IndietroIntroduction to Psychology: Basic Psychological Processes and Scientific Thinking
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Naïve realism is the belief that we see the world exactly as it really is and that our perceptions are accurate.
Our perceptions are influenced by expectations, past experiences, attention, emotions, and context, so two people can interpret the same event differently.
Two students watch the same professor give feedback; one thinks the professor was helpful, the other thinks the professor was rude, influenced by their expectations and past experiences.
Psychology uses a systematic approach to evidence, beginning with empiricism, acquiring knowledge through observation and testing hypotheses.
A scientific theory is an explanation for findings in the natural world that generates testable predictions called hypotheses.
Theories explain many events, not just one, and are not just guesses but well-supported explanations that withstand attempts at refutation.
No, scientists have biases but the best are aware of them and try to compensate to avoid deception in research.
The tendency to stick to initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them, e.g., some parents still believe vaccines cause autism despite evidence.
The tendency to seek evidence that supports our hypotheses while neglecting or distorting contrary evidence.
Science deals with testable claims about nature, while metaphysical claims (e.g., existence of God) are untestable and belong to different realms.
Claims that seem scientific but lack defenses from bias and rigorous testing, often relying on anecdotes and lacking self-correction.
Includes meaningless psychobabble, overreliance on anecdotes, lack of self-correction, overuse of ad hoc immunizing hypotheses, and exaggerated claims.
An excuse added after a claim fails to protect it from falsification, making the claim impossible to scientifically test.
Our brains are predisposed to detect patterns (patternicity), an adaptive trait that can lead to seeing meaning in random stimuli.
Humans experience anxiety from awareness of death and manage it by seeking worldviews that provide meaning, purpose, and continuity.
Self-esteem acts as a psychological buffer by making us feel valuable in our culture, reducing death-related anxiety.
Common fallacies include emotional reasoning, bandwagon, not me, appeal to authority, appeal to ignorance, naturalistic, hasty generalization, and circular reasoning.
Includes opportunity cost, direct harm, and blocking critical thinking, making it harder to evaluate claims scientifically.
Critical thinking, skepticism, objectivity, and curiosity are essential for scientific inquiry.
Willingness to keep an open mind, accept claims only after careful testing, and not accept claims based on authority alone.
1. Ruling out rival hypotheses
2. Correlation vs causation
3. Falsifiability
4. Replicability
5. Extraordinary claims
6. Occam's Razor
7. Generalizability
Check for peer-reviewed references, questionable journals, reliance on anecdotes, extreme claims, and recent updates.