Introduction to Psychology - Scientific Thinking, Research Methods, and Intelligence

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering course requirements, scientific thinking principles, historical framework developments, research and experimental designs, ethics, statistics, and intelligence theories and tests.

On what dates are Fall Break and Midterm Exam #1 scheduled?

Midterm Exam #1 is on October 23rd, and Fall Break is from November 9th to 15th (no classes).

Why is the human brain referred to as an 'association machine' in the context of learning?

Because new information becomes embedded in existing knowledge frameworks.

What are two key study strategies recommended to improve retention and learning?

Practicing active retrieval of information and spacing learning in small amounts over time rather than cramming all at once.

What is the formal definition of psychology provided in the lecture?

The scientific study of the mind, brain, and behaviour.

What two core qualities characterize scientific investigations in psychology?

They are systematic (relying on an objective plan for collecting information) and empirical (grounded in knowledge acquired through observation and the senses).

What does it mean that human behaviour is 'multiply determined'?

Behaviour is produced by many different factors, making human actions and mental states complex and difficult to predict.

What concept describes how individuals affect and are affected by each other in social settings?

Mutual influence (people mutually influence each other's behaviour).

What three interconnected levels of analysis in psychology are depicted in this diagram?

Social Culture Influences (Social or Behavioural Level), Psychological (Mental or Neurological Level), and Biological (Molecular or Neurochemical Level).

What processes and structures are examined at the biological level of analysis?

Molecules and brain structure (the molecular or neurochemical level).

What phenomena are investigated at the psychological level of analysis?

Thoughts, feelings, and emotions (the mental or neurological level).

What is the primary focus of the social or behavioural level of analysis?

Relating to others and personal relationships.

Why must individuals exercise caution when relying on common sense in psychology?

Common sense can be correct or incorrect because it is based on subjective personal experiences and social groups, meaning assertions must be backed up by objective facts.

What is the definition of a scientific theory?

An explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world that provides an overarching explanatory framework.

What is a scientific hypothesis?

A testable prediction derived from a scientific theory.

What are two common misconceptions regarding scientific theories?

That a theory explains only one specific event, and that a theory is merely an educated guess.

What is confirmation bias?

The tendency to seek out evidence that supports one's existing beliefs while denying or ignoring evidence that contradicts them.

What is belief perseverance?

The tendency to stick to initial beliefs even when objective evidence contradicts them.

What are metaphysical claims, and why do they lie outside the domain of science?

Assertions about the world that are not testable (such as the existence of God or an afterlife); because they cannot be tested empirically, they fall outside the scientific domain.

Why is scientific knowledge described as 'tentative'?

It is acquired slowly piece by piece, results can fail to replicate, and findings are always subject to revision or modification over time.

What is pseudoscience?

A set of claims that seems scientific but is not, characteristically lacking safeguards against personal and cognitive biases.

What is an ad hoc immunizing hypothesis?

A loophole or after-the-fact excuse used to explain away disconfirming evidence (such as claiming 'you didn't do it right').

What factors draw people toward pseudoscientific beliefs?

Searching for order in a complex world, finding comfort in beliefs, and receiving personal benefits from believing what one wants to be true.

What is the emotional reasoning fallacy?

The error of using one's emotions as guides to evaluate the validity or truth of a claim.

What is the bandwagon fallacy?

Accepting a claim as true simply because many other people believe it.

What is the 'Not Me' fallacy?

The mistaken belief that one is personally immune from errors in thinking and biases that afflict other people.

What are the three main dangers of pseudoscience discussed in lecture?

Opportunity costs (people failing to seek scientifically supported mental health treatments), direct harm (treatments that cause physical or psychological injury), and an inability to think critically as citizens.

How is scientific skepticism defined?

The approach of evaluating all claims with an open mind, but insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them as true.

How does scientific skepticism differ fundamentally from cynicism?

