chap 1: experimental psychology and the scientific method

science

systematic gathering of data to provide descriptions of events taking place under specific conditions, enabling researchers to explain, predict, and control events

science as content

the facts we learn in our psychology and chemistry courses

science as process

activity that includes the systematic ways in which we go about gathering data, noting relationships, and offering explanations

methodology

scientific techniques used to collect and evaluate psychological data

data

facts and figures gathered from observations in research

commonsense psychology

everyday, nonscientific collection of psychological data used to understand the social world and guide our behavior

shapes our expectations and beliefs, directs our behavior toward others

by Fritz Heider

confirmation bias

tending to overlook instances that might disconfirm our beliefs and look for confirmatory instances of behavior

intuitions; own observations of behavior are also factors we consider when drawing a conclusion

gambler’s fallacy

thinking that future events will be in one’s favor because of previous outcomes of events

by Daniel Kahnerman

scientific method

the steps scientists take to gather and verify information, answer questions, explain relationships, and communicate this information to others

overconfidence bias

the more data we have available, the more confidence we have in our judgements about behavior

scientific mentality

if no inherent order existed, there would be no point in looking for one and no need to develop methods for doing so

the universe follows a specific rule/law, which is why we can predict the universe and how it works

by Alfred North Whitehead

determinism

there are specificable causes for the way people behave

empirical data

observable or experienced data

laws

when principles have the generality to apply to all situations

theory

diverse sets of scientific facts of hypothesis

hypothesis

a testable prediction

karl popper

wrote that science progresses only through progressively better theories

old theories are replaced by new theories with greater explanatory power

falsification

falsifying theories, which survives then becomes a better theory

verification

proving yourself correct rather than wrong

good thinking

organized and rational thought, characterized by open-mindedness, objectivity, and parsimony

parsimony

also called as occam’s razor, attributed by William of Occam

the simplest explanation is preferred until ruled out by conflicting evidence

description

a systematic and unbiased account of the observed characteristics of behaviors

prediction

refers to the capability for knowing in advance when certain behaviors would be expected to occur because we have identified other conditions with which the behaviors are linked and associated

explanation

includes knowledge of the conditions that reliably reproduce the occurrence of a behavior

control

refers to the application of what has been learned about behavior

applied research

research that is designed to solve real-life problems

basic research

research designed to test theories or to explain psychological phenoma in humans and animals

observation

systematic noting and recording of events

measurement

assignment of numerical values to objects or events or their characteristics according to conventional rules

experimentation

a process undertaken to test a hypothesis that particular behavioral events will occur reliably in certain, specifiable situations

antecedent conditions

circumstances that come before the event or behavior that we want to explain

treatments

created specific sets of antecedent conditions

psychology experiment

controlled procedure in which at least two different treatment conditions are applied to the subjects

cause-and-effect relationship

the relation between a particular behavior and a set of antecedents that always preceeds it— whereas other antecedents do not— so that the set is inferred to cause the behavior

temporal relationship

type of cause-and-effect relationship we establish through experiments because a time difference occurs in the relationship

wilhelm wundt

the first experimental psychologist

employed the tools of the scientific method to study human sensory experience

mental philosophy

included the study of consciousness and mental processes and was based on the premise that the human mind begins as a blank slate, gaining knowledge of the world through sensory experiences

pseudoscience

characterizes any field of study that gives the appearance of being scientific but has no true scientific basis and has not been confirmed using the scientific method

phrenology

involved assessing traits and dispositions by measuring the size and location of bumps on the skull

physiognomy

involved using facial features to evaluate traits, mental capacity, and skills

psychology

scientific study of mental processes, uses scientific method

threshold

the lower it is, the more capable one is in observing their surroundings

francis galton

contemporary wilhelm wundt

known for his pioneering studies of human intelligence

apophenia

giving meaning on nonsense things

heuristics

pioneered by daniel rahneman and amos tverksy

mental shortcuts to immediately provide judgement

social learning theory

learning from environment through observation

by albert bandura

priming theory

being exposed to a stimuli that affects you unconsciously

dopamine

happy/pleasure hormone