PYSCH 100 Exam 1 Study Guide

Meaningless Psychobabble

Using fancy sounding words to make yourself seem like you know what you are talking about

Overreliance on anecdotes

"I know a person who..."

the five "intriguing challenges" of psychology

1. Human behavior is exceedingly difficult to predict because almost all actions are produced by many factors (Multiply Determined). This is why we need to be skeptical of single factor explanations of behavior. 2. Psychological influences are rarely independent of each other, making it difficult to pin down which cause or causes are operating. 3. People differ from each other in thinking, emotion, personality, and behavior. These individual differences help to explain why we each person responds in different ways to the same objective situation, such as an insulting comment from a boss. 4. People often influence each other, making it difficult to pin down exactly what caused what. 5. People's behavior is often shaped in powerful ways by culture.

Explain the two misconceptions about scientific theory. Give an example of each misconception that is not found in the book.

1. The first misconception is that a theory is a specific explanation for an event. It attempts to explain only one event rather than a variety of diverse explanations. Ex. My theory is that I failed the test because I didn't study. 2. Second misconception: A theory is only an educated guess. Ex. "It can't be true if it's just a theory"

circular reasoning

A fallacy in which the argument repeats the claim as a way to provide evidence.

peer review

A process where the procedures and results of an experiment are evaluated by other scientists who are in the same field.

Explain the difference between a theory and a hypothesis.

A theory is an explanation for multiple events or observations whereas a hypothesis is a testable prediction derived from a scientific theory.

double-blind study

An experiment in which neither the participant nor the researcher knows whether the participant has received the treatment or the placebo

What is nature vs. nurture?

Are our behaviors a product of genetics (nature) or from how we were raised (nurture)?

Lack of Peer Review

Bypasses peer review and relies on anecdotes or conducts informal research that's never submitted to scientific journals Fifty studies conducted by the company all show overwhelming success

Why was Wundt's use of introspection problematic for the structuralism perspective?

Certain answers were accompanied with imageless thought which showed no conscious experience. Introspection could not provide all of the information needed for a complete science of psychology. multiple methods are almost always needed to understand complex psychological phenomena.

Genetic Fallacy

Condemning an argument because of where it began, how it began, or who began it.

Appeal to Authority

Error of accepting a claim because an authority figure endorses it

Emotional reasoning fallacy

Error of using our emotions as guides for evaluating the validity of a claim

Overuse of ad hoc immunizing hypotheses

Escape hatch that defenders of a theory use to protect their theory from falsification.

Cogntivism

Focuses on the belief that our thinking affects our behavior in powerful ways

Behaviorism

Focuses on uncovering the general principles of learning that expalin all behaviors by observig what is happening

Pyschoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts

The text says that, "Good scientists never claim to 'prove' their theories...." Explain.

Good scientists use words that leave room to be proven wrong later on. Good scientists want the truth more than they want to be right about something.

The authors state: "believing is seeing." Explain. How was this demonstrated in the 'Prisoners of Silence' video?

In prisoners of silence, Dr. Bicklen based his beliefs on FC on anecdotes, testimonies and seeing the autistic person "communicate" with the help of a facilitator himself. Since he saw FC work himself, he didn't need any other evidence despite all the evidence proved FC is not a functional means of communication

To navigate through false claims and to think more scientifically, what three words do the authors suggest you adhere to?

Insist on evidence

Lack of Self-correction

Never adjust claims when contrary evidence is published unlike science which weeks out incorrect claims eventually. Proponents cling to claims stubbornly

According to the authors, what are the dangers of pseudoscience?

Opportunity Cost, Direct harm, and Inability to think scientifically as citizens.

What is the historical relationship between philosophy and psychology?

Philosophy and psychology were difficult to distinguish from each other

proof instead of evidence

Proven without much evidence

System 1 thinking (intuitive thinking)

Quick and reflexive, consists of gut hunches and requires little mental effort.

