Unit 0 - Scientific Foundations

Flip It Videos

• • Module 1 - Structuralism vs. Functionalism

  • Module 5 - Operational Definitions

  • Module 6 - Correlations

  • Module 6 - Variables in Experiments

  • Module 7 - The Normal Curve

  • Module 8 - Ethics

"I Fooled Millions Into Thinking Chocolate Helps Weight Loss. Here's How"

http://io9.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800

Article from io9 (5/27/15)

This is a fascinating story about how a journalist intentionally conducted a horribly designed study and then still managed to convince millions of people that his faulty study was a meaningful, groundbreaking discovery. It does a great job of exposing the "junk-science diet industry" and causes the reader to think about how we consume and (often fail to) evaluate research. I hope through this course you learn to be more critical thinkers and not be so easily fooled.

Adam Ruins Everything - "Science"

Here are a couple clips from an episode of Adam Ruins Everything about some of the problems in how we do science. If you get a chance to watch the full episode, I highly recommend it. It gives us some interesting things to think about as to some aspects of science that could use improvement.

Placebo

(from NPR Radiolab) With new research demonstrating the startling power of the placebo effect, this hour of Radiolab examines the chemical consequences of belief and imagination. Could the best medicine be no medicine at all? We take stock of the pharmacy in our brains, consider the symbolic power of the doctor coat, and visit the tent of a self-proclaimed faith healer. Listen to the Podcast here:

http://www.radiolab.org/2007/may/17/

Ethics

In case any of you are really interested in the topic of ethics in psychology, I've pasted in a link to the full APA document "The Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct" (drafted in 2002). The first major ethical guidelines by the APA were adopted in 1973 - this is the current version of the general guidelines.

The Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct

Discovering Psychology: Understanding Research

These would be good to watch as a review of major concepts from the unit before you take the unit test.