Cynicism involves disbelief for the sake of disbelief, whereas scientific skepticism insists on evidence ('Show me your evidence!') and includes a willingness to change one's mind when presented with challenging data.

What does Principle #1 of scientific thinking (ruling out rival hypotheses) require?

Considering alternative explanations for findings to determine which explanation best accounts for the observed data.

Why does correlation not establish causation according to Principle #2?

Because an observed association between variables $A$ and $B$ can be explained by $A$ causing $B$, $B$ causing $A$, or a third variable ($C$) causing both $A$ and $B$.

What does Principle #3 (falsifiability) state regarding meaningful scientific claims?

A claim, hypothesis, or theory must make specific, risky predictions that are testable and have the potential to be disproven.

What does Principle #4 (replicability) demand of psychological findings?

Findings must be reproduced across independent studies to confirm that results did not occur merely by chance.

What is the purpose of 'replication with variation'?

Changing specific elements of an original study during replication to eliminate chance and assess how broadly the findings hold.

What does Principle #5 (extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence) dictate?

If a claim directly contradicts what is already well-established by existing scientific knowledge, the evidence supporting that claim must be exceptionally strong.

What is Occam's Razor (Principle of Parsimony)?

The rule that when multiple explanations account equally well for a phenomenon, the simplest explanation that avoids unnecessary assumptions is often the best.

What are the four primary goals of science?

To describe, explain, predict, and control events.

How is a variable defined in scientific research?

Any factor or attribute that can assume two or more values.

What are the two contexts of control in psychological science?

Control over research activities (manipulating variables, selecting participants, structuring experimental settings) and control over the application of scientific knowledge (designing therapies, workplace interventions, or public policies).

What analogy did Plato use to describe human memory?

The 'wax' tablet analogy.

What concepts did Aristotle and René Descartes contribute to early psychological thought?

Aristotle explored associations between ideas, and Descartes proposed dualism (the concept that the mind is distinct from matter).

What major milestone in scientific psychology occurred in 1879?

Wilhelm Wundt established the first formal psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.

What was the method of introspection as used by Wilhelm Wundt?

A technique where trained participants carefully reflect and report on their immediate inner sensations and experiences in the moment.

What was the primary goal of structuralism, and who founded it?

Founded by Edward Titchener, structuralism aimed to identify the basic elements of psychological experience (sensations, images, and feelings) using systematic introspection.

What two major weaknesses contributed to the downfall of structuralism?

Disagreement among independent introspective reports and the discovery of imageless thought.

What was the focus of functionalism, and who founded this school of thought?

Founded by William James and influenced by Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, functionalism focused on the adaptive purposes and functions of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours.

How did William James view conscious mental life?

As an ever-changing 'stream of thought' rather than a collection of static, isolated structural elements.

What is behaviourism, and who was its founder?

Founded by John Watson, behaviourism is the scientific study of observable, measurable behaviour, focused on discovering general laws of learning.

What was B.F. Skinner's stance regarding the human mind and free will?

He took an 'anti-mentalistic' position treating the mind as an unobservable blank box, asserting that human behaviour is no more free than human digestion.

What was one key limitation and one positive contribution of behaviourism?

Limitation: it overreached by claiming that all behaviours are exclusively learned. Positive: it made psychology rigorously scientific and produced effective practical interventions like phobia therapy and classroom rewards.

What is the central focus of cognitivism (cognitive psychology)?

Understanding mental processes and interpretation (the 'black box' of thinking, perception, memory, and reasoning) as essential components of understanding behaviour.

What is the core emphasis of psychoanalysis, and who founded it?

Founded by Sigmund Freud, psychoanalysis focuses on unconscious memories, drives, and internal psychological processes that lie outside conscious awareness as the primary causes of behaviour.

What is a major scientific criticism of Freudian psychoanalytic theory?

Many of its claims are untestable and unfalsifiable, and its proposed unconscious processes differ substantially from scientifically verified non-conscious mechanisms.

