PSY 231 1st Edition Lecture 1Outline of Current Lecture II. About this CourseIII. Limitations of Everyday ObservationCurrent LectureAbout This Course● Primary notes are in dark (blue/black)● Review and examples are in light (white)● This is a course in how to gain knowledge● Science is based on systematic observation○ Observation -- learn by watching the thing you want to learn about○ Systematic -- carefully planned and structured (different from everyday experience)Limitations of Everyday Observation● Selective Attention -- “attentional blindness”, we may not notice everything that is important to know● Selective attention is a special problem is research because what we must observe to solve new problems might not be observable ( cannot see what people are thinking)● Overconfidence Bias -- more faith in our knowledge that it deserves, especially with familiar things● Biased Perception -- drawing inferences about ambiguous/ incomplete info○ perceive “what we’re looking for” based on past experience○ special problem in research--researchers often know what they expect to see (hypotheses)○ get limited glimpses of human behavior● Ben Rush● tried to find a cure for yellow fever● started “blood letting”, draining as much as 85% of a persons blood● came away thinking it was a cure for yellow fever● used a lot of biased perception in his notes● Biased perception shows up in cause-effect judgements○ alot of research tries to answer cause-effect questions● The Post Hoc Fallacy -- belief that is B follows A, A must cause B○ correlation does not mean causation○ the knowledge that matters most is about cause and effect● Research methods enhance our powers of observation● Structured Observation -- guidelines for how to gain knowledge that is accurate and unbiased○ technical tools--equipment, statistics○ thinking tools--avoid bogus beliefs and
View Full Document
Unlocking...