Transcript Critical Thinking is a requirement of the scientific process

Research In Psychology
An Overview
Defining Psychology
 From the Greek psi roughly meaning
immortal soul
Common Modern
Definition:
“Psychology is the science of behavior and cognitive
processes.”
Science: system of rules for conducting repeatable
observations
Behavior may be overt (‘obvious’) or covert (hidden;
capable of exposure or ‘observation by inference’)
As we noted before, the object of study may be
difficult to rigorously quantify
About the course…
 Organized around six “great” questions or
issues, such as sex differences, cognitive life,
etc.
 Long of interest to human kind
 Psychology can now offer answers (albeit not
the only answers), from scientific and critical
thinking perspectives
Organizing Theme:
Critical Thinking
Two elements:
1. A set of skills to process and generate
information and beliefs
2. A habit, based on intellectual commitment,
of using skills to guide behavior
Critical Thinking Defined
 “disciplined process of analyzing and
evaluating information gathered by
observation, experience, reflection, reason,
and/or communication so that belief and
action are guided. (Scriven and Paul, 2000)”
The “critical thinker”, then;
 Seeks information and perspectives
 Evaluates information and perspective by a
rational criteria
 Reconciles fact and action
An “uncritical thinker”
 Avoids information and perspective
 Fails to evaluate information and perspective
they do experience
 Acquires information with no commitment to
act on it (Trivial Pursuits)
 Or, acts uncritically (against information)
Evaluating Claims
 Sometimes, a negative example helps…
Some Potential Evaluative
Standards
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Nature of Assumptions
Consistency with accepted facts
Motivation for claims of truth (“Point of View”)
Logic
Quality of Evidentiary Data
Potential to be Falsified
Critical Thinking is a requirement of the scientific
process– indeed, the two are inseparable.
Doing Psychological Research
Logic and Process
Why We Research
 Research is done principally to
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test hypotheses drawn from theories
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hypothesis: a specific prediction that can be tested
theory: a systematic collection of statements about phenomena
Note: we generalize from theory to reality, not from research
findings to reality
Less often, to advance basic knowledge
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Research here intends to describe, not explain phenomena
 Research’s aim is explaining a phenomenon’s cause
Searching for Causality
 If an event precedes a consequence
 If the consequence does not occur in the
absence of the event
 If the consequence does not occur in the
presence of other events
 Then, causality is established
Goal of Psychological Research
 Have 2 conditions identical except for the
presence or absence of the event in question
 Therefore, changes in subjects’ behavior is
attributed to the event
Basic Components of Research:
The True Experiment
 At least Two Conditions
 experimental group: “gets” the event of interest
 control group: no event of interest; serves as a
comparison group
 Variables of Interest
 Independent Variable: ‘event of interest’ controlled by
Experimenter
 Dependent Variable: measured behavior of subjects
 Control Variables: extraneous, but influential variables
that we must control
 Random Assignment of Subjects to
Conditions
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Note: not “Random Sampling” in which
everyone has equal chance of participating in
study
A Goofy Example
 Drug “X”
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Afternoon garage project
enhances sex appeal, doubles intelligence, eliminates
all bad odors, guarantees financial and social success,
and promotes hair growth
 preliminary tests on mice indicates 2% mortality rate
(ethical problem?)
 It’s time for human trials, so…
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Any Volunteers?
 “X” volunteers are
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more adventuresome
less aware of probabilities
more materialistic
than the “control” group
 By Accepting Volunteers, any differences may be
to their adventuresome natures, not to the effects
of “Drug X”
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But how can we tell?
 Threat to Internal Validity
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lessens confidence in findings of study
Other Common Internal
Validity Threats
 Experimenter Expectancies
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controlled by the double blind procedures
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neither Experimenter nor Subjects know what
condition or hypothesis
 Subject Expectancies
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subjects seek hypothesis
subjects shape behavior to support or challenge
hypothesis (demand characteristics)
A Word About Ethics
 Ethical Standards have improved since 1970’s
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Review of studies by Institutional Review Boards
(“IRB’s”)
Freedom from coercion
Reduction in Deceptive Procedures
Confidentiality of Participant Data
Informed Consent
Complete and Full Debriefing
Ethics for Non-Human Subjects
 Again, review by IRB’s
 Humane Housing practices
 No Needless Suffering
 In general, more stringent guidelines for
animals than humans.