Module 0.1 The Scientific Attitude, Critical Thinking, and Developing Arguments

  • Psychology is a Science

    • Underlying all science is, first, a passion for exploring and understanding without being misled or misleading others.

    • However, some questions (is there life after death?) are beyond science. That means answering them requires a leap of faith.

    • With other ideas (Ex: Can some people demonstrate extrasensory perception?), the proof is in the pudding. That means to let the facts speak for themselves. That means you need to look for scientifically derived evidence.

    • There are four science practices in the AP Psych course: Concept Application, Research Methods & Design, Data Interpretation, and Argumentation.

      •     An evidence-based approach draws on observation and experimentation.

  • Key Elements of the Scientific Attitude

    • No matter how ridiculous the idea sounds, a smart thinker asks: Does it work? Does the data support its predictions?

    • Sifting reality from fantasy and fact from fiction requires adopting a scientific attitude: being skeptical yet not cynical, open-minded yet not gullible.

    • Putting a scientific attitude into practice requires not only curiosity and skepticism but also humility—awareness of our vulnerability to error and openness to surprises and new perspectives.

    • The truths revealed by our questioning and testing are what matter.

  • AP Science Practice: Developing Arguments: The Scientific Attitude

    1. Curiosity: Does it work? When put to the test, can its predictions be confirmed?

    2. Skepticism: What do you mean? How do you know? Sifting reality from fantasy requires a healthy skepticism—an attitude that isn’t cynical (doubting everything), but also not gullible (believing everything).

    3. Humility: That was unexpected! Let’s explore further. Researchers have to be willing to be surprised and follow new ideas. People and other animals won’t always behave as our ideas and beliefs would predict.

  • Critical Thinking

    • The scientific attitude—curiosity + skepticism + humility—prepares us to think harder and smarter. This smart thinking is called critical thinking.

    • Critical thinking is thinking that doesn’t automatically acc