Psychology and Scientific Thinking
Essay Preview: Psychology and Scientific Thinking
Report this essay
Chapter 1: Psychology and Scientific Thinking Common sense: useful in some cases, but extremely wrong in otherFounder of American Psychology: William JamesPsychologists disagree on many things, but agree that PSYCH IS NOT EASY TO DEFINEPsychology = THE STUDY OF THE MIND, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIORspans multiple levels of analysis lower levels are biological (brain)higher levels are social (mind)LOW molecular → neurochemical → neurological/physiological → mental → behavior → social HIGHWhy is human behavior so difficult to predict?Actions are multiply determinedproduced my many factorsskeptical of single-variable explanationsex.: explaining violence with poverty as a single factor (genes, bad upbringing, etc.)psychological influences are rarely independent of each other, making it difficult to pin down causes is operating whatso many interrelated factors makes pinpointing causes difficultex.: anorexia nervosa Individual differencespeople differ in their thinking and respond in different ways to the same situationmakes it difficult to come up with explanations that apply universallyPeople influence each otherreciprocal determinism (Albert Bandura: we mutually influence everyone’s behaviorBehavior is shaped by culturechinese vs. American/Europeans see different things in pictures (eye-tracking technology)Chinese focus on detail Why Can’t We Always Trust Common Sense?Naïve Realism= belief that we see the world precisely as it is (seeing is believing)much of the time this is true, BUT appearances can be deceiving ex. Earth may seem flat, common sense assures us we are being objective, but people who don’t share our beliefs are biasedLook at many proverbsthey oppose each other, common sense leads us to believe two opposites *** Common sense is right to: snap judgments whether someone we have just watched on TV is trustworthy or nothelpful guide to make hypotheseshappy employees=more productivePSYCHOLOGY IS A SCIENCEScience is not a book knowledge; it is a systematic APPROACH to evidence→ begins with empiricism: knowledge should be based on what is gained by observation→ careful of naïve realism however because observations do fool→ people think it isn’t because it is more intuitive/simpler; HOWEVER harder because it is more challenging to predict things like behaviorScientific Theory: Explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world; ties many findings together→ generates novel predictions that researchers can test (HYPOTHESES)
can never be provedconsistent with much evidencetheory is a GENERAL EXPLANATION; Hypothesis is a SPECIFIC PREDICITONSOME MISCONCEPTIONS: theory does not explain one specific eventa theory is not just an educated guess All general explanations about how the world works are theoriesScientists fall into many traps . . . (need to use scientific safeguards)Confirmation bias= tendency to seek out evidence that supports our beliefs and denies, dismisses, or distorts evidence that contradicts themcauses us to focus on evidence that supports our beliefs and gives us tunnel visionex. Wason Selection Task2 cards to test hypothesis that all cards have a vowel on one side and an odd number on the other sidemost people pick E and 5 but the 5 can only confirm the hypothesis NOT disconfirm itmust choose 4 to see if it has  vowel on the opposite sidefools us very easily Belief Perseverance = tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them Metaphysical Claims:         Assertions about the world that we can’t test                Ex. God’s existence, soul, afterlifemust distinguish from scientific claimsdifference? Could never test using scientific methodsuntestablereligion vs. sciencereligion is untestable, moralscience can be answered with data GOOD SCIENTISTSaware they may be mistakenalways open to provisionprescription for humilityscientists never claim to prove their theories and avoid committing to definitive conclusions unless the evidence supporting is overwhelmingpopular phrases: suggests, appears (allows room for adaptations) Growth of psychology → Misinformation ExplosionPseudoscienceImposter of science, seemingly scientific but not; lacks safeguards against confirmation bias and belief perseverance that characterize SCIENCEPseudoscience can be tested while metaphysical claims can’t beEx. ESP: many Americans convinced even though weak evidence; however, good we are open-minded but bad we are so convincedWarning Signs of Pseudoscience