psyc week 2 Flashcards
What is psychology?
the scientific study of the mind and human behavior
basic psychologists
focus on theory and building basic knowledge (developmental,social)
applied psychologists
focus on solving real-world problems (clinical,couseling,school,etc.)
the scientific method is used in psychology to…
study behavior
systematic observation
observe the world, generate hypothesis to test, measure, collect data, and draw conclusions
studies never prove hypothesis are true they…
determine the porbability that something is true
sample
a group of people selected from a population
popultion
all people belonging to a particular group
representativeness
degree to which a sample is typical of the population
anecdotal evidence
biased evidence drawn from personal experience
levels of analysis
a single phenomenon can be explained at different levels simultaneously
critical thinking
evaluating claims in an open-minded but careful fashion
critical thinking principle 1
ruling out rival hypothesis
critical thinking principle 2
correlation isnt causation
what does correlation isnt causation mean
just because two variables are correlated doesnt mean one causes the other
critical thinking principle 3
replicability (can the results be replicated in other studies
critical thinking principle 4
extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence - is the evidence as strong as the claim
critical thinking principle 5
occam’s razor - if two explanations fit evidence equally well, we should typically choose the simpler one
inattentional blindness
we miss much of what happens outside of our focus of awareness
spaced practice
spacing out studying over multiple sessions results in better long-term memory
retrieval practice
study by retrieving information from memory through quizzing or testing yourself
