PSY 3061 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Unobservable, Thiamine, Critical Thinking
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Converging operations: when multiple approaches focus on one issue to compensate for each others shortcomings. Neuropsychology and physiological psychology are often used in tandem. Korsakoff"s syndrome: first described by s. s. korsakoff o. Severe memory loss: quite capable in most other aspects o. Initially thought to be the effect of alcohol on the brain; patients were often alcoholics: actually caused by brain damage due to thiamine (vitamin b1) deficiency. Discovered through converging operations of controlled experiments on laboratory animals, quasiexperiments with human subjects, and neurophysiological case studies. 1. 6 scientific inference: how do biopsychologists study the. Many processes cannot be observed directly o. The effects can be, but not the processes. Scientific inference: an empirical method where the unobservable is studied o o. The more relevant measures collected, the easier for scientists to infer the larger processes. Popular claims that have been proven false: homosexuality is due to inappropriate upbringing, we only use a small portion of our brains o.
