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41 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is does the IACUC’s final decision come down to?
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Decision: Do benefits of study outweigh risk of harm?
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What is plagiarism?
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Deliberately taking the ideas of someone else and claiming them as your own, occurs in all disciplines
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What is fraud?
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Deception deliberately practiced in order to secure unfair or unlawful gain
- 2 major types- Plagiarism and Falsifying data |
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What would you do to prevent scientific fraud in the future?
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- IRB should incorporate an additional section on intent of study, not just protection of participants
- Attaining grant should include an interview process - Negative data should be published somewhere since it can be helpful to other studies - Raw data should be publically available |
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What does it mean to say that science is “self-correcting”?
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Faked results wont be reproducible and then fraud will be uncovered
- Comes from the idea of exposing falsifiable data and its failure to be replicated - Problems- sometimes “made up” results do replicate, there are many experiments that go without an attempt at being replicated, journals don’t want to publish failures to replicate |
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What are guidelines on authorship, conflicts of interest, data sharing?
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Authorship- Only a person who substantially contributed to the conception, design, performance, and/or writing up of a research study should be an author on a paper
- Provide funding or resources = not sufficient - Funds/Grants→in acknowledgements Conflicts of Interest- If you stand to gain (financially) from results turning out one way vs. another, you have a conflict. - EX: doing experiment on new anti-depressant drug and you own stock in the company that makes the drug. - Full disclosure is necessary Data Sharing- Raw data should be provided to other investigators, unless doing so compromises confidentiality of subjects. - Stapel refused to share. |
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What’s the difference between basic and applied research?
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Basic Research:
- Dr. Reiner- “theoretical stuff” - Fundamental behavioral/psychological principles and processes - Done for the sake of “increasing knowledge and understanding” or to test a theory. - Most animal research is usually basic research. Applied Research: - Dr. Reiner: “practical stuff” - Direct and immediate relevance for some real-world problem. - Usually involves human subjects and not animals. |
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What is the debate about funding basic vs. applied research?
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Basic Research- sometimes hard to see relevance to the real world, gov funded
- Argument against gov funding basic research because some believe philanthropies should be responsible - Problem arises if philanthropies are not directly related to research then they wont give funds - NIH- funds almost all basic research - Basic= foundation to lead to applied research |
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What are pros and cons of lab vs. field research?
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Lab Research- conducted in a controlled experimental situation
- Pro- Control over conditions of study, subjects used, and when the study is conducted - Con- validity/generalizability questions Field Research- conducted in a naturalistic setting - Pro- validity/generalizability - Con- lack of control |
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What’s the difference between a theory and a hypothesis?
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Theory- Summarizes and organizes knowledge, specifies general laws, and attempts to explain and predict.
- EX- Dopamine-as-pleasure-chemical theory of addiction Hypothesis- is a supposition about a specific relationship between variables. - EX- If dopamine is blocked, then rats will not press a lever for cocaine Often phrased as an “if-then” prediction, but not always (ex: “cocaine reward depends on dopamine”). |
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What is the principle of parsimony?
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Good scientific theory, has as few assumptions, postulates, causal mechanisms as is necessary
- EX: the maid and the mouse - Freud’s theories of unconscious dynamic processes vs. simple reinforcement accounts - Simple, most logical, only 1 mechanical explanation |
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35. What is a direct replication? What is a partial replication?
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Direct Replication- study done exactly same as earlier study
- Often not done in psychology, unfortunately Partial Replication- “systematic replication” - Replicates parts of earlier study but adds or changes some feature(s) - Example of partial replication of cocaine choice study? |
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36. What is a construct?
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Variables assumed to affect behavior but are not directly observable
- EX-self-esteem, love, fear, obsessiveness |
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37. What is an operational definition?
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Precisely defining a construct in terms of the procedures used to measure or manipulate that construct, specifying what’s being measured, something one is able to count
- Operationalize a construct like fear→ Frequency of looking around, fill out questionnaire, level of perspiration, usually combine a few - Operationalize a construct like self-esteem→ # of times one smiles, survey, observational, % of time spent interacting, eye-contact (# of seconds) |
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38. What is reliability?
