Critical Thinking Tools

Vocabulary flashcards from lecture notes on critical thinking tools, focusing on biases, pseudoscientific approaches, and decision-making strategies.

Gross Negligence

Failure to provide adequate care or attention, potentially leading to harm, as alleged against Bennett Braun.

Dishonorable, Unethical, and Unprofessional Conduct

Behavior that violates the accepted principles and standards of a profession, as alleged against Bennett Braun.

Repressed Memories

Memories of traumatic events that are unconsciously blocked from conscious awareness but can be recovered through therapy.

Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD)

A controversial diagnosis characterized by the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states in an individual; now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

Thought Field Therapy (TFT)

A pseudoscientific treatment involving tapping on specific body points to influence a human energy field and alleviate psychological problems.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

A psychotherapy treatment where patients redirect their gaze while processing traumatic memories, intended to relieve psychological disorders, though its effectiveness is debated.

Wishful Thinking

Believing something is true because it is pleasing or comforting, rather than based on evidence or knowledge.

Testimonials

Personal accounts or stories used as evidence, but which are often unreliable and insufficient for testing a hypothesis or supporting a belief.

Correlation

A statistical measure that expresses the extent to which two variables are linearly related (does not imply causation).

Base Rates

The basic probability of an event occurring, often ignored in favor of specific evidence, leading to misjudgments.

Regression Toward the Mean

The tendency for extreme values to be followed by values closer to the average.

Opportunity Costs

The potential benefits one misses out on when choosing one alternative over another.

Falsifiable

The capacity for a theory or claim to be proven false; a key criterion for scientific validity.

Replicable Evidence

Evidence that can be consistently reproduced through independent tests, increasing the reliability of a claim.