PSYC 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Confirmation Bias, Scientific Theory, Pseudoscience
Prof. Katie Smeraglia
Psychology 101
Julie Underhill
A. Chapter 1: Psychology and scientific thinking
How do we define psychology?
-The scientific study of the brain, mind, and behavior.
-Multiple levels of analysis
-social, behavioral, mental, neurological, neurochemical, molecular
-many factors can be attributed to mental disorders
-Behavior is multiply determined: produced by many factors
-We cannot say that depression occurs because of one single variable
-When multiple things work together, it is predictable for mental disorders
-Example: Anorexia
-perfectionism, anxiety, compulsive exercising, concern with body
image, exposure to media with thin models
-Challenges of psychology:
-Individual differences: Variations among other people in their thinking,
emotion, personality, and behavior.
-People influence each other
-Reciprocal Determinism:
-we mutually influence other’s behavior
-Cultural differences
-Culturally bound mental illness
-Football (TN loves football but other places in the world don’t
understand our obsession)
Common Sense: We can’t trust it!
-We are prone to naive realism:
-The belief that we see the world precisely as it is
-Our common sense can be right, sometimes.
-Common sense should serve as a generator for hypotheses, which can then be
tested.
-We need to learn when and when not to trust our common sense.
Psychology as a science:
-Scientific theory: An explanation for a large number of findings in the natural
world.
-A theory must generate new predictions that researchers can test
-hypotheses: testable predictions generated by scientific theory
-bias in research
-All scientists have biases, meaning they have different beliefs, desires, and
expectations.
-Confirmation bias: tendency to seek our evidence that supports our beliefs and
deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that contradicts them.
Pseudoscience:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Perfectionism, anxiety, compulsive exercising, concern with body image, exposure to media with thin models. Many factors can be attributed to mental disorders. The scientific study of the brain, mind, and behavior. Behavior is multiply determined: produced by many factors. We cannot say that depression occurs because of one single variable. When multiple things work together, it is predictable for mental disorders. Individual differences: variations among other people in their thinking, emotion, personality, and behavior. Cultural differences: chapter 1: psychology and scientific thinking. Football (tn loves football but other places in the world don"t understand our obsession) The belief that we see the world precisely as it is. Common sense should serve as a generator for hypotheses, which can then be tested. We need to learn when and when not to trust our common sense. Scientific theory: an explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world. A theory must generate new predictions that researchers can test.