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Consistency, if its results are repeatable when the behaviors are remeasured
Too much fluctuation= not reliable 1. Test-Retest Reliability- consistency over time a. If the construct that a test measures hasn’t changed, then scores should be similar each time the test is given. b. EX- GRE, Beck’s Depression Inventory 2. Inter-Rater Reliability- consistency over persons doing the rating (raters) a. EX- freezing response in rats or mice b. Operationally defined as “absence of all movement except those related to breathing”. c. Do this for each rat in sample d. If inter-rater reliability is high, then the raters should come up with similar number of “freezing” observations for each rat. 3. Internal Consistency Reliability- consistency over sub-components, or items, of a measure |
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39. What is validity?
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Accuracy, the degree to which a measure, score, or test measures what it is supposed to measure
1. Content Validity- subjective a. Experts in field determine whether components of a measure are likely to measure what the test is supposed to measure ii. Specific wording important→ concerns the precise wording of test items a. Important during creation of measure b. BDI? 2. Criterion Validity- Degree to which a measure is related to some other objective behavior or characteristic (the “criterion”). a. EX- SAT score has validity for predicting college graduation i. If people with score above X have 80% graduation rate, and people below score X have only 50% graduation rate 3. Construct Validity- degree to which a measure is correlated with other measures a. Convergent Validity- strong correlations with measures that it should correlate with i. EX: new social anxiety scale should correlate with existing measures of social anxiety, measures of introversion, embarrassability, sociability (negatively), etc. b. Divergent (Discriminant) Validity- weak or no correlation with measures of unrelated constructs i. EX- weak if any correlations with measures of motivation, empathy, and other unrelated constructs. |
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40. What is a Type 1 error?
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Means you rejected the null hypothesis when you shouldn’t have. Your results are a fluke. By some small chance (guess how small?), your sample results make it appear that there is a real (population) difference when there actually isn’t one.
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41. What is a Type 2 error?
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Means you should have rejected the null hypothesis but didn’t. Your results are a fluke. By unfortunate chance, your sample results make it appear that there is no real (population) difference when there actually is a difference.
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42. What is alpha?
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Determines how small is small
Usually 0.05 for most tests in psychology |
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43. What is power?
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Chances of rejecting H0 when it is, in fact, false
- You want to maximize power - In order that experimenter has most control over, increase the sample size |
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44. What is the file drawer phenomenon?
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- Textbook has somewhat unclear description of problem (type 1 errors are the real problem)
- Significant differences likely to be published, non-significant difference more likely to be filed away, shelved, etc. - So, for a given “significant difference” there may be multiple other experiments that tested the same thing, but found no significant difference. o Problem is that we only hear about the significant result, which could very well be a Type 1 error if there are a lot of null-effect experiments testing the same thing. |
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is psychology a science? Why or why not?
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some would say that because it a an objective way acquiring knowledge, and measurable, repeatable, and you can experiment with it, that fact you can test theories and hypothesis’
others would say that there is not a set of characteristics that define a science, and instead may it just a cluster of features. |
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what are the important features of a science?
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1. Determinism
2. Discoverability 3. Objectivity 4. Data-based conclusions |
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what does it mean to test a falsifiable hypothesis
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ability to confirm or disconfirm a hypothesis that is being tested, Without falsifiability there is no reliability within a study. must be stated in a way that makes it possible to reject it. Theories and hypotheses need to be falsifiable because all researchers can succumb to the confirmation bias.
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what is determinism?
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1. Determinism - every event has a cause
a. Strict determinism: if cause, then definite effect. i. Gene for alcoholism – guaranteed to be alcoholic b. Statistical determinism: f cause then increases likelihood for effect i. Gene for alcoholism -> increased risk for alcoholism - B.F. Skinner argued that it doesn’t exist and actually is an idea that interferes with “progress” of society. - Skinner says that once we accept determinism, we can make progress by altering our environments to produce desired outcomes. o A “technology of Behavior” o What about responsibility?? • If every behavior is determined, are people responsible for their behaviors (good or bad)? o Determinism Vs. Free Will • Does it need to be so either/or? Degrees of free choice? - Not all psychologists deny the existence of free will. |
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what does it mean to say that scientific psychology is objective?
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Science observations and facts aren’t dependent on the particular subject, that makes the observation. Produces a result that can be publicly verified, eliminating human factors such as biases and expectations. Today nobody believes that scientist can separate themselves from their already existing attitudes and to be objective does not mean to be devoid of such normal human traits. And therefor needs to be verified by one or more observer so it can be systematically repeated.
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is introspection scientific? Why or why not?
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Early scientific study was all introspection or precise self-reporting. Method was fundamentally subjective since a person cannot verify your introspections and you cannot verify theirs. If psych is truly scientific it needs to be measuring something that was directly observable and can be verified, objectively or by 2 or more observers.
