Exam 1 Study Guide Includes all objectives from the sections with information from both class and the textbook The exam consists of 51 multiple choice questions with the last being a bonus Psychology and Scientific Thinking 1 What is the definition of psychology both definitions given in class What is the goal of psychology a Psychology 1 the scientific study of the mind brain and behavior Also 2 the study of an individual s thoughts feelings and behavior E g the human experience Goal of psychology use scientific methods to systematically observe understand and predict the human experience 2 What are four reasons discussed in class why psychology can be a complex and challenging subject to study Be able to define and discuss those four reasons in detail a Psychological phenomena thoughts feelings and behavior are multiply determined Since they are caused by many factors we have to try to control for them and be wary of single variable explanations Influences are both internal and external Situations can be influenced by both individual differences and the environment b i Individual differences are variations among people in their thinking emotion personality and behavior and even physiology An example of this is extraversion vs introversion ii Environment includes parents peers neighborhood cultural influences etc An example of this is the social distance example from class showing how far apart people stand when talking Influences are interrelated This can create a feedback loop c d We are not objective observers of ourselves others or even our environment Our own psychology leads us to engage in biases and errors 3 What is the definition of individual differences Be able to give at least one example What does the environment consist of Be able to given an example of an environmental influence a Individual differences variations among people in their thinking emotion personality and behavior and even physiology An example of this is extraversion vs introversion b Environment includes parents peers neighborhood cultural influences etc An example of this is the social distance example from class showing how far apart people stand when talking 4 What are four biases errors discussed in class that can prevent us from being objective observers Be able to define each bias error and give an example each belief that we see the world precisely as it is An example was a Naive realism the illusion with the table or observing and thinking the world is flat Seeing is believing c b Confirmation bias perception of relationship between two variables when tendency to seek out information that supports our beliefs ignoring evidence that contradicts them Example all men are aggressive jerks and they only see the time men are aggressive and ignore all the times they aren t Illusory correlation none exists An example is coincidences like bad things happening on Friday the 13th Recognizing patterns was important to survive them Ex the firefighter study saying then refuting that risk takers or non risk takers are better firefighters People come up with their own reasons why something should be so even when they are told the previous information is false they have their own personal reasons to believe it stick to initial belief even when evidence contradicts d Belief perseverance e The difference between confirmation bias and belief perseverance is belief perseverance is when they are given examples showing their belief isn t true where confirmation bias is not seeing other options 5 What is science as discussed in class a Science is an approach to evidence 1 it relies on evidence The phenomenon or its consequences must be observable 2 It tests ideas that are falsifiable 3 uses the scientific method 4 is self correcting using peer review and replication 6 What is empiricism For science to be able to study some phenomenon what knowledge derived from evidence or consequences observable has to be true of that phenomenon a Empiricism to the senses observation b Empiricism is the premise that knowledge should be initially acquired through 7 What does it mean to say something is falsifiable Be able to give examples of questions that are aren t falsifiable a Falsifiable idea must be set up in a way that it could be proven false 8 What are the five steps to the scientific method a Basic steps of the scientific method 1 Form a falsifiable and testable research question 2 Create a testable hypothesis 3 Devise a method to test hypothesis and collect data 4 Analyze data 5 Communicate results 9 What are two ways in which science is self correcting How do these things help science self correct a Self correcting uses peer reviews and replication to test Using peer reviews other professionals in the field can read through it for accuracy and bring attention to any errors or discrepancies With replication other scientists use the same method to duplicate the experiment to see if they were able to yield the same results 10 What is the difference between theory and hypothesis How do they relate to each other What is the difference between nonscientific and scientific theory a A scientific theory is an explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world Good ones make predictions regarding new data and not yet observed Hypothesis is a testable prediction derived from a scientific theory Scientific theories can never be proved because it s always conceivable that a better explanation might come along one day b Theory a broad construct composed of an organized set of hypotheses and observations Theories help shape new hypotheses and hypotheses help support theories Hypothesis specific predictions that can be tested through various research methods A scientific theory is a broad construct of an organized set of hypotheses and observations were the non scientific theory is a guess or speculation 11 What is scientific skepticism What are the six principles of scientific thinking Be able to define and explain each a Scientific skepticism approach of evaluating all claims with an open mind but insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting any claim b 6 principles of scientific thinking i Ruling out rival hypotheses ii Correlation vs causation iii Falsifiability can it be disproved iv Replicability can it be duplicated in other studies v Extraordinary claims is evidence as strong as the claims vi Occam s razor does a simpler explanation fit the data just as well 12 Who was Wilhelm Wundt What significant
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