Quiz 1 Flashcards
what is science?
the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment
what is the heartbeat of science?
questioning, the most important question is why
when science gives us problems?
technology will seek to fix them
define hypothesis
tentative statement about the natural world leading to deductions that can be tested
define law
descriptive generalization about how some aspect of the natural world behaves under stated circumstance
define theory
well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural word that can incorporate facts, laws, inferences, and tested hypotheses
define fact
observation that has been repeatedly confirmed and accepted as “true”
what is technology?
application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry
how did the human species use of technology begin?
conversion of natural resources into simple tools
what innovations do you invest in?
trust and appearance
7 mechanisms that affect invention and innovation
deliberate search for invention or innovation, deliberate search for one think that could possibly lead to something greater, totally unrelated developments have an effect on the main event, military needs, result of religion, weather and other natural forces, pure accident
In the past, ___
technology preceded science
today, ___
technology rarely precedes science
good science
replication is most important, adequate sample size, animal studies have limitations
bad science
dishonesty (p-hacking), watch out for exploratory studies, funding by for-profit organization
P-Hacking
manipulating variables to find statistical significance
the straw man fallacy
occurs in the context of a debate. it doesn’t address the actual argument. it misrepresents and distorts the real argument and while it may contain a grain of truth it is blown so out of proportion it is hardly recognizable
the red herring fallacy
an attempt to shift debate away from the issue that is the topic of an argument. it doesn’t distort it like a straw man. it just completely shifts the focus
critical thinking
self-directed, self-disciplined, self-monitored, and self-corrective thinking
implicit bias
unconscious understanding, actions, and decisions
seven cognitive (learned) biases
confirmation bias, ingroup bias, gambler’s fallacy, neglecting probability, status-quo bias, negativity bias, projection bias
confirmation bias
we love to agree with people who agree with us
ingroup bias
overestimate the abilities and values of our immediate group
gambler’s fallacy
put a tremendous amount of wight on previous events, believing it will influence future outcomes
neglecting probability
real vs. perceived statistical risk
status quo bias
fear of change, fuels conservative tendencies and routines
negativity bias
negative information is more important
projection bias
overestimate how typical and normal we are, we assume that consensus exists when there may be none
egocentric bias expression
humans do not naturally consider the rights and needs of others. we do not naturally recognize our self-serving perspective
sociocentric bias expression
we do not understand the degree to which we have uncritically internalized the dominant prejudices of our society or culture “culture bound”
three levels of thought
highest order, higher order, lower order
highest order thinking
explicitly reflective, routinely use our critical thinking tools, consistently fair
higher order thinking
selectively reflective (pick and choose), high skill level, lacks critical thinking vocab
lower order thinking
always gut intuition, largely self-serving and self-deceived
three kinds of questions
one system (type 1), no system (type 2), multi-system (type 3)
one system question
requires evidence and reasoning within a system, has a correct answer, results in knowledge
no system
calls for stating a subjective preference, a subjective opinion, cannot be assessed
multi-system
requires evidence and reasoning within multiple systems, better and worse answers, judgement call
