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level: The Scientific Method

Questions and Answers List

Chapter 1

level questions: The Scientific Method

Question	Answer
A way of knowing, proposed by Charles Peirce, in which a person develops a belief by reasoning and reaching agreement with others who are convinced of the merits of the reasoned argument.	a priori method
Evidence from a single case that illustrates a phenomenon; when relied on exclusively, as in pseudoscience, faulty conclusions can easily be drawn.	anecdotal evidence
A goal of science in which basic principles discovered through scientific methods are applied to solve problems.	application
A way of knowing, proposed by Charles Peirce, in which a person develops a belief by agreeing with someone perceived to be an expert.	authority
Social cognition bias in which vivid or memorable events lead people to overestimate the frequency of occurrence of these events.	availability heuristic
Unwillingness to consider evidence that contradicts a strongly held view; similar to Peirce’s principle of tenacity.	belief perseverance
Social cognition bias in which events that confirm a strongly held belief are more readily perceived and remembered; disconfirming events are ignored or forgotten.	confirmation bias
Describes the belief of research psychologists that conclusions about behaviour should be supported by data collected scientifically.	data-driven
A goal of psychological science in which behaviours are accurately classified or sequences of environmental stimuli and behavioural events are accurately listed.	description
The assumption made by scientists that all events have causes.	determinism
The assumption made by scientists that the causes of events can be discovered by applying scientific methods.	discoverability
After expending a large amount of time or effort to obtain some goal, people feel pressured to convince themselves the effort was worthwhile, even if the resulting outcome is less positive than expected.	effort justification
A way of knowing that relies on direct observation or experience.	empiricism
explanation A goal of science in which the causes of events are sought.	explanation
Method used in the early years of psychological science in which an individual completed a task and then described the events occurring in consciousness while performing the task.	introspection
Regular, predictable relationships between events.	laws
Said to exist when observations can be verified by more than one observer.	objectivity
A goal of psychological science in which statements about the future occurrence of a behavioural event are made, usually with some probability.	predictions
A field of inquiry that attempts to associate with true science, relies exclusively on selective anecdotal evidence and is deliberately too vague to be adequately tested.	pseudoscience
A way of knowing characterised by the attempt to apply objective, empirical methods when searching for the causes of natural events.	science
An assumption made by research psychologists that behavioural events can be predicted with a probability greater than chance.	statistical determinism