Scientific Thinking

Question 1

Three ways of knowing:

Answer 1

1. Authority
2. Reason
3. Empiricism

Question 2

Authority

Answer 2

When we accept the validity of information from a source that we judge to be expert

Question 3

Reason

Answer 3

• We arrive at conclusions using logic or reason given premises
• The conclusion depends on the truth of the first two statements

Question 4

Empiricism

Answer 4

Process of learning things through direct observation/ experience, and reflection on those experiences

Question 5

Confirmation bias

Answer 5

Tendency to seek and pay attention to information that supports one’s beliefs, and ignoring information that contradicts one’s beliefs

Question 6

Belief perseverance

Answer 6

Tendency to hold onto a belief, even in the face of evidence that contradicts the belief

Question 7

Availability heuristic

Answer 7

Occurs when we experience unusual or memorable events and overestimate how often such events typically occur

Question 8

Pseudoscience

Answer 8

• A field of inquiry that attempts to associate with true science
• Relies on selective anecdotal evidence
• Deliberately too vague to be adequately tested

Question 9

Two examples of pseudoscience

Answer 9

1. Phrenology

2. Graphology

Question 10

4 key characteristics of pseudoscience that explain why it is not TRUE science

Answer 10

1. Attempt to give the appearance of being scientific
2. Heavy reliance on and uncritical acceptance of anecdotal evidence
3. Sidesteps the falsification requirement
4. Reduce complex phenomena to overly simplistic concepts

Question 11

4 interrelated goals of scientific research in psychology

Answer 11

1. Describe
2. Predict
3. Explain
4. Apply

Question 12

Determinism

Answer 12

All psychological events have causes

Question 13

Discoverability

Answer 13

Scientific methods can discover the causes of psychological events with some degree of confidence