Exam 1 Flashcards
What is science?
realizes it might be wrong. over many studies we build up proper results. we don’t “prove” things.
What is pseudoscience?
information that is not supported by science but may appear to be. a set of claims that seems scientific but isn’t. lacks safeguards against confirmation bias and belief perseverance.
Confirmation bias
tendency to prefer information that confirms what a person thought in the first place
belief perseverance
tendency to maintain a belief even when evidence suggests it’s incorrect.
warning signs of pseudoscience
overuse of ad hoc immunizing hypothesis. ad hoc: a loophole or other excuse that people defending a theory can use to protect their theory from falsification
Falsification
proof that something is false
anecdotal evidence,
evidence based on anecdotes. heavily relied on personal testimony.
What fallacies make us susceptible to pseudoscience?
Emotional reasoning fallacy, bandwagon, not me, argument from antiquity.
Emotional reasoning fallacy
use our emotions as guides for evaluation validity of a claim
bandwagon
assuming a claim must be correct bc lots of people believe it.
“not me” fallacy
believing you’re immune from errors in thinking that afflict other people
argument from antiquity fallacy
assuming a belief must be accurate bc it’s been around for a long time
dangers of pseudoscience
1) opportunity costs-> missing opportunity 2) Direct harm-> cause actual harm
scientific skepticism/critical thinking
evaluating all claims with an open mind BUT insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them
principles of scientific thinking
ruling out rival hypothesis (are there other responses we could have found the results), falsifiability, replicability (can you replicate the same results)
psychology
scientific studies of behavior and mental processes. scientific studies of mind, brain, and behavior.
industrial/organizational psychology
psychology of work. who to select. how to train. are they engaged?
steps of the scientific method
1)pose a question 2) conduct a literature review 3) develop hypothesis/research question 4) do the research 5) analyze and draw conclusions
construct
what you want to measure (?) ex: intelligence
operational
what you use to measure constructs (?) ex: IQ tests
reliability
consistency. how to measure it: parallel forms
validity
it tells us whether the test is measuring what it’s supposed to measure
naturalistic observation
observing people/animals in the real world (secretly)
pros of naturalistic obersvation
it’s likely to apply to the real world
cons of naturalistic observation
unlikely to see rare events. can’t tell whether x caused y. if people knew they’re being watched they may change their behavior
case studies
detailed observations about 1 (or a few) individuals
pros of case studies
prove that something does exist. useful if something is in rare occurrence
cons of case studies
anecdotal. can’t say x caused y
pros of surveys and questionnaires
easy to use. cheap. gather a lot of info quickly
cons of surveys and questionnaires
people may lie to make themselves sound better. easy to make a mistake sampling people
random sampling
procedure that ensures every person in a population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate. who responds is also important.
correlation studies
measure two or more things and see if they’re related
pros of correlation studies
can help predict things
cons of correlation studies
can’t cay x caused y. correlation isn’t causation.
0, -1, and 1
0 is weak correlation, -1 and 1 are strong. direction: negative and positive.
experiments
can determine cause and effect.
requirements for experiments
1) random assignments of participants to conditions. a control group. one or more experimental groups. 2) manipulation of independent variable (IV)
control group
doesn’t receive treatment/manipulation
experimental group
receives treatment/manipulation
independent variable
what the experimenter manipulates
dependent variable
the outcome. what’s being measured changes due to the level of the IV
placebo effect
when the people in the experiment think they’re getting the treatment but they’re not and have symptoms of the treatment
double blind procedure
A double-blind study is one in which neither the participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment. This procedure is utilized to prevent bias in research results.
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
they review the ethics of a study and approves of it or not.
consent
consent form: tells the purpose of the study, duration, potential risks/discomfort/adverse effects, allowed to withdrawal, gives contact info for principle investigator
debriefing
informs about any deception. gives info about what the study is about
mean
average.
pros of mean
useful for lots of statistical analysis.
cons of mean
extreme values can effect the results (really high and low numbers)
median
middle number in an ordered set
mode
the number that is repeated the most
variability
how loosely or tightly clustered the data points are.
standard deviation
a measure of variability
inferential statistics
stats that allow us to determine whether we can generalize out findings from the sample to the population.
statistical significance
tests to determine statistically is we can generalize our findings due to random chance. affected by sample size
practical significance
is the effect large enough to matter
parts of the neuron
dendrites, soma, axon, myelin sheath, axon terminal, synapse
dendrites
receive signals from other neurons
soma
cell body performs basic activities to keep neuron functional
axon
carries into towards other neurons
myelin sheath
protective sleeve of fatty material that surrounds the axon. glial cells promote new connections among nerve cells, inc. reliability of signal/transmission
axon terminal
where neuro chemicals leave. knob-like structures: release neuro chemicals into the synapse
synapse
the gap between two dendrites
resting potential
neuron has slight negative charge. no neurotransmitters acting on neuron
action potential
electrical impulse travels down axon. it triggers release of neuro chemicals. it is how neurons communicate.
inhibitory signal
more negative charge, less likely to have action potential
excitatory signal
if a signal is strong enough-> action potential
all or none
axon fires or it doesn’t
absolute refractory period
brief interval after action potential where new action potential can’t happen
reuptake
The reabsorption of a secreted substance by the cell that originally produced and secreted it. (goes back home)
cerebrum(forebrain)
part of the brain that allows advances intellectual abilities
corpus callosum
bundle or neurons that connects and allows communication between the two hemispheres of the brain
cerebral cortex
outermost part of the cerebrum (forebrain), responsible for analyzing sensory info and helping to perform complex brain function
frontal lobe
responsible for complex thinking tasks, planning, purposeful activities, motor function, language, memory and executive functioning(overseeing and organizing)
Motor cortex
inside frontal lobe next to parietal. responsible for voluntary movement
prefrontal cortex
for thinking, executive control, planning, language, mood, personality and self-awareness.
broca’s area
in prefrontal that helps control speech production. problems: long pauses between words, relevant words, not many words, grammar
parietal lobe
for touch and perception. if damaged: ignoring everything on one side of visual field.
somatosensory cortex
inside parietal and next to frontal. involved in receiving info from the senses. sensitive to touch, pressure, pain, and temperature. relays visual and touch info to motor cortext
occipitcal lobe
vision
temporal lobe
plays role in hearing, understanding language and memory.