PSYC 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Lawrence Summers, Parapsychology, Null Hypothesis

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1000
• Professor: Dan Meegan

Document Summary

To demonstrate that research is superior to common sense. To encourage you to think critically when presented with research findings. Common sense it not sufficient to understand/predict behaviour. Scientific method is required to predict behaviour. Lay person has years of experience observing others" behaviours and own mental states. Why study scientifically: compare with intuitive physics . Bomber: intuition: path curved, answer: path straight line perpendicular to string, intuition: drop when directly above target, answer: drop in advance of target. Intuitions about motion are incorrect despite years of experience with moving objects. Rating facial attractiveness over time: intuition: individuals consistent in their ratings over time, science: inconsistent (e. g. women will vary across their cycle) because of hormonal state. When women are ovulating, they are more likely to find very masculine looking men attractive as opposed to having a preference for a more feminized face when not ovulating.