PSYC 3291 Exam 2 new

What is the main theme of Part 2?

Replacing appeal to authority with systematic scientific inquiry.

Why did Ptolemy's model remain dominant for centuries?

Authority and doctrine replaced direct scientific scrutiny.

How did Islamic civilization affect Western science?

It preserved and transmitted Greek science, math, and philosophy.

Why was the printing press important to science?

It rapidly spread literacy, knowledge, and new scientific ideas.

What model did Copernicus propose?

Heliocentrism: Earth and the planets orbit the Sun.

What is parsimony?

Prefer the explanation fitting the evidence with the fewest assumptions.

How did Copernicus demonstrate parsimony?

Earth's motion explained several phenomena with fewer assumptions.

What phenomena did Earth's motion help explain?

Retrograde motion, planetary brightness, and seasons.

What major limitation remained in Copernicus's work?

He lacked an empirical method capable of proving his model.

What did Bacon publish in 1620?

The Novum Organum.

What intellectual approach did Bacon challenge?

Authority and pure deductive reasoning without empirical evidence.

What reasoning did Bacon emphasize?

Cautious induction grounded in systematic empirical observation.

What is inductive reasoning?

Moving from specific observations toward broader generalizations.

What is deductive reasoning?

Drawing a conclusion from established premises or evidence.

What is cautious induction?

Generalize modestly, then seek more evidence before expanding.

What are Bacon's Idols of the Mind?

Sources of bias and error that distort observation and reasoning.

What are the four Idols?

Tribe, Cave, Marketplace, and Theatre.

What are Idols of the Tribe?

Universal human biases and errors in perception or reasoning.

What are Idols of the Cave?

Biases from personal experience, upbringing, or limited perspective.

What are Idols of the Marketplace?

Errors caused by language, terminology, and communication.

What are Idols of the Theatre?

Blind acceptance of dogma, philosophical systems, or authority.

What is pareidolia?

Seeing meaningful patterns, especially faces, in random stimuli.

What is the gambler's fallacy?

Thinking an independent random outcome is "due" after a streak.

What is confirmation bias?

Favoring evidence supporting a belief while ignoring contradictions.

What is an illusory correlation?

Perceiving a relationship between events that may not actually be related.

What is regression to the mean?

Extreme outcomes naturally tend to move closer to average later.

Why might humans over-detect patterns?

False positives may be safer than missing a real threat.

What is Bacon's basic scientific process?

Hypothesis → empirical test → conclusion.

What is falsifiability?

A claim must be capable, in principle, of being shown false.

What is empiricism?

Scientific reasoning must be based on observable evidence.

What is objectivity?

Evidence should not depend on the particular observer.

What is reproducibility?

Others should be able to obtain the same effect or observation.

What did William Harvey discover?

Blood circulates repeatedly throughout the body.

Why was Harvey historically important?

He used Bacon's method to overturn Galen with empirical evidence.

What methods did Harvey use?

Experimentation, comparative anatomy, mathematics, and observation.

Why are scientific instruments important?

They improve control and precision beyond unaided human senses.

What does scientific observation mean in this unit?

Systematic data collection or measurement.

What did Galileo show about falling objects?

They accelerate at the same rate regardless of weight.

Why was Galileo important methodologically?

He used controlled, quantitative experiments to test authority.

What did Boyle's work emphasize?

Instruments, repeated experiments, precision, and replication.

Why did Boyle distrust single experiments?

Replication provides error checking before building theories.

Why was the Royal Society important?

It institutionalized scientific investigation over appeal to authority.

What did Robert Hooke publish in 1665?

Micrographia.

What scientific cycle is associated with Hooke?

Observation → deduction → test → induction.

What were the three major achievements of Newton's Principia?

Calculus, universal laws of motion, and rules of scientific reasoning.

What major idea did Newton add about scientific knowledge?

Scientific knowledge is tentative and remains open to revision.

What is the unit's overall historical progression?

Authority → method → experiment → replication → institutional science → explanation.