Psych Science
Provide an example of knowing something through intuition.
Gut feelings/beliefs
A null hypothesis would predict what?
No difference between conditions, no relationship between variables
Which typically has greater internal validity: a correlational study or an experiment?
Experiment
What is the right to autonomy (in the context of psych research)?
Right to decide to participate or not voluntarily, without coercion, and with sufficient knowledge
What is a construct?
Variable that is not directly observable (tendencies, complex patterns, internal processes)
How are basic and applied research different?
Theoretical vs practical motivations
What do we mean when we say that research is a cyclical process?
Repeating; the end of one study contributes to the beginning of another
A correlation of -.80 would mean what?
When is deception of participants allowed?
Necessary and without alternative, does not introduce undue risk, explained in debriefing
What is an operational definition?
Definition in terms of how the construct will specifically be measured
What are the three fundamental features of science?
Systematic empiricism, empirical questions, public knowledge
What influences how interesting a research question is?
Addressing something that is unknown/lacking evidence/debated, practical implications
An alternative hypothesis about the correlation between lobster consumption and life expectancy would predict:
A significant correlation between the two (prediction may be positive or negative)
Why are prisoners considered a vulnerable population and what additional safeguard is needed?
Greater concern of coercion; additional effort to ensure voluntary participation (not being forced or punished)
What does it mean for a measure to be reliable?
Consistent (over time, across items, across raters)
Why might common sense conclusions about psychology be wrong?
Limited data, lack of generalizability, confirmation bias
Why are theories said to be supported, not proven?
Different theories may lead to similar conclusions, future work may refute a theory
A correlation coefficient of 0 means what?
There is no relationship at all between the two variables
Name the four moral principles.
Weighing risks and benefits, acting with integrity, seeking justice, respect for persons
Name the four measurement scales.
Nominal (categories), ordinal (rankings), interval (rankings with equal intervals), ratio (rankings with equal intervals and true zero)
Why is it useful to review literature early in the research process?
refine research question, identify possible methods, contextualize research question, prepare to write
What are Type I and Type II errors?
Type I: false positive, finding an effect when none exists
Type II: miss, not finding an effect when one exists
Why doesn't correlation indicate causation?
How are ethical guidelines for human and animal subjects similar and different?
Similar: weigh risks and benefits, remove or minimize harm when possible, harm must be justified and without alternative
Different: informed consent, acceptable harm
What does it mean for a measure to be valid and how can this be tested?
Measures what it is designed to measure
Criterion validity (correlated with related measures), convergent validity (correlated with pre-existing measures), discriminate validity (not correlated with unrelated measures),