Week 1

• What should conclusions in the scientific method be based on?


  Evidence
• What type of information is considered empirical?


  Information gathered from experience, observation, experimentation
• Why is objective information important in the scientific method?


  It ensures that information is free from bias
• According to the BPS, what is psychology?


  The scientific study of human mind and behaviour
• What is a key challenge in psychology?


  Much of what we are interested in is unobservable
• How do psychologists study human behaviour?


  By observing, measuring, and testing
• What does it mean that psychology is a diverse discipline?


  Distinct subfields use scientific methods to different extents
• What makes psychology vulnerable to pseudoscientific claims?


  People's inherent interest in understanding human behaviour
• What is pseudoscience?


  A claim presented as scientific but lacks valid scientific method
• What characterizes pseudoscientific claims?


  Vague, contradictory, exaggerated, or un-testable claims
• What was the focus of the psychoanalysis movement?


  Introspection
• What did the behaviourist movement emphasize?


  Only studying observable behaviour
• What does the cognitive movement in psychology allow for?

  Making predictions and subjecting them to empirical verification
• What is induction in the scientific method?


  Gathering evidence from multiple observations
• What is falsifiability according to Karl Popper?


  Science starts with theories subject to scrutiny
• What happens if evidence contradicts a theory?


  We formulate an alternative theory
• What does it mean for a theory to be scientific?


  It must be falsifiable
• What is an example of a scientific question?


  Is counselling more beneficial in treating depression than medication?
• What is Bayesianism in the context of scientific theories?


  Beliefs come in degrees based on past knowledge
• How do Bayesians revise probability predictions?


  When faced with evidence supporting or against their theory
• What is the hypothetico-deductive method?


  A process involving observation, hypotheses, theory, empirical tests, and results
• What are limitations of science?


  Questions of value, morality, and the supernatural
• What are characteristics of good scientists?


  Uncertain, sceptical, open-minded, cautious, and ethical
• What is the replication crisis in science?


  A methodological crisis where study results are not reproducible
• What does open science refer to?


  A set of research practices promoting transparency and accessibility
• What is the difference between reproducibility and replicability?


  Reproducibility checks if the same data yields the same results, while replicability tests if the same methods yield the same results
• What is open access in research?


  Unrestricted public access to research materials
• What are the benefits of open access?


  Accumulation of knowledge, increased citation, and more media coverage
• What does the APA require from researchers regarding data?


  To make data available with editors for 5 years after publication
• What is the purpose of preregistration in research?


  To submit plans for research questions and analyses before data collection
• What is replication research?


  The process of repeating research to verify findings
• What is the goal of qualitative research in psychology?


  To focus on the underlying meaning of behaviours
• What is the goal of quantitative research in psychology?


  To describe, predict, and identify causes of behaviours
• What is descriptive research?


  A method that describes a behaviour or phenomenon
• What is relational research?


  A method that explores the relationship between two or more behaviours or phenomena
• What is experimental research?


  A method that manipulates variables to measure effects on another variable
• What is triangulation in research?


  The use of multiple methods to lend credence to a theory
• What is the significance of controlling for other variables in experimental research?


  It allows for inferring causation
• What is the relationship between causation and relational research?


  Relational research can identify relationships but cannot imply causation
• What is the relationship between causation and experimental research?

  Experimental research can establish causation by controlling variables