PSYC 2250 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Internal Validity, Dependent And Independent Variables, Trust Law
11 Oct 2018
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PSYC 2250
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Chapter 1: Scientific Understanding of Behaviour
• Psychology emerged fro
• Dualism: there are 2 kinds of substances: mind and body (physical and non-
physical)
Why Science?
• Alternatives?
o Cultural or religious perspectives
• Advantage of science?
o Evidence gained through experiments, empirical method
(observations from the senses),
• Evidence Based (vs. evidence supported)
o Evidence based: Based upon controlled experiments (there is data)
o Evidence supported includes evidence based, but adds on to it
What is Science?
• Method
o Nature of method?
o Method that involves empirical observation (observation via your
senses)
o Being able to generalize them into a principle and then into a law
• Body of facts collected by that method
Why behavioural science?
• Advantages?
o Observable → it can be agreed upon (observable by more than one
person)
o
• Present situation?
o Alfred North Whitehead
o Burrhus Frederick Skinner
Becoming an informed consumer of scientific information…
• Long distance relationships can form stronger bonds than face-to-face ones
• Probing long-term effects of spanking, link to higher risk of health problems
study
• Unattractive people more likely to be bullied at work
o How is attractiveness judged?
o What is defined as bullying?
Becoming an informed consumer of products…
Gaining a competitive edge in many careers
• Knowledge of computers and programming
o New jobs require new skills and technology
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Preparing for a career in psychology…
Participating in public policy debates
Evaluating programs…
• Data will vary depending on how the research is conducted
(Non-scientific) Methods of acquiring knowledge
• Tenacity
o Stubbornness of belief
o Ideas accepted as true through cultural repetition
▪ Ex) arranged marriages (seen as good or bad?), honor killings
▪ Don’t swim after eating, Chicken soup is good for colds
o Tenacious ideas are often a part of cultural folk wisdom
• Intuition and personal experience (not in text):
o Intuition technical definition: knowledge (verbal behavior) without
determining controlling stimuli
▪ Ex) (unches
o Personal experience: belief based on direct (often one-time)
experience
▪ Ex UFOs are real because ) saw one
• Authority
Problem with intuition/ personal experience:
• Motivational and cognitive biases:
o Examples of biases:
▪ Availability bias: bad luck runs in ’s; shouldn’t have changed
multiple choice answer on test
o Belief perseverance
▪ Generation gap, cant teach old dog new tricks
o Confirmation bias
▪ Find confirming evidence (e.g. feminist theory)
• Grounded theory (qualitative research)
o Anthropomorphism
Intentional Blindness
• Radiologists and a dancing gorilla in an x-ray of a lung
o Results: 83% of them looked at the gorilla (due to eye movement
data)
What should we conclude?
• Because of their training to detect small nodules which may be cancerous,
radiologists missed an image of a gorilla that was on average 45 times larger
o This is wrong because there is no control group to compare to
Illusory Correlation:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Chapter 1: scientific understanding of behaviour: psychology emerged fro, dualism: there are 2 kinds of substances: mind and body (physical and non- physical) What is science: method, nature of method, method that involves empirical observation (observation via your senses, being able to generalize them into a principle and then into a law, body of facts collected by that method. Why behavioural science: advantages, observable it can be agreed upon (observable by more than one person, present situation, alfred north whitehead, burrhus frederick skinner. Gaining a competitive edge in many careers: knowledge of computers and programming, new jobs require new skills and technology. Evaluating programs : data will vary depending on how the research is conducted (non-scientific) methods of acquiring knowledge, tenacity. Problem with intuition/ personal experience: motivational and cognitive biases, examples of biases: experience, authority, generation gap, cant teach old dog new tricks, confirmation bias, find confirming evidence (e. g. feminist theory, grounded theory (qualitative research, anthropomorphism.
