Chapter 1 Quiz: Psychology and Scientific Thinking

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

An approach to psychology that relied heavily on dream interpretation, symbolism, etc. was developed by

Sigmund Freud

of the 3500 or so self help books published every year, what percentage are scientifically tested

about 5 percent

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 hypothesis

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. These psychologist are sharing some _____ with georgio

applied research

twin adoption studies adressing the nature-nuture 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

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 psychologist 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, psychologist 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

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

Research has shown that people are prone to find patterns 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 feels that is true. What logical fallacy is at work?

emotional reasoning fallacy

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

empiricism

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.

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

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

logical fallacies

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

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

reciprocal determinism

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

science and religion are non overlapping realms of the understanding the world

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

In thinking of the multiple levels of analysis in psychology, the neurochemical level is considered to be ____

toward the lower end of the ladder