How to think critically about psych science

Written Assignment #8: How to think critically about psych science

DUE DATE: July 3, 2019 before 11:59 PM.

 

READING

a. To appreciate why critical thinking is crucial to understanding psychological science,

1. Watch Crash Course’s (2014) YouTube, “Psychological Research.” Because the narrator of the video speaks quite rapidly, you might need to watch the video at least twice (or use the speed-controller on YouTube).

2. Read Halonen’s (1996) article, “On Critical Thinking [in Psychology].” In this assignment, we will be working on what Halonen refers to as “Methodological” critical thinking skills.

3. Read the first page of Dewey’s (2007) chapter, “Critical Thinking [in Psychology].”

4. Read Stafford’s (2014) article, “What It Means To Be Critical [about Psychological Research],” which is more about how to be critical of psychological science than why it’s important to be critical, but Stafford’s article will prepare you for the rest of this assignment.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

b. To continue developing your skill for writing five-paragraph essays, write a five- paragraph essay of 400 to 500 words arguing either in favor of or against the statement, “Critical thinking is crucial to understanding psychological science.”

1. You may write either a Reasons/Arguments essay OR an Examples essay.

2. For either type essay: ▪ Remember to begin by jotting down somewhere your three

Reasons/Arguments or your three Examples. ▪ Next, you should write your three Reasons/Arguments paragraphs

or your three Examples paragraphs. ▪ Then, you should write your Thesis Statement ▪ Next, write your Introduction Paragraph, including a hook. ▪ The last step is to write your Conclusion Paragraph, in which you

restate your Thesis Statement and end with something witty or profound

3. Remember that each of your three Reasons/Arguments Paragraphs or each of your three Examples Paragraphs needs to have

▪ a Topic Sentence;

Part 1: Why critical thinking is crucial to psych science

 

 

▪ three or so Supporting Sentences; and ▪ a Conclusion Sentence.

c. Save your essay as PDF and name the file YourLastname_CriticalThinkingEssay.pdf.

d. Go to Written Assignment #8, Part 1: Critical Thinking Essay and attach your essay, saved as a PDF. Remember to “Attach” your essay’s PDF (don’t embed your file or use the “File” tool; instead, use the “Attach” tool).

 

READING

a. To learn the critical questions that should be asked about psychological science (or any type of science) reported in the news:

1. Read about the first (“Sensationalized Headlines”), second (“Misinterpreted Results”), third (“Conflicts of Interest), and twelfth (“Non- Peer Reviewed Material”) indicator of bad science in Compound Interest’s (2015) infographic “A Rough Guide to Spotting Bad Science.”

2. To see examples of the first (“Sensationalized Headlines”) and twelfth (“Non-Peer Reviewed Material”) indicators of bad science, watch Above the Noise’s (2017) YouTube, “Top 4 Tips To Spot Bad Science Reporting.”

3. Read Ossola’s (2017) article, “Can You Tell If a Health Story Is Total BS?” Ossola’s indicators of “Check the Label” and “Control the Spin” are like Compound Interest’s “Sensationalized Headlines” indicator; however, Ossola presents a novel indicator “Beware the Animal Study.”

4. To see examples of these indicators of bad science, watch Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’s (2016) YouTube, “Scientific Studies.” Warning: John Oliver is a late-night comedian/TV host. Therefore, this video contains adult content, adult language, and extreme irreverence toward a wide swath of people. The video presents numerous examples of bad science indicators; however, if you’d prefer not to watch the video, then please don’t.

b. From the Internet, find three news reports, each of which reports a different study that is characterized by at least one of these indicators of bad science:

1. “Sensationalized Headlines” 2. “Misinterpreted Results” 3. “Non-Peer Reviewed Material” 4. “Beware the Animal Study” 5. “Conflicts of Interest”

c. Be sure to find three different news reports, each of which reports a different study, rather than three news reports all of which report the same study.

 

Part 2: Learn the critical questions to be asked in psych science

 

 

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

d. Go to the discussion board forum Written Assignment #8, Part 2: bad science journalism and make a new thread of at least 200 words. In your post:

1. Describe each of the three news reports, preferably each in its own paragraph.

2. Identify which indicator of bad science characterizes each news report. 3. Provide for each news report either its URL (using the technique you

learned from the Course How To) or, if a video, its YouTube or Vimeo link.

 

READING/VIEWING

a. This assignment will focus on the fourth indicator of bad science in Compound Interest’s (2015) infographic, which is confusing “Correlation with Causation.”