Six basic principles of scientific thinking

Ruling out rival hypotheses Correlation isnt causation Falsifiability Replacability Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence Occam's Razor

The authors say, "...common sense can lead us to believe two things that can't both be true..." Explain this. Then give an example of two other popular proverbs that contradict each other.

Scientific psychology cannot rely entirely on intuition, speculation, or common sense because our intuitive understanding of ourselves and the world is frequently mistaken.

System 2 thinking (analytical thinking)

Slow and relective, it takes mental effort

dependent variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

Role of the Institutional Review Board (IRB)

The IRB evaluates all research carefully in order to protect participants against abuse.

Mean

The average of a set of numbers

"People who are highly intelligent are just as prone to bias blind spot as are other people, so we shouldn't assume that more knowledge, education, or sophistication make us immune to this error."

This quote is trying to explain that most people are unaware of their own biases but are aware of others. Even though you are highly intelligent, you are just as prone to bias as anyone else is.

Type of question a Functionalist would ask

Why do animals live in groups?

correlation research design

a correlational research design is a type of non-experimental design used to describe the relationship between or among variables

case study

a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to +1)

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

exaggerated claims

claims that simply cannot be substantiated by any kind of evidence

existence proof

demonstration that a given psychological phenomenon can occur

demand characteristics

cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected

free will vs determinism

do we freely choose our actions or is behavior caused by things outside our control?

Argument from antiquity fallacy

error of assuming that a belief must be valid just because it's been around for a long time

Bandwagon fallacy

error of assuming that a claim is correct just because many people believe it

appeal to ignorance fallacy

error of assuming that a claim must be true because no one has shown it to be false

hasty generalization fallacy

error of drawing a conclusion on the basis of insufficient evidence

Either/or fallacy

error of framing a question as though we can only answer it in one of two extreme ways

misinformation explosion

falling victim to a surplus of misinformation and pseudoscience due to the lack of proper quality control over the information being let out.

nocebo effect

harm resulting from the mere expectation of harm

placebo effect

improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement

Hypothesis

testable prediction derived from a scientific theory

Median

the middle score in a numerical data set

Heuristic

mental short that helps us streamline our thinking and make sense of the world at the cost of accuracy

random selection

procedure that ensures every person in a population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate

basic research

research examining how the mind works

applied research

scientific study that aims to solve real-world problems

Descriptive statistis

statistics that summarize the data collected in a study (Mean-Median-Mode)

Halo effect

tendency of rating one positive characteristics to "spill over" other characteristics.

Responce set

tendency to answer question ins a socially desirable direction

Sharpening

tendency to exaggerate the gist, or central message, of a study

Leveling

tendency to minimize the less central details of a study

belief perseverance

tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them

Pseudosymmetry

the appearance of a scientific controversy where none exists

Not me fallacy

the error of believing that we're immune from errors in thinking that afflict other people

control group

the group that does not receive the experimental treatment.

Mode

the most frequently occurring score in a data set

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists

What is psychology?

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Patternicity

the tendency to perceive meaningful patterns in their absence

Conformation Bias

the tendency to seek evidence that confirms one's beliefs and deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that contradicts them.

What do the tools of in the scientific tool box have in common?

they allow us test hypotheses and give us confidence to accept, revise or reject a theory

independent variable

variable that is manipulated

Theory

well-tested explanation for multiple observations

expiremental design

when researchers are measuring preexisting differences in participants, like age, gender, IQ, and extraversion. Researchers also manipulate variables to see whether these manipulations produce difference in participant's behavior.

Characteristics of Scientific Skepticism

willingness to keep an open mind to all claims and a willingness to accept claims only after they gone through scientific tests and the evidence is persuasive.

The authors state, "Testable claims fall within the province of science; untestable claims don't." Explain.

•Testable claims fall within the things we can test in the natural world. •Untestable claims fall within the metaphysical world, as in God, souls, and life after death. These things cannot be tested with science.