NCSU PSY 420: Final Exam (Ch. 9, 13, Paranormal)

induction

a pattern of reasoning in which one seeks to draw general claims from specific bits of evidence

deduction

the process of reasoning from one or more statements (premises) to reach a logically certain conclusion

heuristics

mental shortcuts

attribute substitution

occurs when individuals must make judgements that are complex but instead substitute a simpler solution or heuristic

processing fluency

the ease with which something is processed or comes to mind

availability heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events based on their availability in memory

representativeness heuristic

estimating the likelihood of events in terms of how well they seem to represent, or match, particular prototypes

gambler's fallacy

the belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn't occurred recently

anchoring bias

a tendency to fixate on initial information, from which one then fails to adequately adjust for subsequent information

covariation

the amount of change in one variable that is consistently related to the change in another variable

base-rate information

information about the likelihood of an event

diagnostic information

information indicating whether an individual case belongs to a category

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence

biased attention

the idea that we notice examples that fit the pattern more readily

biased memory

the idea that we will recall examples that fit the pattern more readily

confirming evidence

information that backs up something a person already believes

disconfirming evidence

information that counts against a belief

selective memory

the process of retaining and recalling certain bits of information from past interactions, while forgetting the rest

belief perseverance

tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them

System 1 thinking

the set of automatic biases, heuristics, and intuitions by which we make most of our daily decisions

System 2 thinking

reflective thinking that is slow, deliberate, and conscious

belief-bias effect

a situation that occurs when a person's prior knowledge, attitudes, or values distort the reasoning process by influencing the person to accept invalid arguments

permission schema

a pragmatic reasoning schema that states that if a person satisfies condition A, then they get to carry out action B

utility theory

a theory that allows decision makers to incorporate their risk preference and other factors into the decision-making process

utility maximization

an assumption that people try to achieve the highest level of utility given their budget constraint

framing effect

the tendency for people's choices to be affected by how a choice is presented, such as whether it is worded in terms of potential losses or gains

prospect theory

the theory that people choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gains

reason-based choice

the idea that people make a decision only when they detect what they believe to be a persuasive reason for making that choice

somatic markers

bodily reactions that arise from the emotional evaluation of an action's consequences

orbitofrontal cortex

area of the frontal lobe involved in learning and decision-making

affective heuristic

the tendency for people to overestimate how events will make them feel in the future

problem solving

a process in which one begins by deciding on a goal and seeks steps that will lead to that goal

initial state

knowledge and resources available at the beginning of the problem

goal state

the condition that occurs when a problem has been solved

operators

available tools or actions that can help you move from the initial state to the goal state

path constraints

limits that rule out some operations

problem space

the set of all states that can be reached in solving a problem, as one moves, by means of operators, from the initial state toward the goal state

difference reduction

a problem-solving method that involves reducing the difference between the present situation and the desired one

means-end analysis

a problem-solving method that involves the problem solver asking at each step how the current state can be made more similar to the goal state, using available operators

hill-climbing strategy

the heuristic to choose an option that moves you in the direction of the goal

subproblems

the smaller problems that a person creates by subdividing a target problem, in order to facilitate problem solving

perceptual reference frame

the way a problem is posed locks one's way of thinking of what has been seen and hard to break out of

analogies

a strategy where a new problem is reduced to a previously known problem, and prior knowledge of how to determine the solution can be applied

chunking

organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

well-defined problem

a problem with clear specifications of the start state, goal state, and the processes for reaching the goal state

ill-defined problem

a problem lacking clear specification of either the start state, goal state, or the processes for reaching the goal state

functional fixedness

the tendency to think of things only in terms of their usual functions

belief bias

tendency to accept a conclusion because it aligns with our prior beliefs/knowledge about the world

set effect

bias toward the use of certain problem-solving approaches because of past experience

preparation

gather information and put effort into working on the problem, often with little progress

incubation

set the problem aside, but continue to work on the problem unconsciously

illumination

(aka insight) key insights or new ideas emerge

verification

confirm that the new idea really does lead to a solution/work out details

incubation effect

the phenomenon that sometimes solutions to a particular problem come easier after a period of time in which one has ignored trying to solve the problem

paranormal phenomena

phenomena such as extra-sensory perception which lie outside the range of ordinary experience and defy current scientific explanation

Forer/Barnum effect

general statements that apply to everyone seem to apply to you

cold reading

a method using technique such as social cues, Barnum statements, and probability to make people believe you have psychic powers

Occam's Razor (Law of Parsimony)

when two competing theories exist to explain the same phenomenon, the simpler of the two theories is generally preferred

persistence of vision

refers to the way our eyes retain images for a split second longer than they actually appear, making a series of quick flashes appear as one continuous picture

retention-of-vision vanish

illusion of motion created when the brain interprets multiple still images as one moving frame

illusion of memory

occurs when what we remember is different from what we think we remember

survivorship bias

concentrating on the people or things that "survived" some process and inadvertently overlooking those that didn't because of their lack of visibility

culture evidence

not looking at something because of desire/faith for it to work or because you're being paid to

pseudoscience

a collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method.

demand characteristics

cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected

hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

homeopathy

treatment of disease with minute doses of a remedy that, if given in massive doses to healthy persons, would produce effects like those of the disease

Baloney Detection Kit

a way to identify valid science

logical fallacy

an error in reasoning that renders an argument invalid