1. Myers Chapter 1: Research Methods
A.P. Psychology

2. Essential Question
How do psychologists conduct scientific research, and how do they apply their findings to better understanding human behavior?

3. Chapter 1 (A): The Need for Psychological Science
A.P. Psychology

4. The Need for Scientific Research in Psychology
Hindsight Bias:
The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it
The “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon
E.g. “Monday Morning Quarterbacking”

5. The Need for Scientific Research in Psychology
Can you think of an example of Hindsight Bias?
Personal life
School
News/Media
Entertainment/Pop culture
Psychological/Scientific research

6. The Need for Scientific Research in Psychology
How much time do you think it will take you to unscramble these anagrams?
People said it would take
10 seconds, but on average
it took about 3 minutes
Anagram
WREAT
WATER
ETYRN
ENTRY
GRABE
BARGE

7. The Need for Scientific Research in Psychology
Overconfidence:
The tendency to believe that one knows more than he/she actually does
Leads to error and misjudgment

8. The Scientific Attitude
Curiosity (Passion for exploration)
Skepticism (Doubting and questioning)
Humility (Ability to accept responsibility when wrong)
Psychological researchers must also think critically

9. The Scientific Method The Scientific Method: Question Hypothesis
Experiment
Results
Conclusions
Theory

10. The Scientific Method

11. The Scientific Method Operational Definition: Replication:
A statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables
E.g. Intelligence may be defined by one’s IQ
Replication:
Ability to repeat a research study, with different participants in different situations
Determine whether basic findings extend beyond a single research study

12. Review
Why is it important for psychologists to conduct scientific research?
What is hindsight bias? Provide an example.
What are the 3 main components of the scientific attitude?
What are the 6 steps of the scientific method?

13. Homework Unit 1 Key People:
Research Study Response #40: “Obey At Any Cost?” (Pgs )