chapter 1: psychology & scientific thinking (revel)

An important principle of scientific thinking states that if two explanations account equally well for a phenomenon, we should generally select the simpler one. This principle is known as __________.

Occam's Razor

An approach to psychology that relied heavily on dream interpretation, symbolism, unconscious motives, and the suppression of sexual and aggressive urges was developed by __________.

Sigmund Freud

Your friend is an emergency room nurse. He tells you the ER is always busier when there is a full moon; he claims it is because unstable people are more affected by the moon's gravitational pull. To evaluate his claim, you should understand that __________.

correlation is not causation

the idea that we can dismiss scientific theories (such as Darwinian evolution) from serious consideration because a theory "is just an educated guess" is _________________________

a misconception

Of the 3,500 or so self-help books published every year, what percentage are scientifically tested?

about 5%

According to astronomer Carl Sagan, scientific skepticism includes (1) a willingness to keep an open mind to all claims, and (2) a willingness to __________.

accept claims only after researchers have subjected them to careful scientific tests

Psychics who perform poorly in laboratory tests and then blame their poor performance on "bad vibes" from skeptical researchers are displaying which sign of pseudoscience?

ad hoc immunizing hypotheses

The idea of placing a third brake light at the base of a car's back windshield and changing the color of fire engines from red to yellow are examples of __________.

applied psychological research

Georgio does not want to take the SAT or ACT exams because he thinks they will not accurately reflect his ability to succeed in college and are no more useful than flipping a coin. His guidance counselor explains that psychologists have determined that, although not perfect, these tests are significantly better than chance at predicting college success. These psychologists are sharing some __________ with Georgio.

applied research

Twin and adoption studies addressing the nature-nurture debate are typically conducted by __________.

behavior geneticists

The phrase "don't confuse me with the facts" would best describe which self-deception trap?

belief perseverance

people have a tendency to continue holding on to their beliefs even when those beliefs have been shown to be wrong. this phenomenon is known as _____________________

belief perseverance

Which type of psychologist is most likely to work with patients who have serious mental disorders such as major depression?

clinical psychologist

In the 1950s and 1960s, many psychologists were disillusioned with behaviorism's neglect of the mental processes involved in different aspects of thinking. Arguing that thinking has a powerful effect on behavior, psychologists such as Jean Piaget began to develop the field of __________.

cognitivism

One reason that intuition and common sense are not a good basis for scientific psychology is that we often do not notice __________.

contradictions between our views

The "third variable problem" is associated with which scientific thinking principle?

correlation is not causation

Psychological researchers have become more aware of the importance of replicating research results. Part of this awareness is driven by the observation that the size of certain psychological findings appears to be shrinking over time. This phenomenon is known as the __________.

decline effect

You meet a psychologist who tells you that she conducts research on children to determine how their cognitive processes differ as the child gets older. You recognize that this person is most likely a(n) __________.

developmental psychologist

Ten-year-old Candace Newmaker died as a result of a pseudoscientific treatment called "rebirthing therapy." This is an example of pseudoscience causing __________.

direct harm

Research has shown that people are especially prone to find patterns of meaning in meaningless stimuli when they __________.

do not feel a sense of control

A friend says he will not have his new baby inoculated against any childhood diseases because he is afraid the shots will cause autism. You point out that there is no scientific evidence to support that idea. He says he knows that, but he just feels that it is true. What logical fallacy is at work?

emotional reasoning fallacy

One reason people are drawn to believing in pseudoscience is that we use our emotions as guides to evaluate the validity of claims. This is known as the affect heuristic or the __________.

emotional reasoning fallacy

Science begins with the premise that knowledge should first be acquired through observation. This premise is called __________.

empiricism

Dr. Frohardt is a psychology professor who has been asked to explain what all people will look at first when they view photographs of dangerous animals. Dr Frohardt will find this task difficult because...

eye-tracking studies show differences between cultures when inspecting visual materials

One of the great debates that has shaped the field of psychology is the question of whether people choose their behaviors or are obliged to act in certain ways by factors beyond their control. This is known as the __________ debate.

free will-determinism

The theoretical framework of psychology known as structuralism had two major problems. One was that highly trained introspectionists often disagreed on subjective reports. The other was the discovery of __________.

imageless thought

Wilhelm Wundt developed the first full-fledged psychological laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany. He pioneered the technique of __________, in which trained observers reflected on and reported on their own mental experiences.

introspection

According to philosopher of science Sir Karl Popper, for a scientific claim to be meaningful, it must be falsifiable, which means __________.

it can be tested to determine if it is false

Evolutionary psychology has been criticized because __________.

its predictions are difficult to falsify

as a discipline, psychology spans multiple _______________, which can be thought of as the rungs on a ladder

levels of analysis

Ways of thinking that appear to make intuitive sense but are actually traps that lead to mistaken conclusions are called __________.

logical fallacies

which term describes the common sense belief that we see the world as it really is?

naive realism

Bud and Sandy are discussing the merits of new automobiles. Bud noted, "This car model has been tested by four different consumer agencies in hundreds of tests with virtually the same outcomes each time; it is very reliable." Sandy countered, "Yeah, but my neighbor down the street bought that car, and he has had nothing but problems. I would stay away from it." Which hallmark of pseudoscience has Sandy fallen prey to?

over-reliance on anecdotes

According to David Hume, an eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher, the more a claim contradicts what we already know, the more __________ must be the evidence for the claim.

persuasive

Just as behaviorism was gaining popularity in the United States, Sigmund Freud was founding a new field of psychology, one that focused on internal psychological processes such as unconscious impulses, thoughts, and memories. This approach is called __________.

psychoanalysis

The outgoing behavior of other people can make an extraverted person act even more extraverted. Bandura called this mutual influence on one another's behavior __________.

reciprocal determinism

Laurie told her friend Sandi, "I had a headache this morning so I used an old family cure: Three sips of ginger ale, and an hour later my head felt better." Sandi replied, "I am glad you are feeling more comfortable now, but maybe the sheer passage of time made your headache go away." Sandi is offering a(n) __________ in response to Laurie's explanation.

rival hypothesis

Because religious concepts cannot be tested scientifically, we should consider that __________.

science & religion are nonoverlapping realms of understanding the world

The police have arrested a suspect in an assault case and the victim has agreed to look at a lineup to see if he can identify the person who attacked him. Gary, a police psychologist, is advising the detectives on the most accurate way to put together a lineup. What should he recommend that they use?

sequential lineup

E.B. Titchener was a leading figure in which framework of psychology, which advocated the use of introspection to identify basic elements of experience?

structuralism

British philosopher John Locke stood on the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate, comparing the mind of a newborn to a sheet of paper that had yet to be written on. Others later used which term to describe the same idea?

tabula rasa

Science writer Michael Shermer coined the termed "patternicity" to refer to __________.

the human tendency to see patterns in meaningless data

In thinking of the multiple levels of analysis in psychology, the neurochemical level is considered to be __________ because this level is more closely tied to biological influences.

toward the lower end of the ladder

Some main warning signs of pseudoscientific claims include overreliance on anecdotes, exaggerated claims, absence of connectivity to other research, lack of peer review, and __________.

use of scientific-sounding terms that make little sense

Alice is looking for an effective diet program. She is able to evaluate the claims of competing programs in an open-minded and careful fashion by __________, the hallmark of scientific skepticism.

using her critical thinking skills