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Psych 101 > Psychology and Scientific Thinking > Flashcards

Psychology and Scientific Thinking Flashcards

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1
Q

How do we know what we know

A

Authority
Historians, holy writing, teachers, elders etc

Reason
Deductive reasoning: all humans have stomachs, I am human therefore I have a stomach

Inductive reasoning
The sun rose today the day before and for as long as I know

Observation
Evidence received from our sense

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2
Q

What is psychology

A

Scientific study of the mind brain and behaviour
Levels of analysis
Biological to social

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3
Q

5 main challenges in psychology

A

Human behaviour is difficult to predict
Actions are multiply determined

Psychological influences are rarely independent

Individual differences among people

People influence one another
Reciprocal determinism

Behaviour is shaped by culture

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4
Q

Why can’t we always trust common sense

A

Safety in numbers
Birds of a feather flock together/ opposites attract
Actions speak louder than words

Naive realism
Seeing is believing

Consider
The earth seems flat

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5
Q

When our common sense is right

A

Our intuition can also be quite accurate

Common sense can help us to generate hypothesis that scientist later test rigorously

Learning to think scientifically teaches us when to trust our common sense and when not to
- make better decisions

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6
Q

Psychology as a science

A

Science is not a body of knowledge

Science is an approach to evidence

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7
Q

Scientific theory

A

Explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world

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8
Q

Hypothesis

A

Testable prediction

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9
Q

Confirmation bias

A

Tendency to seek evidence that supports our hypothesis

Neglecting or distorting contradicting evidence

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10
Q

Belief perseverance

A

Tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence is contradictory
The don’t confuse me with the facts bias

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11
Q

Metaphysical claims

A

Assertions about the world that are not testable

Ex religion

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12
Q

What is pseudoscience

A

Imposters of science

Set of claims that seem scientific but lacks defenses from bias

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13
Q

Patternicity

A

Tendency to detect meaningful patterns in random stimuli

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14
Q

Logical fallacies

A

Traps in thinking that lead to mistaken conclusions

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15
Q

Emotional reasoning fallacy

A

Using emotions rather than evidence

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16
Q

Bandwagon fallacy

A

Lots of people believe it so it must be true

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17
Q

Not me fallacy

A

Other people may have those biases, not me

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18
Q

Scientific skepticism is a willingness to…

A

Keep an open mind to all claims

Accept claims only after researchers have subjected them to careful scientific tests

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19
Q

6 principles of critical thinking

A

Ruling out rival hypothesis
Important alternate explanations should be considered
Another way of explaining the same data

Correlation (two things are associated with each other) vs causation
Can we be sure a causes b
Third variable problem: there’s a c too

Falsifiability
Can the claim be disproven

Replicability
Possible to duplicate scientific findings

Extraordinary claims
Is the evidence as convincing as the claims

Occam’s razor (KISS)
does a simpler explanation fit the data equally well
Also called principle of parsimony

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20
Q

What was psychology originally considered

A

Philosophy

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21
Q

Five primary schools of thought that have shaped modern psychology

A

Structuralism: element of the mind
E.B titchener
Use introspection (examine ones own thoughts) to identify basic elements or structures of experience

Functionalism
Behaviourism
Psychoanalysis
Cognitivism

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22
Q

What are the levels of psychological analysis

A

Social culture influences
Social or behaviour level
Involves relating to others and relationships

Psychological
Mental and neurological level
Thoughts feelings and emotions

Biological
Molecular or neurochemical level
Molecules and brain structure

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23
Q

Terror management theory

A

Our awareness of our own inevitable death leaves many of us with an underlying sense of terror

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24
Q

areas of psychology

A

Clinical
Assess diagnose and treat with mental disorders

Counselling
Temporary or situational problems

School
Work in schools with teachers to overcome learning difficulties

Developmental
Most work with infants and children examining how people change overtime

Experimental
Research to understand memory language thinking etc

Biopsychologist
Physiological bases of behaviour

Forensic
Assess diagnose assist in rehab of prison inmates or research on eyewitness or juries

Industrial organizational help select employees design equipment for maximum productivity

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25
Q

Great debates of psychology

A

Nature vs nurture
Are our behaviour a result of our genes or our environment
Tabula rasa- blank state

Evolutionary psychology
Applies Darwin’s theory of natural selection to human and animal behaviour
Criticisms: theories are difficult to test since don’t leave fossils
Difficult to falsify even when testable

Free will determinism
Do we have free will
Or is our behaviour caused by environmental influence

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26
Q

Basic research

A

Examines how the mind works

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27
Q

Applied research

A

Utilize the research in everyday

Life

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28
Q

Facilitated communication

A

Communicate children with autism

Thought to be a motor disorder

Soon there was allegations about sexual anuse

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29
Q

Prefrontal lobotomy

A

Used to treat schizophrenia and other mental disorders

Severed the fibers connecting the frontal lobe and thalamus

It doesn’t work

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30
Q

What are the 2 modes of thinking

A

System 1: intuitive
Fast
No effort
Snap Judgments

System 2: analytical
Slow
Requires effort
Problem solving

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31
Q

Heuristics

A

Mental shortcuts or rules of thumb
Intuitive thinking involves this
Reduce the cognitive energy required to solve problems

