Psych 1102 Flashcards
Rationalism
Method of understanding the world based on the use of reason as the means to attain knowledge.
Empiricism
All knowledge comes from experience and there are no innate ideas as birth.
Empiricism question
A question that could, in principle, be answered by making observations (collecting data).
Hindsight bias
A tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that it was predictable.
Overconfidence
On average, people tend to think they know more than they do.
Availability heuristic
Things that come to mind easily are more likely to guide our thinking.
Confirmatory hypothesis testing
Trying to support a favored hypothesis, without making any attempts to falsify it.
Bias blind spot
Difficult for people to be aware of their own biases.
Experimental group
Variable being tested is present.
Control group
Variable being tested is not present.
Confounds
Alternative explanations for an outcome.
Frequency
How much does X happen?
Association
Suggests that X and Y are often observed together.
Causal
Suggests that X causes Y to happen.
Correlation
The degree to which two measurements co-vary. Quantifies degree of association. A value between -1 and 1.
Scatterplot
A type of plot showing how two values co-vary. Often used to illustrate correlation.
Positive correlation
As the value of X increases, the value of Y increases.
Negative correlation
As the value of X increases, the value of Y decreases.
Near zero correlation
No clear relationship between X and Y.
Covariance
Two variables (the cause and the effect) must be associated, either positively or negatively.
Temporal precedence
The cause must come before the effect.
Internal validity
There is no other plausible explanation for the effect (no confounds).
Descriptive methods
Describe behaviors
Correlational methods
Discover associations between variables
