Scientific Method
This is the process of collecting data to test, change, or update theories.
What is the theory–data cycle?
Good critical thinking in psychology requires that claims be backed up by this.
What is evidence?
Personal stories or observations are considered this type of evidence.
What is anecdotal evidence (or experience)?
This unethical U.S. government study withheld treatment for syphilis from African American men.
What is the Tuskegee Syphilis Study?
This committee reviews research proposals to ensure ethical standards are met.
What is the Institutional Review Board (IRB)?
A prediction that comes from a theory and can be tested is called this.
What is a hypothesis?
This bias happens when we focus on evidence that supports what we already believe.
What is confirmation bias?
This is the primary reason experience alone is a poor source of knowledge.
What is lack of comparison groups (or confounds)?
This psychologist is known for controversial obedience experiments.
Who is Stanley Milgram?
This is the process of informing participants about the research and getting their agreement to participate.
What is informed consent?
This quality of scientific claims means they can be proven wrong with evidence.
What is falsifiability?
This occurs when a second variable changes along with the independent variable, making it unclear which one is responsible for the outcome.
What is a confound?
The mistaken belief that "if it feels right, it must be true" is an example of relying on this flawed source of knowledge.
What is intuition?
The 1979 Belmont Report outlined three guiding principles for ethical research. Name one.
What is respect for persons, beneficence, or justice?
In some studies, researchers intentionally withhold or mislead participants about aspects of the study. This is called what?
What is deception?
This term refers to drawing conclusions based on objective evidence rather than personal opinion.
What is empiricism?
This mental shortcut leads people to judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.
What is the availability heuristic?
Believing a professor because he is citing articles from peer-reviewed journals is relying on this source of knowledge.
What is authority?
The principle of beneficence requires researchers to do this.
What is maximize benefits and minimize harm?
After a study involving deception, researchers must do this to explain the study and its purpose.
What is debriefing?
When research findings are published, other scientists attempt to repeat the study to see if the results hold. This process is called this.
What is replication?
In psychology, research findings are considered this, meaning they describe trends and likelihoods, not absolute certainty.
What is probabilistic?
This type of article reports on original research, including the study’s methods, results, and conclusions.
What is an empirical journal article?
The principle that research should fairly distribute risks and benefits refers to this.
What is justice?
Research with nonhuman animals must balance scientific goals with this ethical concern.
What is humane treatment (or minimizing animal suffering)?