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32
Q

The scientific method

A 
Observation 
Question of interest
Formulate explanation/develop hypothesis
Operationalise hypothesis/select a research method/carry out research method 
Collect data
Analyze data
Hypothesis supported or not
Conclusions
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33
Q

Naturalistic observation

A

Watching behaviour in the real world

High external validity
Findings are generalize to the real world

Low internal validity
Cannot draw cause and effect inference

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34
Q

Case study

A

Studying one or a small group of people for a extended period of time

Used for rare brain damage or mental illness

Excellent for existence proofs

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35
Q

Self report and surveys

A

Self report

Measures assess characteristics of a person by asking people directly

Surveys
Measure opinions attitudes and beliefs

Random selection
Validity
Reliability

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36
Q

Random selection

A

Essential in order to generalize findings from surveys and questionnaires

Non random selection can skew results

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37
Q

Reliability

A

Consistency of measurement

Test retest
Similar scores overtime

Interrator
Two raters should produce similar scores

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38
Q

Validity

A

Extent to which a measure assess what it claims to measure

A test must be reliable to valid but a reliable test can still be completely invalid

39
Q

Pros and cons of self report

A

Pros
Easy to administer

Cons
Accuracy is skewed for certain groups
Potential dishonest
Response sets: tendency of participants to distort their responses

40
Q

Halo effect

A

Tendency for positive impressions of a person to positively influence ones opinion of feeling in other areas

41
Q

Correlational design

A

Investigates relationships between two variables without the researcher controlling any of them

Positive
One increases so does the other

Negative
As one increases the other decreases

Zero
No relationship

42
Q

Illusory correlation

A

Perceiving a relationship between variables even when a relationship doesn’t exist

Correlation vs causation
Because two things are related doesn’t mean that one causes the other

Determining causation only possible through experimentation

43
Q

Experimental research design
The experimental group
Control group

A

Experimental
Receives manipulation

Control
Does not receive manipulation

44
Q

Independent and dependent variable

A

Inde
Is manipulated
Is the one thing you change

Dep
Is measured
Is the change that happens because of the inde variable

45
Q

Controlled variables

A

Everything that you want to remain constant and unchanging

46
Q

Confounds and confounding variables

A

Differences between the experimental and control groups other than the independent variable

47
Q

Experimentation pitfalls

A

Placebo effect
Improvement because you expect improvement

Nocebo effect
Harm resulting from the expectation of harm

Demand characteristic
Cues that participants pick up allowing them to guess the hypothesis

48
Q

Correlational studies

A

Show relationships between variables
If high scores on one variable predict high scores on the other variable the correlation is positive

If high scored predict low scores on other
Variable the correlation is negative

49
Q

Tuskegee study 1932 to 1972

A

Men diagnosed with syphilis

Never given treatment in order to study the disease

50
Q

Ethical guidelines for human research

A 
Research ethics board
Informed consent 
Protection from harm
Justification for deception 
Debriefing participants after experiment
51
Q

Ethical issues in animal research

A

7-8% of research in psychology uses animals
Rodents and birds
Canadian council of animal care

52
Q

Mean median Mode

A

Mean
Average of all scores

Median
Middle score in data

Mode
Most frequent score in data

53
Q

Central tendency

A

Where the groups tends to cluster

54
Q

Range

A

Difference between the highest and lowest scores

55
Q

Standard deviation

A

Measure of dispersion accounting for how far each data point is from the mean

56
Q

Descriptive statistics

A

Numerical characteristics of the nature of the data

57
Q

Inferential statistics

A

Allow us to determine whether we can generalize findings from the sample to the population

58
Q

Peer review

A

Process to help identify and correct flaws in research and it’s conclusions

59
Q

Boeing’s definition of intelligence

A

Is whatever intelligence test measure

60
Q

Gallons theory of intelligence

A

People with better senses acquire more knowledge

61
Q

Binet and Simon 1905 first intelligence test

A

Focused on higher mental processes

Most now agree that intelligence is related to the capacity to understand theoretical concepts (abstract thinking)

62
Q

Spearman’s development of g and s

A

General intelligence (g) accounts for overall differences in intellect among people

Our particular skills are reflected in our specific abilities (s)

63
Q

Cattell and horn intelligence theory

A

Intelligence is a mix of two capacities

Fluid intelligence
Capacity to learn new ways of solving problems

Crystallized intelligence
Accumulated knowledge of the world we gain overtime

64
Q

Howard’s Gardner multiple intelligence

A

Linguistic
Speaks and write well

Mathematical
Math skills

Spatial
Think and reason objects in three dimensional space

Musical

Bodily kinaesthetic
Body in sports

Interpersonal
Understand and interact effectively with others

Intrapersonal
Understand and possess insight into self

Naturalistic
Animals plants other living things

65
Q

Triarchic model of intelligence

A

Sternberg

Three largely distinct types of intelligence
Believes that having one does not ensure you have others

