to effect the performance of that group
__________: inert substance that is in place of IV in Control Group

40. Experimental Vocabulary
_____________– Neither the researcher or the subjects know about the nature of the IV
Helps eliminate experimenter bias
____________ study – Only the subjects do not know which group they have been assigned
_______________ design - Using subjects as their own control group
________________ – Assigning half the subjects to one of the treatments first and the other half of the subjects to the other treatment first

41. Steps in Designing an Experiment
Hypothesis
Pick Population: Random Selection then Random Assignment.
Operationalize the Variables
Identify Independent and Dependent Variables.
Look for Extraneous Variables
Type of Experiment: Blind, Double Blind etc..
Gather Data
Analyze Results

43. Statistics
___________ statistics – describes a set of data, summarizes information about the sample studied
____________ – measures the relationship between two variables
____________ statistics – Determines whether or not findings can be applied to the larger population from which the sample was selected

44. Descriptive Statistics
____
the most frequently occurring score in a distribution
the arithmetic average of a distribution
obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores
________
the middle score in a distribution
half the scores are above it and half are below it

45. Statistical Reasoning
A ________________Distribution 90
475
710 70
Mode Median Mean
One Family
Income per family in thousands of dollars

46. Statistical Reasoning
_______
the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
__________ Deviation
a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean
Z- Scores – measures the distance of a score from the mean in units of standard deviations
Scores below the mean have negative z-scores
Scores above the mean have positive z-scores

47. Statistical Reasoning
____________________
a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance
P value – The smaller the p value, the more significant the results
.05 is the cutoff for statistically significant results
.05 means that a 5% chance exists that the results occurred by chance

48. APA Ethical Guidelines
Institutional review board (IRB) – reviews proposals for ethical violations and/or procedural errors
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) – Reviews every experiment involving animals for ethics and methodology

49. Human Research Ethics
____________________– Subjects must know they are involved in research and give their consent
Coercion – Participation must be____________
_________________________________– Subjects privacy must be protected
_________– Subjects cannot be placed at significant mental or physical risk, decided by the review board
_____________procedures – Subjects must be told the purpose of the study

50. Animal Research Ethics
Must have a__________________
Must ________for the animals in a ____________way
Must acquire animal subjects________
Must design experimental procedures that employ the _____________amount of suffering feasible