What is the current consensus in psychology regarding the nature versus nurture debate?

Both genetic inheritance (nature) and rearing environments (nurture) play an essential role in most behaviours, leading modern researchers to focus on their relative contributions.

What is a major methodological criticism of evolutionary psychology?

Many of its adaptive explanations for psychological traits are difficult or impossible to falsify experimentally.

What is the central question in the free will versus determinism debate?

The extent to which our behaviours are freely chosen versus automatically generated by biological and environmental forces outside our conscious control.

What is the primary difference between basic research and applied research?

Basic research investigates the fundamental nature of phenomena to build core scientific knowledge, whereas applied research addresses and solves specific real-world problems.

What are two real-world design innovations mentioned that derived from psychological research?

The adoption of high-visibility yellow fire trucks and the development of hands-free technology in vehicles.

How do System 1 (intuitive) and System 2 (analytical) thinking differ?

System 1 is fast, reflexive, effortless, and driven by heuristics; System 2 is slow, reflective, deliberate, and requires substantial mental effort.

What is the difference between a conceptual definition and an operational definition?

A conceptual definition specifies the abstract construct of interest, whereas an operational definition defines a variable in terms of the specific procedures used to measure or manipulate it.

What are examples of operational definitions for measuring driving performance?

Number of lane departures, following distance, crash frequency, and braking response time.

What are the three main types of observational research designs?

Naturalistic observation, participant observation, and structured observation.

What is naturalistic observation, and what is one study example cited in lecture?

Systematically watching and recording behaviour in real-world settings without manipulating the situation, such as Bowker et al. (2009) observing parent behaviour at minor hockey games.

How is external validity defined, and what is ecological validity?

External validity is the extent to which findings generalize beyond the immediate study context; ecological validity is a subtype assessing whether findings apply specifically to real-world everyday settings.

Why do naturalistic observational studies typically lack internal validity?

Because researchers do not manipulate variables or control extraneous factors, making it impossible to draw definitive cause-and-effect inferences.

What is reactivity in observational research?

A distortion in research findings that occurs when participants alter their behaviour because they know they are being observed.

What is a case study, and what is an example mentioned in the lecture?

An in-depth, comprehensive analysis of a single individual, social unit, or event; examples include patient H.M. (amnesia) and investigations of night nurses.

What is one major advantage and one limitation of case study designs?

Advantage: they provide existence proofs and in-depth insights into rare phenomena. Disadvantage: they lack internal validity, cannot systematically test hypotheses, and carry observer bias.

What is the difference between a research population and a sample?

A population includes all cases or individuals of interest, whereas a sample is a smaller subset of cases selected from that population.

What is random selection in survey research?

A procedure ensuring that every member of the target population has an equal mathematical chance of being chosen for the sample.

How is measurement reliability defined?

The consistency of a measurement tool when consistency is logically expected.

What is the difference between test-retest reliability and interrater reliability?

Test-retest reliability assesses score consistency across repeated administrations to the same people; interrater reliability measures the extent to which independent observers agree in their ratings.

How does measurement validity differ from reliability?

Validity is the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure; a test must be reliable to be valid, but a reliable test can still be completely invalid.

What are leading questions and loaded questions in survey design?

Leading questions are unbalanced items that overtly or subtly nudge a preferred answer; loaded questions contain emotionally charged words or unstated assumptions that restrict disagreement.

What is a double-barreled question on a questionnaire?

A single question that asks about two distinct issues at once, forcing respondents to combine potentially differing opinions into a single response.

What defines a correlational research design?

A non-experimental design that measures the statistical association between two or more variables without manipulating them.

What is the mathematical difference between a positive correlation and a negative correlation?

In a positive correlation, variables move in the same direction ($X \uparrow, Y \uparrow$ or $X \downarrow, Y \downarrow$); in a negative correlation, variables move in opposite directions ($X \uparrow, Y \downarrow$ or $X \downarrow, Y \uparrow$).

