Honours Seminar in Psychology

1
Honours Seminar in Psychology

• Lecture 2 Context of the Research Process

2
In groups of three, develop a scientific
hypothesis based on something you have found in
the newspaper

• Nominate someone to present this to the class
• What newspaper piece inspired the question?
• What is the scientific hypothesis?
• What research could be conducted?
• Other people in class should feel free to ask
  questions.

3
What testable hypotheses were created?

• Peter Benstead, Shannon Cushing, Sarah ONeill
• Are police officers more aggressive than other
  groups?
• Norah Love, Meghan McConnell, Kristin Travers
• Does methadone improve life quality?
• Julia Feldstein, Christine Doucette, Shae Chapman
• Are community-housing residents less pleased with
  living conditions than privately owned residents?
  
• Ansley Simpson, Pam Rideout, Christine Comeau
• What do people attend to from public
  demonstrations

4

• Johnathan Fleming, Jesse Morton, Megan Caines
• Does a teen retreat assist in coping with a loss?
• Corinne McNally, Duncan MacDonald, Kate Belliveau
• Does life satisfaction predict longevity?
• Christine Saykaly, Lucy Patrick, Natalie Mercer
• Does breakfast affect cognitive function in
  school?

5
What makes a scientific explanation?

• Empirical Objective and systematic observation,
  observable by the senses
• Rational Follows rules of logic and known fact
• Testable, falsifiable
• Parsimonious Requires the fewest assumptions
• General Laws
• Rigorously evaluated

6
What do polygraphs used in lie detector tests
measure?

7
Basic Vs. Applied

• Theory
• Empirical
• Real-world examples of a phenomenon not important
• Experimental

• Problem in the real-world
• Theoretically-based, but does not test theory
• Less controlled
• Can be less general

Were your newspaper-based questions basic or
applied questions?
8
Figure 1-4 The Research Process