psych chapter 1
The popular treatment of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) while thinking about traumatic memories did not prove more effective in controlled studies than looking at an immobile dot while recalling the same memories. Which principle of scientific thinking should have been considered before making claims for EMDR's effectiveness?
NOT correlation isn't causation
British philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) stood on the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate, comparing the mind of a newborn to a sheet of white paper that had yet to be written on. Others later used which term to describe the same idea?
NOT genetic inheritance
Sarah suffers from chronic back pain. She is searching the Internet in hopes of finding a cure when she finds a website that offers a course of exercises that are proven to be effective in 92 percent of all back pain sufferers. Should Sarah pay $250 for this product?
No. the exaggerated claims of "proven" success are signs that pseudoscience is at work
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
Psychics who perform poorly in laboratory tests and blame their poor performance on "bad vibes" from skeptical researchers are displaying which sign of pseudoscience?
ad hoc immunizing hypotheses
B.F. Skinner was among those who argued that free will is
an illusion
To ensure that you are thinking scientifically about the issues you encounter in your life and in order to make better decisions, you should
insist on evidence
Because religious concepts cannot be tested scientifically, Stephen Jay Gould said that
science and religion are nonoverlapping realms of understanding the world
The text answers the question "What is psychology?" by defining psychology as the ________ study of the mind, brain, and behavior.
scientific
Which of the following is NOT a warning sign of pseudoscience?
self-correction when contrary evidence is published
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
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
To follow the scientific thinking principle that correlation isn't causation, it is important to understand that just because two ________ happen at the same time or in proximity to each other does not mean that one caused the other.
variables
Occam's Razor is a principle of scientific thinking that was developed by British philosopher and monk Sir William of Occam. It is also called the "principle of parsimony," because "parsimony" means
"logical simplicity"
Science is defined in the chapter as
a systematic approach to evidence
Which of the following correctly defines the word "hypothesis"?
a testable prediction
Of the 3,500 or so self-help books published every year, what percentage are scientifically tested?
about 5%
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
Francis doesn't want to take the SAT or ACT exams because he believes 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, while not perfect, these tests are significantly better than chance at predicting college success. These psychologists are engaged in
applied research
Dr. Barnes is studying the effect on depression of the loss of important personal relationships and the lack of social supports. Because this research addresses social and cultural influences on psychology, it is considered to be
at the top level of analysis
Twin and adoption studies addressing the nature-nurture debate are conducted by
behavior geneticists
People have a tendency to continue in their beliefs even when they have been shown to be wrong. This phenomenon is known as
belief perseverance
When evaluating popular beliefs, we can distinguish between metaphysical claims and pseudoscientific claims because metaphysical claims
cannot be tested and therefore lie outside the realm of science
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 behaviorists' neglect of the mental processes involved in different aspects of thinking. Believing that thinking has a powerful effect on behavior, psychologists such as Jean Piaget began to develop the field of
cognitivism
Scientists use certain tools to help them avoid the human tendency to seek evidence that supports our own beliefs and dismiss evidence that contradicts those beliefs. This tendency is known as
confirmation bias
Your friend is an emergency room nurse. She tells you the ER is always more busy when there is a full moon; she claims it is because unstable people are more affected by the moon's gravity. To evaluate her claim, you should understand that
correlation is not causation
Psychological researchers have been become more aware of the importance of replicating research results because of the fact 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 he 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
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
A friend says he will not have his new baby inoculated against any childhood diseases because he's 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's 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
Replication of experiment results is usually conducted by researchers who introduce minor variations to the original design of the test or
extend the design to different participants
Paul is a school psychologist who has been asked to write an explanation of what all people look at first when they view photographs of dangerous animals. Paul will find this assignment difficult because
eye-tracking studies show differences between cultures
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
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
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
Our brains are predisposed to make order out of disorder and to find sense in nonsense. This can cause us to misperceive the presence of
meaningful patterns
Because human behavior is ________, we must be skeptical of single-variable explanations
multiply determined
Because human behavior is ________, we must be skeptical of single-variable explanations.
multiply determined
Which term describes the common sense belief that we see the world as it really is?
native realism
Conspiracy theorists often fail to fight confirmation bias and therefore
neglect evidence that does not support their hypothesis
Which of the following common sense statements is true?
people tend to be romantically attracted to those who have similar personalities and attitude to their own
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 field is called
psychoanalysis
Four scientists are discussing whether extrasensory perception has been established as a scientific phenomenon. Who of the following are less likely to believe this to be true?
psychologists
For an extraverted person, the outgoing behavior of other people can make you even more extraverted. Bandura called this mutual influence on each other's behavior
reciprocal determinism
Which of the following is an indication of pseudoscience?
relying on stories of individuals
By testing hypotheses and analyzing the results of these tests, scientists can provisionally accept the theory behind the hypothesis, reject the theory outright, or
revise the theory
Pseudoscience is different from real science in that pseudoscience lacks
safeguards against confirmation bias and belief perseverance
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. Lou, a police psychologist, is advising the detectives on the most accurate way to put together a lineup. He recommends that they use a
sequential lineup
E.B. Titchener was a leading figure in which framework of psychology, advocating the use of introspection to identify basic elements of experience?
structuralism
Jason says that people choose their actions and should be held responsible for the consequences of those actions. Marta says that behavior is shaped by environment and heredity, and is therefore beyond the control of the individual. They are participating in the
the free will-determinism debate
B.F. Skinner was a leading figure in the psychological field of Behaviorism, which had the scientific goal of
uncovering general principles of learning that explain all behaviors
Some main warning signs of pseudoscientific claims include exaggerated claims, overreliance on anecdotes, absence of connectivity to other research, lack of peer review, and
use of scientific-sounding terms that make little sense
