RM Key terms

research

The systematic process of collecting and analyzing information to answer questions and learn about the world.

experience

Knowledge gained from personal observations or events, which can be useful but may not always provide reliable or objective evidence.

intuition

 A quick belief or judgment that comes without deliberate reasoning or systematic evidence.

cognitive biases & heuristics

Mental shortcuts and predictable patterns of thinking that can lead us to make inaccurate judgments or decisions.

confirmation bias

 The tendency to look for or interpret evidence in ways that support what we already believe while ignoring evidence that contradicts it.

availability heuristic

 The tendency to judge the likelihood or frequency of something based on how easily examples of it come to mind.

bias blind spot

 The tendency to recognize biases in other people's thinking while failing to recognize those same biases in our own thinking.

pseudoscience

 A claim or practice that presents itself as scientific but does not follow the methods and standards of science.

jargon

Technical or complicated language that can make a claim sound scientific or credible without actually providing scientific evidence.

falsifiable

A claim that can be tested in a way that could potentially show the claim to be false.

confirmatory evidence

 Evidence that supports or agrees with a claim, prediction, or hypothesis.

anecdotal evidence

Evidence based on individual personal experiences or stories rather than systematic research.

testimonial evidence

Evidence based on a person's statement or claim about their own experience, rather than scientific testing.

connectivity

The extent to which a claim fits with and is supported by existing scientific knowledge.

scientific community

 A group of researchers and experts who share, evaluate, and build upon scientific knowledge.

peer review

 The process in which experts in a field evaluate research before it is published in a scientific journal