Chapter 1

Question 1

Define Psychology

Answer 1

The scientific study of the mind, brain and behaviour

Question 2

Define Multiply Determined

Answer 2

Caused by many factors

Question 3

Define Hypothesis

Answer 3

Testable prediction derived from a scientific theory

Question 4

Describe the Multiple levels of Analysis and what are they compared to?

Answer 4

Rungs on a ladder with

1) the lower levels = biological influences = brain
2) the higher levels = social influences = mind

the mind is just the brain in action

Question 5

Define Individual Differences

Answer 5

Variation among people in their thinking, emotion, personality, and behaviour

Question 6

Define Naive realism

Answer 6

Belief that we see the world as it is

Question 7

Define Scientific Theory

Answer 7

explanation for a large number of finding in the natural world

Question 8

define Confirmation Bias and what is the other word used to describe it?

Answer 8

Tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypothesis and deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that contradicts them.

Other word: “ Mother of all Biases”

Question 9

define Belief Perseverance

Answer 9

Tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when presented evidence contradicts them.

Question 10

define Metaphysical Claim and Give example

Answer 10

Assertion about the world that is not testable. Metaphysical claims are unfalsifiable.

Example: The existence of God, soul and afterlife

Question 11

Define Pseudoscience

Answer 11

Set of claims that seem scientific but isn’t. It lacks the safeguard against confirmation bias and belief perseverance that characterize science

Question 12

Define Ad Hoc Immunizing Hypothesis

Answer 12

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

Example: when asked to magic trick, they may say they aren’t able to perform because the intense gaze makes them nervous.

Question 13

Define Hindsight Bias

Answer 13

Individual’s ability to overestimate something after it’s already happened.
Example: “I knew it all along”

Question 14

Define Patternicity

Answer 14

tendency to detect meaningful patterns in random stimuli

Question 15

Define Terror Management Theory

Answer 15

Theory proposing that our awareness of our death leaves us with an underlying sense of terror with which we coupe by adopting reassuring cultural world views.

Question 16

Define illogical fallacies

Answer 16

Traps in thinking that can lead to mistaken conclusion

Question 17

What are the 5 challenges of psychology?

Answer 17

1) all actions are multiply determined
2) psychological influences are rarely independent
3) people differ from each other in thinking, emotion, etc.. these INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES help explain why we each respond in different ways to different contexts
4) people often influence each other -> reciprocal determinism
5) people’s behaviour is shaped by culture

Question 18

define Critical Thinking

Answer 18

Set of skills for evaluating all claims in an open-minded and careful fashion

Question 19

Define Prescription of humility AND what words do scientists use to show their still ongoing to their findings?

Answer 19

science is a process of continually revising and updating findings lends it strength as a method of inquiry

words: “suggest”, “appears”, “raise the possibility that” thus this allows scientists to remain tentative in their interpretations of findings

Question 20

Who is the founder of experimental psychology? and what was he referred as?

Answer 20

William James and he was commonly referred as a “nasty little subject”

Question 21

Define reciprocal determinism

Answer 21

the fact that we mutually influence each other’s behaviour. Reciprocal determinism makes it challenging to isolate the cause of human nature

Question 22

Define the 2 types of cross cultural psychology

Answer 22

1) Emic: investigators study the behaviour of a culture from the perspective of someone who grew up in the culture
2) Etic: The study of the culture from the perspective of an outsider

Question 23

Define science

Answer 23

a systematic approach to evidence. science consists of a set of attitudes and skills designed to prevent us from fooling ourselves.

Question 24

What does science begin with?

Answer 24

Empiricism which is the belief that knowledge should be acquired through observation

Question 25

define illusory correlation

Answer 25

the perception that 2 things are related to one another where little to no relation is present.

Question 26

What does pseudoscience rely on?

Answer 26

anecdotal which is dramatic claims from 1 or 2 consumers

Question 27

What are the 3 things Pseudoscience relies on?

Answer 27

1) Ad hoc immunizing hypothesis
2) lack of self correction: compared to science where wrong claims are eventually weeded out, pseudoscience claims are rarely updated
3) overreliance on anecdotes: dramatic claims from consumers, “ I know a person…..”

Question 28

what are the 7 deadly signs of pseudoscience?

Answer 28

1) exaggerated claims
2) overrelaince on anecdotes
3) absence of connectivity
4) lack of review by other scholars (aka NOT peer-review)
5) lack of self-correction
6) meaningless “psychobabble” -> MULTIPLE hard scientific words used ( basically science jargon)
7) Talk of proof instead of evidence. Ex: “Our program reduces social anxiety by at least 50%

Question 29

What are the 6 principles for Critical Thinking?

Answer 29

1) Extraordinary claims: Is the claim as strong as the evidence?
2) Falsifiability: For a claim to be meaningful, it must be capable of being disproved (some claims are not very specific)
3) Occam’s Razor: If 2 explanations account equally well for an observation, we should generally select the simpler one
4) Replicability: Findings must be duplicated. Can the findings be duplicated in other studies?
5) Ruling out Rival Hypotheses: Need to consider alternative hypotheses. Ex: Have important alternative explanations for the findings been excluded?
6. Correlation is not Causation. Ex: can we be sure that A causes B?