Chapter 1

Question 1

Scientific method

Answer 1

1. Abstract concept that refers to the ways in which questions are asked and the logic and methods used to gain answers
2. Not a particular technique or method
3. Ways in which scientists ask questions
4. Logic and methods used to gain answers

Question 2

Two important aspects of scientific method

Answer 2

1. Empirical approach

2. Skeptical attitude

Question 3

Empirical approach

Answer 3

1. Observe behaviors directly

2. Experimentation- systematic control

Question 4

Science in Context

Answer 4

1. Historical
2. Social/Cultural
3. Moral

Question 5

Historical Context

Answer 5

1. Increased scope of scientific psychology
2. Psychological organizations: APA, APS
3. Early 1900s: empirical approach
4. 20th century: computer revolution
5. Shift: behaviorism to cognitive psychology

Question 6

Social and Cultural Context

Answer 6

1. Zeitgeist influences (Prevailing context)
   - Research questions
   - Resources for science
   - Society’s acceptance of psychological research
2. Potential bias of ethnocentric bias
3. Researchers’ choice of topics, society’s acceptance of findings, and the location in which research takes place.

Question 7

Ethnocentric Bias

Answer 7

1. Understand behavior of individuals in different culture through framework of own culture
2. Be aware of cultural influences
3. Consider research questions that go against stereotypes
4. Influences how we interpret behavior
5. Fail to consider the social and cultural contexts that influence people’s behavior.

Question 8

Moral Context

Answer 8

1. High standards for integrity and ethical conduct
2. Scientists do not fabricate data, plagiarize, and selectively report research findings
3. Fraud, lies, and misrepresentations should play no part in a scientific investigation.

Question 9

Ethical Principles of APA

Answer 9

1. Evaluate research dilemmas:
   - Risks and benefits
   - Deception
   - Animal research

Question 10

Thinking like a researcher

Answer 10

1. Be skeptical
   - Claims based on “published” findings and media
2. Strongest evidence
   - Converging evidence
   - All claims are probabilistic
3. Science and Legal System
   - Both make decisions based on evidence
   - Legal system: small amount of evidence leads to suspicion; large amount of evidence is needed to convict
4. Gulliable public’s defense against frauds and scams selling ineffective medicines and cures, impossible schemes to get rich, and supernatural explanations for natural phenomena.

Question 11

Guidelines for Evaluating Reports of Psychological Research

Answer 11

1. Pseudoscience is not science
2. Be skeptical
3. Scientists may disagree
4. Research is generally about averages
5. Go to the original source

Question 12

Getting Started Doing Research

Answer 12

1. What should I study?
   - Choose a research topic by reviewing psychology journals, textbooks and courses in psychology
   - Get involved in research -> attend colloquia and join a research team
   - Most important: read reports of psychological research

Question 13

Research Hypotheses

Answer 13

1. A tentative explanation for a phenomenon

2. Stated in the form of a prediction and an explanation

Question 14

Multimethod Approach

Answer 14

1. Many psychological research questions and research methods
2. Different areas of psychology require multiple methods
3. No single research method or technique can answer all of the different questions in psychology
4. More complete understanding
5. No perfect research method: each method or measure of behavior has flaws
6. Flaws associated with any particular method are overcome by other methods to fill in the gaps

Question 15

Steps of the research process

Answer 15

1. Develop a research question
2. Generate a research hypothesis
3. Form operational definitions
4. Choose a research design
5. Evaluate the ethics of your research
6. Collect and analyze data; form conclusions
7. Report research results

Question 16

Serious problems when psychological findings are reported in the media

Answer 16

1. Often the psychology that is presented is not based on any research at all
2. When actual research findings are presented in the media, the research may not be “good” research, that is, conducted using accepted scientific procedures.
3. “Something can be lost in the translation”

Question 17

We might generate a hypothesis for a research study by

Answer 17

1. Thinking about deviations (oddities, exceptions) from a general trend or principle
2. Imagining how we would behave in a task or if faced with a specific problem
3. Considering similar problems whose solution is known
4. Making sustained, deliberate observations of a person or phenomenon
5. Generating counterexamples for an obvious conclusion about behavior
6. Borrowing ideas or theories from other disciplines