Psychology chapter 1 basic concepts

Question 1

What makes psychology challenging?

Answer 1

1. Multiply determined, 2. psychological influences are rarely independent of each other, 3. people differ in thinking, emotion, etc.., 4. reciprocal determinism, 5. behaviour shaped by culture.

Question 2

Why can’t we always trust our common sense?

Answer 2

Naïve realism.

Question 3

What are the warning signs of pseudoscience?

Answer 3

1. exaggerated claims
2. over reliance on anecdotes
3. absence of connectivity with other research
4. lack of peer review
5. lack of self-correction
6. meaningless psychobabble
7. talk of proof rather than evidence

Question 4

What are the different fallacies associated with pseudoscience?

Answer 4

Logical fallacy, emotional reasoning fallacy, bandwagon fallacy, not me fallacy, bias blind spot fallacy. (BLEMB)

Question 5

What are the dangers of pseudoscience?

Answer 5

opportunity cost and direct harm.

Question 6

What are the three attitudes that are key to scientific skepticism?

Answer 6

1. An open mind to all claims
2. A willingness to accept claims that have evidence
3. Unwillingness to accept claims based on authority alone

Question 7

What are the six scientific principles?

Answer 7

1. Ruling out rival hypotheses
2. Correlation isn’t causation
3. Falsifiability
4. Replicability
5. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence
6. Occam’s razor

Question 8

What are the different theoretical frameworks of psychology throughout history?

Answer 8

1. Structuralism
2. Functionalism
3. Behaviourism
4. Cognitivism
5. Psychoanalysis

Question 9

Describe the nature-nurture debate.

Answer 9

Some believe our beaviour is due to mostly genes (nature) and others believe it is mostly due to our environment. (nurture)

Question 10

What is the free-will determinism debate?

Answer 10

To what extent are our behaviours freely selected rather than caused by factors outside our control.