Test #1 Flashcards
What is critical thinking?
systematically evaluating information to reach conclusion supported by evidence
What are barriers to critical/scientific thinking?
- coincidence
- selective recall
- confirmation bias
- affect bias
- available bias
- gambler’s fallacy
What is coincidence?
surprising co-occurence of events that we perceive as meaningfully related
- perceived as meaningfully related, “lucky charm” causes outcome
- often on’t examine accuracy
- -> sports: certain song playlist = better performance (superstitious behavior)
What is selective recall?
tendency to remember only facts or events that are unusual, personally enhancing, or that fit a narrative
–>ex. do women talk more than men? you may only think about your talkative women friends and not your less talkative women friends
What is confirmation bias?
tendency to attend to and accept facts that fit our pre-exsting beliefs and to discount facts that are contradicting
- refers to how we collect info, seek out only to support our beliefs
- no attempt to falsify hypothesis
- -> ex. Jenny McCarthy (vaccines causing autism) “cherry picking”
What is affect bias?
tendency to make judgments based upon emotions with little input from deliberate reasoning
- mood influences decisions
- -> ex. judges tend to make harsher decisions after an irritating morning
What is availability bias?
tendency to make judgements on the basis of which examples come most easily to find
- influenced by recent events
- unconscious process
- influences decisions
- -> ex. “should I go in the water?” (during shark week), “what is New Jersey like?”
What is Gambler’s Fallacy?
tendency to believe that the odds for occurence of random events in the future depends on what already happened in the past
- ->ex. heads vs. tails “there have been 6 heads, a tails MUST be next”
- -> ex. Moore, OK - whether to build tornado shelters or not
What is the scientific method?
Theory
I
Hypothesis
I
Research
I OR I
support refute/fail to
your support your
theory theoryWhat is a theory?
interconnected ideas or concepts used to explain prior observations and to make predictions (broad)
What is a hypothesis?
a testable prediction about the outcome that would best support the theory
What is research?
the systematic and careful collection of data (goal to avoid bias)
What defines a good theory?
- Generates testable hypotheses
- Is falsifiable
- research results either support or contradict the theory’s predictions - Is parsimonious
- simplest, smallest explanation
- explains many observations under one simple theory
True vs. Good Theory
Theory can be good: -generates hypotheses -hypotheses are falsifiable -is parsimonious But not true: -not supported by data from well-designed research
What are the goals of scientific research?
- Describe
- Explain
- Predict
- Control/Apply
Example…
- symptoms of mental disorders
- why to certain people get it?
- caused by extreme stress? follow high risk people
- how to we treat depression? based on info
How does psychology differ from physics?
often fails to find consistent explanations and make accurate predictions
-people are hard to predict
What is facilitated communication?
autistic people able to communicate through typing with help of someone guiding their arm
What are the types of research designs?
- Descriptive
- Correlation
- Experimental
What are descriptive studies?
observing and noting the behavior of people or other animals to provide a systematic and objective analysis of behavior (ex. people watching)
What are examples of descriptive studies?
- Case studies
- Naturalistic observation
- Participant observation
What are case studies?
intensive examination of unusual people or organizations (unique/random occurrences)
- -> ex. James Holmes
- cons: may not apply to everyone else, small sample size, can be subjective
What is a naturalistic observation?
passive observation, subjects not aware they’re being watched
–> ex. parents influencing kids aggressive hockey behavior
What is a participant observation?
active involvement by research, give inside view, can observe emotions/reactions
–> ex. Festinger study: observed Doomsday cult
What are advantages of observational studies?
- take place in real world settings
- useful in early studies and can generate hypotheses
What are disadvantages of observational studies?
- subject reactivity: knowing you are being watched may lead to you to react unnaturally
- ethical problems: lack of informed consent, privacy concerns, deception (researcher lies to fit in), prevents informed consent
–> no informed consent needed in public settings
