1) Intro to Psychology Flashcards
Chapter 1
Describe the levels of analysis
Higher levels: Social/cultural influences
(mind and relationships)
Middle levels: Psychological
(thoughts and emotions)
Lower levels: Biological influences
(brain and molecules)
What is the unifying feature of psychology?
Quest to understand behavior by using methods of science
What’s the differences between a Clinical psychologist vs Psychiatrist?
Clinical
- graduate school
- cannot prescribe medication
- phD or psyD
- cognition & behaviour
Psychiatrist
- medical school
- can prescribe medication
- MD
- biological & neurochemical
What are the four different perspectives that help explain human behaviour?
biological
psychological
social
cultural
Why are human actions so difficult to predict?
behaviour is multiply determined (many factors)
and psychological influences are dependent on each other
Reciprocal Determinism
People mutually influence each other’s behaviour
Emic vs Etic Studies
study of people who grew up inside the culture vs outside
What are 4 ways we explain behaviour, unscientifically?
- common sense & folk wisdom
- authorities & experts
- intuition
- naive realism
Common Sense
Gut intuitions about how the social world works
- trust it becuz we are prone to naive realism
- can be handy but also deceiving
Naive Realism
Belief that we see the world precisely as it is
- can lead us to draw incorrect conclusions about human nature
Folk Wisdom
opposites attract, birds of a feather flock, etc
-> can be contradicting
Most methods to explain behaviour are scientific or unscientific?
Unscientific
What are the 3 key characteristics of science?
- Systematic empiricism
2.Production of public knowledge
(peer review, replication) - Search for a solvable problem
(no god finding)
Science relies on ____ and can only deal with problems that have ____
- empirical observation
- empirical solutions
What is systematic empiricism?
rely on observation that is systematically organized to draw relationships
- can’t study the things we cannot observe
- transparent / public and repeatable
Scientific Theory
Explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world (not just an educated guess)
what are two misconceptions about scientific theories?
Theory explains one event
Theory is just an educated guess
Hypothesis
Testable prediction derived from scientific theory
Metaphysical Claim
assertion about the world that is not testabe
i.e. unfalsifiable claim
Confirmation Bias
tendency to seek out or overweigh evidence that supports our hypotheses and dismiss or distort evidence that contradicts them
- accounts for how even brilliant scientists can be led astray