Analytical
Practical
Creative

Weaknesses
Practical intelligence is not independent
Causal relationship between job performance and practical intelligence
We all of strength and weaknesses

66
Q

People with higher intelligence show

A

Quicker reaction time
Less overall brain activity

Intelligence may reflect efficiency of mental processing

67
Q

Location of intelligence

A

Prefrontal cortex
Parietal cortex
Central theme: speed of info processing is related to intelligence

68
Q

Calculating IQ

A

Binets concept of mental age led to the development of the IQ

Mental age/ chronological age x 100= IQ

Works for kids not adults
Modern IQ test use deviation IQ that eliminates age effects

69
Q

IQ test today

A

WAIS
wechsler adult intelligence scale
15 subtest that give five scores

Overall IQ
verbal communication
Perceptual reasoning
Working memory
Processing speed
70
Q

kinds of WAIS tests

A

Information
Which continent is France

Comprehension
Why do people need birth certificates

Arithmetic
How many hours to drive 150 miles 50 per hours

Similarities
Calculator and typewriter alike

Digit span
Repeat the following numbers backwards

Vocab

Digital symbol
Picture completion
Block design 
Visual puzzles
Figure weights
71
Q

Childhood IQ tests

A

Wechsler intelligence scale of children
Older children

Weschler primary and preschool scale of intelligence
2 1/2 to 7

72
Q

Culture fair IQ tests

A

Consist of abstract reasoning items that do not depend on language

73
Q

Reliability of IQ scores

A

In adults scores tend to be highly stable over long periods of time

Prior to three test are very unstable

74
Q

Validity of IQ scores

A

Moderately successful at predicting grades

Success depends on motivation effort and mental energy

75
Q

Intellectual disability

A

Childhood onset of low IQ and inability to engage in adequate daily functioning

1% of North American males
Four level
Mild moderate severe and profound
More severe less likely to run in families

76
Q

Mental gifted ness

A

Refer to top 2% of IQ scores

Doctors
Lawyers
Engineers
Professors
 Terman termites showed that prodigies do not burnout or have higher rates of mental illness
77
Q

Behavioural genetics

A

Studies the relative impact of nature and nurture on psychological traits

Estimates heritability
Percentage of the variability in a trait across individuals that due to genes

Heritability
Applies to on,y groups
Differences among people
Differ dramatically across different time periods and populations

78
Q

Three types of design to estimate heritability of traits

A

Family studies
Examine the extent to which a characteristic runs or goes together in intact families
Pros
Estimating risk of disorder

Twin studies
Difference between identical and fraternal twins
Mono, 100% share genes
Diz, share 50% of genes

Adoption studies
Examine extent to which children adopted into new homes resemble their adoptive as opposed to their biological Parents

79
Q

Genetic influences on IQ

A

Family studies
Confirms IQ runs in the family

Twin studies
Identical twins correlations of 0.7 to 0.8
Fraternal 0.3 to 0.4

80
Q

Environmental influences on IQ

A

Later Born children tend to have slightly lower IQs than earlier born children

Larger fams lower IQs

81
Q

Poverty and IQ

A

Jensens cumulative deficit study

Lack of proper nutrition and exposure to lead may lead to lower IQs

82
Q

Flynn’s effect of IQ

A

Average iq of the pop has been rising by about 3 points every 10 years

Most likely resulted from environmental changes
Increased test sophistication
Increased complexity of modern world
Better nutrition
Changes at home and school
83
Q

Sex difference in IQ

A

Few or no average difference in sexes

Males are more variable in scores

Females tend to do better on some verbal tasks and emotions

Males tend to do better on spatial ability tests like geography and mental rotation

84
Q

Radial differences in IQ

A

African and Hispanic lower IQ
ASIAN scores higher
First Nations score lower

Most likely do environmental in origin

85
Q

Creativity

A

Outside of box thinking
Divergent thinking

Convergent thinking
Finding the single best answer to a problem

86
Q

Emotional intelligence

A

Ability to understand our own and others emotions

Does not predict job performance

87
Q

Curiosity and grit

A

Intelligence alone is not sufficient for success in life

Curiosity
Predictor of academic achievement

Grit
Combination of preserverance and passion

88
Q

Post hoc fallacy in developmental psychology

A

Logical error where you assume that a causes b just because b came after a

Ex
All serial killers drink milk as babies
So milk causes people to become serial killers

89
Q

Bidirectional influences

A

Human development is almost always a two way street

Children development influence their experiences but their experiences also influence their development

90
Q

Cross sectional design among development

A

People of different ages studied at the same point in time

Disadvantages
Provide no data on the development of individuals because only measured at one time point

91
Q

Longitudinal design in development

A

Same participants observed repeatedly overtime

Disadvantages
Costly
Practise effects
Selective attrition

92
Q

Nature nurture debate

A

Both are important in shaping development

Impact of genes on behaviour depends on environment where behaviour develops

93
Q

Gene expression

A

Acitivation or deactivation of genes by environment experience throughout devlopment

Psych 101 (3 decks)

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