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what does it mean to be an empirical question?
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Empirical question = one that can be answered through methods of science including observation and experimentation.
– Do animals take drugs? – Is animal experimentation “bad”? |
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what are examples of pseudoscience from the history of psychology?
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Phrenology
• Different psychological characteristics localized in different parts of the brains • Bigger brain area = more of that psychological attribute. • Skull measurements = good measure of brain area. o Subliminal Messaging • Images or words flashed really fast in front of you like at a movie or commercial will make you want it or something. o Extrasensory Perception (ESP) |
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how do you recognize pseudoscience from real science?
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Clues for recognizing pseudoscience:
non-data-based - heavily anecdotal - non- tentative conclusions - non-falsifiable theories - does not replicate |
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description, prediction, explanation, application
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Goals of scientific psychology
1. descriptions a. eg list of symptoms that characterize addiction 2. prediction a. if after observing X and Y occuringing together a number of times, we might predict Y after observing X i. Induction (will learn more about it, and its problems, in Ch. 3). ii. E.g., impulsivity - drug addiction iii. Results of correlational studies can be used to make predictions. iv. 3. Explanation a. Science explains. b. A lot of debate about this: i. Is it a type of logical argument? (eg explaining why copper conducts electricity by saying copper is a metal and all metals conduct electricity.) ii. is it reduction (eg explaining workings of mind in terms of biology, and explaining biological functions in terms of chemistry, and explaining chemistry in terms of physics) c. explain = Identify cause i. to explain some phenomenon is to say what caused it. 1. Decreased dopamine receptors causes increased cocaine taking. ii. Experiments are necessary to make conclusions about causality. 4. Application a. Putting what has been learned into practice Drug abuse treatment |
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what factors go into their decision process?
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– Decision: do benefits of study (e.g., increased knowledge) justify the risk of harm (physical or psychological) that “participants” are exposed to?
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what is informed consent?
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- required by IRB
- Participants should have sufficient information about studies purpose and procedures to make decision on whether on whether to participate o Especially important to inform about risk o Don’t have to give away specific hypothesis being tested, but should inform participants about general purpose • Sometimes hard to do - Subjects must be informed that they can leave at any time with no penalty o Milgram study? |
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why do some populations have special protections?
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SRCD (society for research of child development) – implement following idea
They may not be able to fully understand the consent form (IE children) therefore a researcher must give a child as much information as possible to gouge whether the child is willing to participate. So they can observe the level of stress in children while observation is being done since parents cant physically be there. Also protects researchers from not using the potential rewards as an inducement to gain the Childs consent it also protects them. Protects participants so they don’t feel coerced into participating in a study . |
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what is “minimal risk”?
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Expedited Review
Most psych lab research on basic processes Doesn’t involve more than “minimal risk” “at minimal risk” = no more risk than would be encountered in normal everyday living “at risk” = more than normal everyday risk |
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what determines whether an IRB proposal gets expedited vs. full review
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– Expedited Review
• Most psych lab research on basic processes • Doesn’t involve more than “minimal risk” – “at minimal risk” = no more risk than would be encountered in normal everyday living – “at risk” = more than normal everyday risk • Whole board not necessary – Formal Review • Whole board involved in review • Investigators must convince board that benefits outweigh risks and the study could not be completed in any other way |
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would Milgram’s obedience study be approved today? Why or why not?
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Yes – zimbardo says becuase Behavior outweighs risk however others would say no because stress and the capability of hurting someone could affect ones mental state over time, and deceit of experiment
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what is an IACUC and what does it do?
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Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee like the IRB but for animals
– do benefits of study outweigh risk of harm? • Many experiments with animals would not be approved for human subjects – For same “benefit” (or even less), why is X amount of harm OK for animals, but not OK for humans? |
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what are the pros and cons of using animals as research subjects?
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Pro – to test theory before moving onto humans and decreasing risk, animals are cheaper and more readily available, many experiments for animals wouldn’t be approved for human subjects
Con – no informed consent, many experiments for animals wouldn’t be approved for human subjects |
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what is the ethical debate about animal research?
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– if animals are like humans, is it right to do research on them that you can’t do with humans?
– If animals are not like humans, then what can be learned about humans through animal research? • similar enough to humans that the results are generalizable, but dissimilar enough that it’s OK to use them as subjects? |
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which species has recently been phased out of NIH research and why?
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chimpanzees are our closest relative – now can only be use if it advances the publics health
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