Psychology Notes for January 9th Pages 1 10 What is Psychology Science vs Intuition Although common sense can be enormously useful for some purposes it s sometimes completely wrong Psychology The scientific study of the mind brain and behavior Levels of Analysis Rungs on a ladder of analysis with lower levels tied most closely to biological influences and higher levels tied most closely to social influences o Lower rungs are more closely tied to the brain o Higher rungs are tied to what is called the mind o We can t understand psychology by focusing on only one level of analysis Multiply Determined Caused by many factors Five challenges o Human behavior is difficult to predict because almost all actions are multiply determined o Psychological influences are rarely independent of each other making it difficult to pin down which cause or causes are operating o People differ from each other in thinking emotion personality and behavior Individual Differences Variations among people in their thinking emotion personality and behavior o People often influence each other Reciprocal Determinism o People s behavior is often shaped by culture Emic Approach Investigators study the behavior of a culture from the perspective of a native or insider Etic Approach Investigators study the behavior of a culture from the perspective of an outsider Why we can t always trust our common sense Na ve Realism The belief that we see the world precisely as it is Psychology as a science Science begins with empiricism the premise that knowledge should initially be acquired through observation Scientific Theory Explanation for a larger number of findings in the natural world Hypothesis Testable prediction derived from a scientific theory Theories aren t just guesses Two traps in which scientists can fall unless they re careful o Confirmation Bias The tendency to seek out evidence that supports our belies and deny dismiss or distort evidence that contradicts them o Belief Perseverance The tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them Metaphysical Claims The Boundaries of Science Metaphysical Claims Assertions about the world that we can t test Recognizing That We Might Be Wrong Scientific knowledge is almost always tentative and potentially open to revision Pages 20 26 Scientific Skepticism Scientific Skepticism Approach of evaluating all claims with an open mind but insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them o Unwillingness to accept claims on the basis of authority alone A Basic Framework for Scientific Thinking Critical Thinking Set of skills for evaluating all claims in an open minded and careful fashion Scientific thinking principles o 1 Ruling out rival hypotheses o 2 Correlation isn t causation Correlation Causation Fallacy When we conclude that correlation means causation Variable Anything that can vary o 3 Falsifiability Capability of being disproved if a theory isn t falsifiable we can t test it o 4 Replicability When a study s findings are able to be duplicated ideally by independent investigators o 5 Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence o 6 Occam s Razor If two explanations account equally well for a phenomenon we should generally select the more parsimonious one
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