How do the responsibilities of being a good research producer compare to those of being a good research consumer As a consumer we must decipher what is good research and what is not How does the example of facilitated communication demonstrate that both consumers and producers of research are prone to making mistakes when they don t pay attention to methodology This is referring to the Klewe study The facilitator steadies patient s arm so that they can communicate by typing In the experiment he gave children with autism pictures of animals and asked them to identify them on the computer Only when the facilitator knew the target word did the child type the correct word Sometimes we can desperately WANT results to be significant that we ignore solid methodology What are the four different scientific cycles Understand the relevant examples discussed in the book Theory Data Cycle Theory leads researchers to pose research questions which leads to appropriate research design in the context of the design researches formulate hypotheses researches then collect and analyze data which feed back into the cycle Scientific Method Empiricism empiric method or empirical research evidence based observation Basic research Applied research Cycle Applied Research Practical problem goal is that findings will be directly applied to that problem New treatments for depression autism etc New way to teach or assess math English etc New way to identify at risk populations or predict aptitude for a job Basic Research To enhance the general body of knowledge Understand the visual system Identify motivations in depressed individuals Learn more about infant attachment Peer review cycle Scientific articles are published in peer reviewed journals Rigorously reviewed by other scientists Anonymous review so honest assessment Manuscripts can be rejected accepted or accepted with minor or major revisions Journal to Journalism Cycle Scientists read science journals Often non scientists write and read about the finding in the popular press Pros and cons The consumer needs to asses importance and accuracy How is a theory different from a hypothesis Hypothesis Exposure to violent video games will increase aggression Theory Watching others engage in behaviors and observing the outcome of those behaviors makes it more or less likely that an individual will also engage in those behaviors What criteria determine if a theory is a GOOD theory If its falsifiable observable its supported by numerous pieces of evidence hypotheses and tests It leads to research questions and helps formulate hypothesis How does translational research provide a bridge between basic and applied research It uses knowledge from basic research to develop and test applications to health care psychotherapy or any other intervention What does it mean for journals to be peer reviewed What does this process entail These are scientific articles published in their own peer reviwed journals It is rigorously reviewed by anonymous scientists who are encouraged to revise and suggest edits What are the big issues related to making sure that the Joural to Journalism cycle get things right Many people don t accurately assess the study and make erroneous statements about the findings of the experiment The Mozart Effect College students after listening to classical music would preform better on tests Many people only picked up a few words and thought that playing classical music to babies and unborn children made them smarter THIS WAS NOT IN THE ORIGINAL JOURNAL What is an implicit theory Theory about how we view the world based on our individual experiences Explain why relying on personal experience is less helpful than looking to see what research says about a given topic You are an n of 1 personal experience has no comparison group Experience is confounded even if change occurs we can t be sure what caused it What does it mean that experience is confounded Confounds are things that might have caused a change that you didn t control for I m feeling so much better I started exercising every day getting 8 hours of sleep drinking 10 glasses of water and switched to a vegan diet You totally have to go vegan it makes all the difference Be able to distinguish between various different biases we can be prone to having Availability Heuristic things that easily come to mind tend to guide our thinking Often about uncommon events but more emotional or sensational Present vs not present bias we notice what is present more than we notice what is absent Leading questions you already know how people will answer these questions based on your question if you found out your partner was cheating on you wouldn t that just make you furious As researchers how can we reduce overconfidence cherry picking or asking biased questions Create comparison groups and look at all the data Ask questions objectively and college even disconfirming evidence Accept data provisionally and change theories when data no longer support them Remember our implicit theory is not easy to change but science is always right What are some of the strengths weaknesses of the different types of sources you can use journals books etc Strengths easy to find rigorously edited written by experts Weakness What do you use PsycINFO for Searches sources in Psychology a few related disciplines for mainly peer reviewed articles Maintained and updated by APA need access to the database through college or university Know the different sections of a research article Abstract concise summary of the article about 120 words long Introduction first section of regular text typically explains the topic of the study Method explains in detail how to researchers conducted their study contains subsections Participants Materials Procedure and Apparatus Results describes the quantitative and qualitative results of the study includes the statistical tests the authors used to analyze the data Discussion summaries the study s research question and methods and indicates how well the data supported the hypothesis References full bibliographic listing of all the sources the authors cited Research on eyewitnesses is an example of applied research What steps do they recommend to reduce bias when trying to pick a guilty suspect out of a lineup Do not cherry pick don t focus on one or two specific details because you will let the other details fall to the wayside Know the characteristics of good scientific explanations vs those of pseudoscience
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