quiz 1 - chapters 1 & 13a Flashcards
“truthiness”
stephen colbert’s term to represent the occasional tendency to accept an explanation/phenomenon simply because its a “gut” feeling
availability heuristic
a mental shortcut strategy for judging the likelihood of an event or situation to occur based on how easily we can think of similar or relevant instances
representativeness heuristic
a mental shortcut strategy for determining the likelihood of an event by how much it resembles what we consider to be a “typical” example of that event
better-than-average effect
the tendency to overestimate our skills, abilities, and performance when comparing ourselves to others
overconfidence phenomenon
the tendency to be overly confident in the correctness of our own judgment
hindsight bias
a sense that we “knew it all along” after learning the actual outcome
confirmation bias
a bias in which we only look for evidence that confirms what we arleady believe, thus strengthening
focusing effect
a bias in which we emphasize some pieces of information while undervaluing others
introspection
reflecting on our own thoughts and epxeirences to find relevant evidence
“what you see is all there is” phenomenon
a failure to see the limitations of our immediate experience, making it difficult to predict alternative outcomes
pleasure paradox
when an introspective analysis regarding a positive experience results in it becoming less enjoyable
belief perseverance
maintaining a belief despite encountering contradictory factual information; often accomplished by interpreting information in a way that does not invalidate the original belief
law of small numbers
extreme outcomes are more likely when considering a small number of cases
outlier
a case or instance that is distinct from the majority of other cases; an oddball
scientific method
a systematic approach for addressing questions of interest
characteristics of a good scientist
skepticism, open-mindedness, objectivity, empiricism, creativity, communication
skepticism
being doubtful leads to questioning which turns to research and thus, the discovery of truth
open-mindedness
can not be overly cynical; must be willing to pursue unpopular/controversial ideas to gain a deeper understanding of our world
objectivity
personal biases, feelings, beliefs, and prejudices must not get in the way of objective empirical evidence (having researchers or participants be “blind” to the hypothesis to maximize objectivity)
empirical research
gaining knowledge with the use of systematic observation, experience, or measurement
nonempirical research
gaining knowledge with the use of nonsystematic methods such as the examination of personal experiences and opinions
creativity
studying human behavior and thought often requires creative or novel approaches
communication
for information to benefit the world, findings must be shared, as the primary goal of science is to serve the common good
replication
recreating another person’s study to see if the findings are the same
