PSY 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Hindsight Bias, Meta-Analysis, Naturalistic Observation
Document Summary
Some of psychology is common sense, but sometimes it shows our common sense is wrong. Hindsight bias- after learning an outcome people believe they knew it all along. Overconfidence- knowing the answers tends to make us overconfident. Perceiving order in random events- we want to make sense of the world. Scientific attitude combines curiosity, skepticism, and humility. Scientific method- a self correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation and analysis. Theory- explains behaviors or events by offering ideas that organize observations. Hypotheses specify what results would support and disconfirm the theory. Theories can bias observation; we may see what we expect. Operational definitions- carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in the study. In all scientific fields replication either confirms findings or enables us to revise our understanding. Meta analysis statistically combines the results of many studies. A theory will be useful if it. Experimental methods- manipulate factors to discover their effects.