What range of values can Pearson's correlation coefficient ($r$) assume, and what do the sign and magnitude indicate?

Values range from $-1.00$ to $+1.00$; the sign indicates direction ($+\text{ or }-$), while the absolute magnitude indicates the strength of the linear relationship.

What is a scatterplot?

A two-dimensional graph portraying the intersection of scores on two variables for individual participants in a dataset.

What is an illusory correlation, and why do humans perceive them?

The perception of a statistical relationship between two variables where none exists; it occurs due to the salience of distinctive events, failing to remember non-events, and confirmation bias.

What is the third variable problem in correlational research?

The possibility that an unmeasured extraneous variable ($C$) causes the observed relationship between both variables $A$ and $B$.

What two essential features define an experimental design?

Random assignment of participants to experimental conditions and the systematic manipulation of an independent variable.

How do independent and dependent variables differ in an experiment?

The independent variable is directly manipulated by the experimenter, while the dependent variable is the response measured to assess the effect of that manipulation.

How does random assignment differ from random selection?

Random selection determines who is included in the research sample from a population; random assignment sorts enrolled participants into experimental and control groups.

What is the difference between a between-participants design and a within-participants design?

In a between-participants design, each participant is exposed to only one condition; in a within-participants design, every participant experiences all conditions and serves as their own control.

What is a confounding variable?

Any variable that differs systematically between experimental groups other than the independent variable, introducing plausible alternative explanations for the findings.

What are the placebo and nocebo effects?

The placebo effect is symptom improvement caused by the mere psychological expectation of improvement; the nocebo effect is experiencing genuine harm or adverse symptoms caused by negative expectations from an inert substance.

What ethical violations occurred in the Little Albert study and the Monster Study?

Watson and Rayner (1920) conditioned intense fear of furry objects in an infant without desensitization, while Johnson and Tudor (1939) subjected orphans to severe psychological harm by experimentally labeling normal speakers as 'stutterers.'

What is a Research Ethics Board (REB)?

An independent institutional committee that evaluates proposed human research projects to ensure compliance with ethical principles.

What are the three core principles of the TCPS-2 policy statement?

Respect for Persons (respecting autonomy and protecting vulnerable groups), Concern for Welfare (protecting physical and mental quality of life), and Justice (treating participants fairly and equitably).

Under what specific conditions is deception permitted in psychological research?

When the study cannot be conducted without it, the procedure poses no harm, no therapeutic or medical interventions are involved, and the study yields significant positive benefits.

What are the primary goals of participant debriefing following a study?

To fully explain the true nature and hypothesis of the study, answer participant questions, and minimize any negative feelings or misconceptions.

What is the mean, and what is its primary mathematical disadvantage?

The arithmetic average of all scores in a dataset; its primary limitation is that it is heavily distorted by extreme numerical outliers.

How does standard deviation measure variability in a dataset?

It calculates the average degree to which individual data points deviate from the overall sample mean.

What is statistical significance, and what conventional numerical cutoff is used in psychology?

A finding that is unlikely to have occurred by chance alone, traditionally evaluated using a probability threshold of $p < 0.05$ ($5/100$).

What did Edwin Boring famously state regarding the definition of intelligence in 1923?

'Intelligence is what the tests test.'

How did Sir Francis Galton conceptualize intelligence, and what did James McKeen Cattell discover when evaluating his measures?

Galton viewed intelligence as a direct byproduct of superior sensory capacities; Cattell found that sensory discrimination abilities did not correlate with college grades.

How did Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon operationalize intelligence in their groundbreaking test?

As abstract thinking (the capacity to understand hypothetical concepts), evaluated using $30$ cognitive tasks grouped according to age levels.

What do Charles Spearman's '$g$' and '$s$' factors represent in intelligence theory?

'$g$' represents general intelligence (an underlying trait reflecting overall mental power and efficiency), while '$s$' represents specific abilities in narrow intellectual domains.