Hindsight Bias- tendency to believe, after learning the outcome, that you knew it all along
Overconfidence-tend to think we know more than we do
The Barnum Effect- tendency for people to accept very general or vague characterizations of themselves and take them to be accurate
Applied vs. Basic Research
Applied Research- clear, practical applications (you can use it)
Basic Research- explores questions that you may be curious about, but not used immediately
Scientific Process
Hypothesis- expresses a relationship between two variables
Independent Variable- Whatever is being manipulated in the experiment
Dependent Variable- whatever is being measured in the experiment
Operational Definitions- Explain what you mean in your hypothesis, how will the variables be measured in "real life" terms
Sampling- identify the population you want to study, the sample must be representative of the population you want to study
Experimental Method- Looking to prove causal relationships (cause=effect)
Confounding Variable- confounding variable is anything that could cause a change in b, that is not a
Hawthorne Effect- even control may change, knowing that you are in an experiment can cause change
Correlational Method- Correlation expresses a relationship between two variables. Does not show causation
Positive Correlation- variables go in the same direction
Negative Correlation-variables go in the opposite direction
Survey Method- most common type of study, measures correlation, cheap and fast, need a good random sample
Naturalistic Observation-watch subjects in their natural environment, do not manipulate the environment
Correlation Coefficient- a number that measures the strength of a relationship, range is from positive one to negative one, the relationship gets weaker the closer you get to zero
Case Studies- a detailed picture of one or a few subjects, tells a great story, really descriptive research, does not give correlational data
Statistics- recording the results from our studies(mean, median, mode)
Descriptive Statistics- describes sets of data
Range- distance from the highest to lowest score
Standard deviation- the variance of scores around the mean, the higher the variance or so the more spread out the disputation is
2 Scores- a unit that measures the distance of one score from the mean, positive 2 score means a number above the mean, negative 2 score means a number below the mean
Animal Research- clear purpose, treated in a humane way, acquired animals legally, least amount of suffering possible
Human Research- No coercion(voluntary, informed consent, anonymity, no significant risk, debrief
The Scientific process is needed whenever we are trying to find more about a subject or to simple satisfy our curiosity.
