Psychology 100H Exam 1 Study Guide Chapter 1 What is Psychology Focusing on all levels of analysis Confirmation Bias we seek out information that supports our hypotheses and neglect or distort contradicting evidence Belief Perseverance we stick to what we believe no matter what evidence shows good scientists realize that they might be wrong Na ve realism believe that we see the world precisely as it is in truth the earth seems flat and we seem to be standing still yet the earth is round and is moving Theories vs Hypotheses Theories explain a large number of findings in the world they have to be modifiable Hypotheses specific prediction based on a theory that can be tested Pseudoscience pseudoscience claims that are presented scientifically that are not scientific lacks safeguards against confirmation bias Warning Signs apophenia look for connections where there really aren t Abe and JFK pareidolia seeing meaningful images in meaningless visual stimuli we believe what we want to believe Terror Management Theory these beliefs help counter our fear of death Emotional Reasoning Fallacy using emotions rather than evidence as the guide Bandwagon Fallacy lots of people believe it so it must be true Not Me Fallacy other people may have those biases but not me Worry because opportunity cost direct harm and inability to think scientifically Skepticism does not mean being closed minded evaluate claims with an open mind but insist on evidence by thinking critically and overcoming biases o ruling out rival hypotheses o correlation isn t causation o falsifiability o replicability o extraordinaty claims require extraordinary evidence o Occam s razor does a simpler explanation fit the data just as well Parsimony logical simplicity Ask questions define your terms examine evidence analyze assumption and biases avoid emotional reasoning consider other interpretations tolerate uncertainty Theoretical Frameworks 1 Structuralism Wundt and Titchener aimed to identify the most basic elements of the psychological experience 2 Functionalism James understand adaptive purposes of thought and behavior 3 Behaviorism Watson and Skinner uncovering the general laws of learning by looking outside the organism 4 Cognitivism Piaget focuses on the mental processes involved in different 5 Psychoanalysis Freud and Jung internal psychological processes of ways of thinking which we re unaware Types of Psychologists Clinical work with people with mental disorders have different degrees Counseling work with people experiencing temporary or self contained problems like marital difficulties School assess and develop intervention programs Developmental study why and how people change over time work with infants and children Experimental use sophisticated research methods to study memory language or thinking Biopsychologists examine physiological bases of behavior work in research settings Forensic assess diagnose and assist with rehabilitation and treatment of prison inmates Chapter 2 Two modes of thinking System 1 intuitive thinking which is quick reflexive almost automatic and relies on heuristics for example thinking that airplanes are more dangerous than cars because we always hear about violent plane crashes System 2 analytical thinking that is slow reflexive effortful and more scientific Heuristics to solve problems mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that reduce cognitive energy required 5 research designs o representative judging probability of an event by its superficial similarity to a prototype must take into account base rates which are how common a behavior or characteristic is but the fallacy is when we ignore them and go with a preconceived notion o availability judging probability of an event by the ease with which it comes to mind 1 Naturalistic Observations watching behavior unfold in a natural setting no interaction or intervention by researcher great for animal research a Maximizes external validity generalizability in the real world b Low in internal validity can t infer cause effect c We can state associations but cannot say why 2 Case Studies studying one person or a few intensively over time useful for rare or unusual phenomena like diseases or disorders a Existence proofs example that something only happens in females but you prove one time that it happens in a male b Generally can t draw cause effect conclusions except in ABA or ABAB designs graph with child and ADHD 3 Self Reports and Surveys the most frequently used need to be equal and representative define the population through randomly selecting by hard work a Self Reports questionnaire of behaviors thoughts interests psychological symptoms b Surveys attitudes opinions base rates c Random Selection everyone in population has equal chance of d Pros easy to administer to large groups e Cons self presentation bias where we see ourselves as being being selected better than we are 4 Correlation examine extent to which two or more variables relate to each other cannot infer causation because of a potential 3rd variable range is always 1 to 1 0 2 and 0 2 correlation is the same can be negative positive or zero 5 Experiments only research that can draw cause effect conclusions because of 2 conditions a Random assignment of participants that cancels out pre existing differences between two groups b Manipulation of an independent variable treatment that causes a change in the dependent variable outcome of interest c Pitfalls experimenter expectancy effect unintentionally guides patients which can skew the results remedy is if the experimenter is blind to the condition of the patient d Demand characteristics participant guesses the hypotheses of the study and behaves accordingly remedy is to be deceptive Research Ethics Informed consent informed about benefits and risks of research and they must agree to perform Debriefing tell them what the purpose of the study really was after the fact Protection from harm or discomfort Statistics Chapter 7 P B Measures of central tendency mean median and mode Measures of variability range and standard deviation Inferential stats probability that a difference or correlation this large could occur by chance p 0 05 1 in 20 chance of occurring by chance Barbara Ehrenreich criticizing profiteers for inferring causation from correlations going beyond what the data actually suggests and being too positive She was both guilty of confusing anecdotes with actual scientific findings o Ehrenreich to make her argument o
View Full Document
Unlocking...