Psychology and Science (unit 1) Flashcards
Evidence Based definition
development or creation of materials that have been composed by scientific literature or guided by principals of scientific investigation
which form of studying is proven to be least effective
rereading notes and highlighting
naturally what are human beings drawn to in terms of studying techniques?
ineffective techniques
Learning styles definition
the idea of people learning differently based on the method of instruction or mode of instruction (visual learning, etc.)
True or False: learning styles are scientifically supported?
False; there is scientific evidence stating that type of instruction or method of instruction will produce better learning results
Growth mindset definition
the belief that someone views intellegence and learning are developed which therefor shows that change can positivily occur
fixed mindset definition
the belief that someone views intellegence and learning as something one just has and can not be developed; extra work shows that you lack this quality since more time is required to understand
Who is likely to achieve more, a person with a growth or fixed mindset?
A person with a growth mindset due to the characteristics that occur in terms of this type of thinking
what are the characteristics of a growth mindset
- embraces challenges
- overcomes obstacles
- view effort as the path to mastery
- learn from critisium
- finds lessons and inspirations from other peoples successes
what are the characteristics of fixed mindsets?
- avoids challenges
- gives up easily
- views effort as no worth it
- ignores negative feedback
- feels threatened by other peoples successes
Which type of mindset will give higher success rates?
growth mindsets
What is psychology
the scientific study of the mind, brain. and behaviour that uses systematic and empirical investigation methods
what is levels of analysis in psychological displine?
how certain things connect to either biological influences or social/cultural influences
mind definition
the brain in action
why are psychological influences hard to define the definite cause?
Often the causes are highly similuiar and are closely related or rely upon each other; causes can also be from multiple factors at once
What are the five factor that make psychology complex to study?
1) behaviour is difficult to predict (multiply determined)
2) psychological influences are often related
3)everyone is unique in terms of different behaviour, emotion, personality, etc.
4) everyone is influenced by there surrounding peers (reciprocal determinism)
5) culture differences
Define Naive Realism
the belief of seeing the world how it is
Why is common sense still useful in psychology if it is still somewhat faulty?
common sense is a large asset when generating scientific hypthesis, which leads to further investigations. However by using a scientific approach, it can clarify when common sense is useful and when it is problematic
science definition
systematic approach of evidence
Define scientific theory
an explaination for a large number of findings in the natural and psychological world; must be able to generate hypothesis
what are the two misconceptions of a scientific theory?
1) a theory explains one specific event
2) a theory is just an educated guess (theories can never be proven as correct but can only be strongly supported by evidence that is collected)
what are the two most crucial bias that scientist tend to display?
1) confirmation bias
2) belief perserverance
Define confirmation bias
the tendency to seek out data or evidence that will only support our beliefs on the matter and will deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that contradicts them
Define belief perseverance
the tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence tends to contradicts it
Define metaphysical claims
claims about the world that can not be tested (can never be tested using scientific methods and are considered to be outside the domain of science)
popular psychology definition
a form of psychology that is easily accessible by the public and is relativily straightforward
how do people commonly access popular psychology?
self help books
articles
movies
internet
Define Pseudoscience
a set of claims that is thought to be scientific but is not.
- these claims lacks the safegaurds against biases
Ad hoc immunizing theory definition
an escape hatch or loop hole that is used to defend a theory from being proven incorrect
What are the 5 warning signs of pseudosciences
- exaggerated claims
- overetiance on anecdotes
- overuse of ad hoc immunizing hypthesis
- lack of self correction
- mention of proof instead of evidence
what are the three dangers of pseudosciences?
1) opportunity costs: picking one treatment over another
2)direct harm: can cause more damage, injuries or even death
3)can lead to the inability to think scientifically and critically
Define scientific skepticism
the approach of evaluating claims with an open mind but insists on persuasive evidence before accepting evidence (examines evidence)
- one who part takes in this practice contains the willingness to change ones existing belief about a matter
Scientific thinking definition
a form of thinking that allows us to evaluate scientific claims in any setting
what are thing 6 prinicpals of scientific thinking framework
1) ruling out rival hypotheses
2) coorelation is no causation
3) falsifability
4)replicablitiy
5) extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence
6)occam’s razor
what is the first principal of scientific thinking and its basic framework
ruling out rival hypotheses; considering alternative explanations to the findings (ie. are these results actually from this event)
- looks at the best explanation to describe findings
- this is also important since most of the work done in psychology is constructed/based on hypothetical constructs
what is the second principal of scientific thinking? briefly describe the principal
correlation is not causation; just because two things are associated it does not mean that they cause eachother (a causes b, b causes a, or c causes both a and : the three explanations)
- this frame work is helpful as it does not permit causal inferences
what is the third principal of scientific thinking? briefly describe it
Falsifiability; must be possible to disprove a claim (applies to the claims, hypotheses, and theories) ALL MEANINGFUL CLAIMS ARE FALSIFIABLE
What is the fourth principal of scientific thinking? briefly describe it
replicability; the ability to reproduce findings and get the same or simiular results (confirms that the first results are correct) with this principal you must be able to get simuliar results while you change some elements of the experiment (changing different elements)
What is the fifth principal of scientific thinking? Briefly describe it
extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence; means if we find a statement of evidence that goes against well developed evidence we already know, then the evidence must be strong
What is the sixth principal of scientific thinking? briefly describe it
Occam’s razor; if there are multiple explanations for one event then the simplest observation is best (this avoids unnecessary assumptions and principles, however sometime the more complex explanation is the best explanation)
- this framework uses the principle of parsimony
Define the term theoretical framework of psychology
broad and theoretical perspectives that guide how people think about psychological phenomena and behaviour
what are the 5 major theoretical frameworks for pyschology
1)structuralsim
2)functionalism
3) behaviourism
4) congnitivism
5)psychoanalysis
- from the five different theoretical frameworks, there is thought to be no correct perspectives as all of these frameworks focuses on furthering psychology and all frameworks tend to have limitations
What are the three levels of analysis?
