Scientific Skepticism

Question 1

The word Skepticism

Answer 1

Derives from Greek word Skeptikos, “to consider carefully”

Question 2

What does it involve?

Answer 2

Evaluating with an open mind
Presuasive evidence
Change your mind when evidence exists
p. 9 textbook

Question 3

Scientific or critical thinking

Answer 3

Evaluating all claims in open mind fashion

Overcoming biases

Question 4

Who claimed that people were abducted by aliens?

Answer 4

John Mack

Self reports, under hypnosis

Question 5

6 principles of critical thinking?

Answer 5

1. Ruling out rival hypothesis - many findings lead to multiple explanations
2. Correlation isn’t causation - Because one thing is associated with another, it must cause other
3. Falsifiability - for a claim to be meaningful it must be capable of being disconfirmed
4. Replicability - Findings must be duplicated by different researchers in different labs
5. Extra claims require Extra. evidence - the evidence must be extra persuasive
6. Occam’s Razor - Simplest explanation is usually the correct one

Question 6

The theoretical frameworks of psychology

Answer 6

What data should/n’t be examined
What research questions to pursue
What things exist/don’t

Question 7

Edward Titchener

Answer 7

Discovered the basic elements of thought, what mental processes were

Question 8

Who opposed him?

Answer 8

William James
wanted to discover what mental processes were for
Why vs. What
Evolutionary explanations

Question 9

Cognitivism

Answer 9

Cognition: study of mental processes involved in most types of thinking. mental means same thing