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
Is confirmation bias unintentional or intentional?
unintentional, not consciously doing this!
Belief Perseverance
tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them
Patternicity
tendency to detect meaningful patterns in random stimuli (when there may be no pattern at all)
Pseudo Science
knowledge, belief, or methodology that claims or appears scientific but does not adhere to scientific methods
- Lacks safeguards against biases
- To sell product, services, therapies
- Common and very resistant to change
What are some ways to identify pseudo science?
- exaggerated claims without strong evidence
- overuse of Ad Hoc Immunizing Hypothesis
- over-reliance on anecdotal evidence
- psychobabble and language
(real ones usually say support instead of prove) - no connection to credible research
- lack of self correction
(belief perseverance, cherry picking)
Ad Hoc Immunizing Hypothesis
Escape hatch or loophole that defenders of a theory use to protect their theory from falsification
psychobabble
Words that sound scientific but are used incorrectly or in a misleading manner
- Ppl believe cuz they have no clue (it sounds complex, so it must be true)
Why do people believe in pseudo science?
- trust authorities and experts
- placebo effect or natural progression of ailment
- confirmation bias
- salience of testimonials / anecdotes
Placebo effect
beneficial effect in a patient following a particular treatment that arises from the patients expectations concerning the treatment rather than from the treatment itself
Natural progression of ailment
naturally get better when sick
Why people believe in pseudo: salience of testimonials
- gambler’s fallacy
- failing to use probabilistic info in decision making
gambler’s fallacy
tendency for people to see links between past and future events at times when past events are completely independent from future ones
Explain why people fail to use probabilistic info in decision making
- our brain pays little attention to non events
- we tend to pay attention to unusual stories
- we fail to realize that one story doesn’t mean the truth for everyone!
Describe the harm of pseudo science
- opportunity cost
- miss out on effective treatment
- time, and money - Direct harm
- not scientifically tested, can be unsafe - inability to think scientifically
- needed skill for educated decision making
Why are we drawn to pseudo science?
- find comfort in our beliefs, offer sense of control and motivation
- see patterns that don’t exist
- terror management theory
Terror management theory
our awareness of our own inevitable death leaves us with terror, so we cope by adopting reassuring cultural views that our lives have a purpose
- Theory suggests we’re likely to hold paranormal beliefs regardless of correctness
What are the three important fallacies that help us separate science from pseudo science?
- Emotional Reasoning Fallacy
- Bandwagon Fallacy
- Not Me Fallacy
Emotional Reasoning Fallacy
Using emotions as guides for evaluating validity of a claim
- cuz findings that challenge pre-existing beliefs often make us uncomfy
Bandwagon Fallacy
Assume claim is correct cuz many ppl believe it
- Popular opinion isn’t a dependable guide to accuracy of claim
Not Me Fallacy
Error of believing we’re immune from errors in thinking that affect others
- Makes us think we don’t need safeguards of scientific method
- Pseudoscientists fall into trap when they’re certain their claims are right so they don’t bother testing
Bias Blind Spot
Most ppl are unaware of their own biases but keenly aware of them in others
- nothing makes us immune to this
What is our best safeguard against human error and biases?
scientific thinking
Falsifiability
characteristic of useful, testable, scientific ideas
- can be proven false by data if it is false
Unfalsifiable Claim
A claim for which NO evidence an be provided to prove the claim false, even if it is
Scientific Skepticism
approach of evaluating claims:
- Keep an open mind to all claims
- Accept only claims that have been tested properly & in diff ways
- Re-evaluate claims when presented with new evidence
What is the hallmark of scientific skepticism?
critical thinking
- do not accept based on authority
What is scientific thinking?
aka critical thinking
- Set of skills for evaluating all claims in an open-minded and careful fashion
- Helps overcome biases like confirmation bias and belief perseverance
What are the 6 principles of scientific thinking?
- Ruling out rival hypotheses
- Have important alternative explanations been excluded? - Correlation vs Causation
- Can we be sure that A causes B? - Falsifiability
- Can the claim be disproved by evidence? - Replicability
- Can the results be duplicated in other studies? - Extraordinary Claims
- Is the evidence as strong as the claim? - Parsimony / Occam’s Razor
- Does a simpler explanation fit the data just as well?
variable
anything that can vary
correlation - causation fallacy
error of assuming that because one thing is associated with another, it must cause the other
3 explanations:
- A cause B
- B cause A
- Smt else caused A and B
What are the four different perspectives that help explain human behaviour?
biological
psychological
social
cultural