- social cultural influences
- Psychological
- biological
Define Multiply determined
a result or action that is produced/linked to many factors
Define reciprocal determinism
where people mutually influence each other’s behaviours
Define empirical science
a science where knowledge is acquired through observation
Define systematic science
a branch of science that plans for objectively collecting information
Define a hypothesis
this is a testable prediction that is formed from a scientific theory (these are tentative and testable propositions about causes or outcomes of a certain thing)
Define emotional reasoning fallacy
when we use emotions as guides (a way) to evaluate a claim
Define Bandwagon fallacy
when one accepts a claim because many people believe it
Define Not me fallacy
The belief that we are immune from errors in thinking that afflict other people
What is the overall goal of science?
- be able to describe, explain, predict, and control events
- understand the associations between variables
- provide an account of some phenomenon of interest and its characteristics
- in the eyes of psychologists we want to know what humans think and how they behave
- use knowledge about events or variables to predict an outcome of interest (prediction is imperfect)
- exert influence over research settings, procedures, and over the application of scientific knowledge (control over research activities and application of scientific knowledge)
Define Variables
these are any factors or attributes that can assume two or more values (these are factors that are able to change)
Define a theory
an explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world (a formal statement that specifies how and why variables or events are related)
define introspection
this is when participants carefully reflect and report on their inner sensations and experiences
What is the background of scientific psychology
- was first thought to be created in 1879 by wundt when he developed the first psychological laboratory
- at this point psychology was seen to be moving away from the idea of spiritualism and more into a science
- Wundt included the idea of interspection when using different tools and techniques
Briefly describe the theoretical framework of structuralism
- this framework tried to aim to identify the basic elements (sensations, images, and feeling, etc.) of the psychological experiences
- this framework included introspection as their primary method
What are the problems and benefits of structuralism?
positives:
- structuralism attempted systematic observations
Briefly describe the theoretical framework of functionalism
- this framework focuses on the functions and adaptive purposes of psychological characteristics (this includes thoughts, feelings, and behaviours)
- this framework focuses on the why questions of different characteristics rather than the what question
- was founded by William James
- this framework uses Darwin’s idea of evolution by natural selection (it was thought that psychological and behavioural characteristics are adaptive)
- furthermore, this framework focuses on how the mind is all connected together like a stream (idea of stream of thought)
Briefly describe the theoretical framework of behaviourism
- this framework focuses on studying observable behaviour
- this theoretical framework states that the mind is a black box
What are some problems and benefits of the theoretical framework of behaviourism
problem:
- went to far by suggesting that everything is learned
positive:
- brought light to some of the learning principles
- brought focus onto observable and verifiable subject matter
Briefly describe the theoretical framework of cognitivism/cognitive psychology
- this framework focused on understanding thinking is central to understanding behaviour
- this was created in a response to behaviourism
- this framework focuses on developing preception, attention, memory, language, reasoning
- this framework tends to form ties with neuroscience
Define cognitive psychology
this is a form of psychology that examines the relation between brain functioning and thinking
briefly describe the theoretical framework of psychoanalysis
- this framework focuses on internal psychological processes of which we are unaware
- this framework concerns itself with the idea that unconscious memories and desires are driven by behaviour
- was found by Sigmund Freud
What are positives and problems with the theoretical framework of psychoanalysis
positive:
- focuses on unconscious drivers of behaviours
problems:
- unconscious processes are not the same as scientifically demonstrated determinants of behaviour
- many of the claims that are reached through this framework are not testable
Briefly describe the great debate of nature vs. nurture
- this debate focuses on weither our behaviours are attributed to our genes or to the surrounding environment
- in earlier times of psychology it was solely believed that the environment and experiences shaped how we think and behave
- in present times we now believe that both genes and environment contribute to most behaviours
Briefly describe the evolutionary psychology great debate in psychology
- is thoughts that psychological traits are adaptive
- these adaptive psychological traits help survive and allows us to pass on our genes
- the problem with this debate is that most of these explanations are not falsifiable
Briefly describe the Free Will vs. determinism great debate of psychology
- this debate focused on what extent of ur behaviours are freely selected (free will) rather than than behaviours that are caused by factors outside of our control (determinism)
- the idea of free will in this case appears to be self-evident
- it can also be furthered argued that free will is an illusion since many environmental factors influence us without our knowledge therefore behaviour is generated automatically
Define basic research
this is a form of research that examines the fundamental nature of phenomena
- this form of research allows us to learn what contributes to a core body of knowledge
Define Applied research
- this form of research helps to solve or evaluate a specific real-world problems