1. Watch TEDxDelft’s (2012) YouTube, “The Danger of Mixing Up Causality and Correlation.”

2. Watch PsychU’s (2015) YouTube, “Correlation vs. Causation – PSY 101.”

3. Because PsychU momentarily confuses the term “hypothesis” with the term “theory,” watch PBS’s (2015) YouTube “Fact vs. Theory vs. Hypothesis vs. Law … Explained!“

4. Make sure you know the meanings of, and differences among, the four terms: Fact, Theory, Hypothesis, and Law. Not only will you will need to know these terms and their differences throughout the rest of this course, but everyone should know these terms and their differences.

b. Back to understanding the problem of confusing “Correlation with Causation”:

1. Watch AsapScience’s (2017) YouTube, “This ≠ That.” 2. Watch Khan Academy’s (2011) YouTube, “Correlation and Causality.”

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

c. Make sure you understand what correlation means, what causation means, and why correlation cannot be used to prove causation.

1. Jot down at least six examples of correlation not proving causation from the videos you watched. One example is the correlation between the amount of ice cream purchased (during each month of the year) and the number of drowning deaths (during each month of the year) not proving that ice cream causes drowning.

2. Make sure you understand that two variables (e.g., ice cream purchases per month and drowning deaths per month) might both be caused by

Part 3: Confusing correlation with causation

 

 

another variable (e.g., season of the year). That other variable is often called a confounding variable.

3. Make sure you understand that the correlation between two variables (e.g., pool drownings per year and Nicholas Cage films per year) might simply be due to coincidence.

4. Make sure you understand that rather than one variable (e.g., skipping breakfast) causing another variable (e.g., obesity), the causation might be reversed.

d. Teach two separate people (family, friends, etc) why they should not confuse correlation with causation. You can teach each person via email, phone, text, Facebook, Skype, in person, or any other communication medium (parents, grandparents or siblings could be a good choice). But you must teach two separate people at two separate times why they should not confuse correlation with causation.

1. When you are teaching each person, provide examples of correlations that do not prove causation, using the examples you saw in the videos.

2. To make sure that each of the two people learned why correlation should not be interpreted as causation, ask each person to tell you another example (an example that you did not tell them) of correlation not proving causation.

e. Go to the discussion board forum Written Assignment #8, Part 3: Correlation is not causation and make a new post of at least 250 words in which you

1. List the six examples you jotted down from the videos 2. describe how you taught the two persons that correlation cannot be

interpreted as causation; 3. state each of the two persons’ initials (e.g., MG) and their approximate

age; and 4. report the examples each person told you of correlations that should not

be confused with causation.

 

READING

a. To understand what is often referred to as the “Hierarchy of Scientific Evidence,”

1. download (to your own computer) and save The Logic of Science’s (no date) Hierarchy of Scientific Evidence graphic, and

2. read Brunning’s (2015) article, “A Rough Guide to Types of Scientific Evidence.”

b. Identify where on the Hierarchy of Scientific Evidence case reports (which are also called case studies) lie.

Part 4: The Hierarchy of Scientific Evidence

 

 

1. Then, read about some of the most famous psychology case reports in Jarrett’s (2015) article, “Psychology’s Greatest Case Studies – Digested.”

2. Think about why it was important for the various scientists who reported these case studies to report these case studies.

c. Identify where on the Hierarchy of Scientific Evidence randomized controlled studies lie.

1. Then, read about an example of a randomized controlled study in Fradera’s (2017) article, “How Much Are Readers Misled by Headlines that Imply Correlational Findings Are Causal?”

2. Think about why it was important for these scientists to conduct a randomized controlled study on this topic.

d. Identify where on the Hierarchy of Scientific Evidence meta-analyses and systematic reviews lie.

1. Then, to see an example of a journal article reporting a meta-analysis, read the abstract of Hyde and Lynn’s (1988) article, “Gender Differences in Verbal Ability: A Meta-Analysis.”

2. Think about why it was important for these scientists to conduct a meta- analysis on this topic.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT

e. Write a five-paragraph essay of 400 to 500 words arguing either in favor of or against the statement, “All scientific evidence is equally strong.”

1. You may write either a Reasons/Arguments essay OR an Examples essay. For either type essay, remember the following steps:

▪ Begin by jotting down your three Reasons/Arguments or your three Examples.

▪ Then, write your three Reasons/Arguments Paragraphs or your three Examples Paragraphs.

▪ For each of your three Reasons/Arguments Paragraphs or each of your three Examples Paragraphs, write a Topic Sentence, three or so Supporting Sentences, and a Conclusion Sentence.

▪ Then, write your essay’s Thesis Statement. ▪ Then, write your essay’s Introduction Paragraph, including a hook. ▪ Then, write your essay’s Conclusion Paragraph, in which you

restate your Thesis Statement and end with something witty or profound.

2. Save your essay as a PDF and name the file YourLastname_EvidenceEssay.pdf.

f. Go to Writing Assignment #8, Part 4: Evidence Essay and submit your essay.