Chapter 2

Question 1

What is the biggest reason to not rely on your personal experience for your beliefs?

Answer 1

There is no systematic comparison group to determine if a belief is entirely valid as you are your sole data point. You will never know if, by not meditating, if you would have failed the course.

Question 2

What are the advantages of systematic data collection?

Answer 2

1. It provides a comparison group
2. Confounds can be controlled

Question 3

What is another problem with personal experience being the basis of a belief?

Answer 3

Even if a change occurs in our personal experience, there is no guarantee a specific factor caused it and not others. It is also more difficult to isolate variables in daily life

Question 4

What is an issue with research results?

Answer 4

The results of research are probabilistic and are only meant to explain a certain proportion of cases. It may tempt people to find exceptions in their personal lives and also discount research.

Question 5

How can intuition be biased?

Answer 5

1. Being swayed by a good story
2. Being persuaded by what comes easily to mind (availability heuristic)
3. Failing to think about what we cannot see (present/present bias)
4. Focusing on evidence we like best (confirmation bias)
5. Being biased about being biased (bias blind spot)

Question 6

How does the availability heuristic play a role in the present/present bias?

Answer 6

the instances of the present/present bias stand out due to the availability heuristic

Question 7

What should scientists look out for when conducting research?

Answer 7

1. Base beliefs on the senses
2. Guard against common biases when looking at data
3. Have a comparison group

Question 8

How do you trust an authority figure?

Answer 8

1. Did they systematically and objectively compare different conditions as a researcher would do?
2. Do they give advice in their field of expertise?
3. Was the research they base beliefs on conducted properly?
4. Does the belief match up with the research itself?

Question 9

Why is meta-analysis valued?

Answer 9

They weigh each study proportionately and do not allow cherry-picking particular studies

Question 10

What are the advantages of empirical articles and review articles?

Answer 10

They are always peer-reviewed before publication

Question 11

What is an edited book?

Answer 11

A collection of chapters on a common topic with each chapter written by a different contributor. It is a good place to find a summary on what researchers have done but they are not peer-reviewed as rigorously as articles. However, the authors are often experts and their audience is either students or other researchers

Question 12

Good psychology source examples

Answer 12

PsychINFO - a search tool for psychology articles
Google Scholar - a search tool for almost all articles

Question 13

Quality in research

Answer 13

Some journals are predatory and sound legit but often publish any paper given to them without proper review (check Cabell’s blacklist of predatory journals). Impact factor (how many citations on average papers have on a journal) is also a good way to check

Question 14

Whats the best way to read articles?

Answer 14

1. Read with purpose and not just each word - asking, what is the argument and what is the evidence to support the argument?
2. Always first read the extract
3. After the abstract, skip to the end of the introduction and read the goals and hypotheses
4. After that, read the rest of the intro
5. Find the argument of the paper in the discussion
6. Look at the evidence

Question 15

Why do people disinform others?

Answer 15

1. Propoganda
2. Passion
3. Politics
4. Provocation
5. Profit
6. Parody

Question 16

What are types of disinformation?

Answer 16

There can be false quotes, photos, videos and false contexts