Video and Multimedia

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Video 1Psychological Research: Crash Course Psychology
Description: So how do we apply the scientific method to psychological research? In this episode of Crash Course Psychology, learn about case studies, naturalistic observation, surveys and interviews, and experimentation. Also covered are different kinds of bias in experimentation and how research practices help us avoid them.

Video 2How Statistics Can Be Misleading
Description: Statistics are persuasive. So much so that people, organizations, and whole countries base some of their most important decisions on organized data. But any set of statistics might have something lurking inside it that can turn the results completely upside down. A must see for anyone who has suspected that “numbers” can be made to say anything.

Video 3Field Experiment: Baby Left in Hot Car (from ABC’s What Would You Do)
Description: Watch this episode from the ABC television show, What Would You Do, that stages an infant left alone in a locked care on a hot day. An excellent example of a field study, as we get to observe the natural behavior of people who pass by the vehicle, that shows the power such studies afford us to learn about human behavior.

Audio 1When Great Minds Think Unalike: Inside Science’s “Replication Crisis”
Description: As students in our science courses, we all learn that replication of results is the “gold standard” of science. From cancer medicine to psychology, researchers are finding that many claims made in scientific studies fail to hold up when those studies are repeated by an independent group. In this must listen episode of Hidden Brain, learn about this truly unsettling state of affairs, what has been called a replication crisis in science.

Audio 2The Living Room: An Example of Naturalistic Observation
Description: As a research technique, naturalistic observation can reveal powerful evidence of what people and animals are really like, as those being observed are unaware they are under observation, and being watched. Here, you will hear about the observations of one neighbor upon another, which at first appeared both voyeuristic and annoying, then gradually became troubling, and ultimately heartbreaking. Provided by Radiolab, a must listen for anyone, especially if you’ve ever seen or wondered about what really happens behind closed doors.

Audio 3Lucy, and other Primates: The Value and Ethics of Doing Animal Research
Description: Chimps. Bonobos. Humans. We're all great apes, but that doesn’t mean we’re one happy family, but here are stories of trying to live together. Is this kind of cross-species co-habitation an utterly stupid idea? Or might it be our one last hope as more and more humans fill up the planet? In these gripping examples of primate research, some heartbreaking, and others astonishing, a chimp named Lucy teaches us the ups and downs of growing up human, and a visit to The Great Ape Trust in Des Moines, Iowa highlights some of the basics of bonobo culture (be careful, they bite . . . but can they say they’re sorry?). If you’ve never given serious thought to the value and ethics of doing animal research, you will after hearing these stories provided by Radiolab.