Textbook Notes- Chapter 1: Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

Here are notes from the textbook, pages 19-51, to supplement the in-class lecture notes.

Need for psychological science: we can not rely soley on intuition

• hindsight bias-- I-knew-it-all-along: easy to claim you would have forseen the outcome
• common sense is not wrong, it is just after the fact
• "good ideas in psychology usually have an oddly familiar quality, and the moment we encounter them we feel certain that we once came close to thinking  the same thing ourselves and simply failed to write it down."
• judgmental overconfidence: we are too confident in our predictions

The scientific attitude

• James Randi is a psychic skeptic
• we have to be open to new radical ideas, but not gullible-- "show me the evidence"
• critical thinking: examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions

The scientific method

• theories are a good way to combine observations into a deeper principle, to summarize
• theory must produce testable predictions (hypothesis) 
• to prevent biases, psychologists report their research with precise operational definitions so anyone can replicate their observations, and if repeats of the experiment produce the same result, we can have more confidence in the theory
• theories are useful if they...

1. effectively organize a range of self reports and observations
2. implies clear predictions that anyone can use to check the theory or derive practical applications 

Description: observe and describe people objectively and systematically

• case study= suggest hypothesis for future, but individuals may be atypical 
• interesting, strange examples may distract from the major direction of the evidence
• survey= answers depend on the questions wording and the sample of people
• we can only generalize from a representative sample
• website polls are misleading: only people who would go to that website took that poll
• naturalistic observation= help us describe behaviors, which can be revealing

Correlation: how close things are to eachother helps predict when they will appear

Correlation does not mean causation: can indicate possibility of cause-effect relationship

• illusory correlation: when we think there is a connection, we seek out evidence that proves it (one time, I didn't wear a coat, and then I got a cold! must be a connection)
• we are sensitive to dramatic and unusual events

Experiments: unlike correlational studies, which uncover naturally occurring relationships, experiments manipulate factors to determine their effects

• double-blind procedure: one group is given new drug, other control group given placebo
• to evaluate the dependent variable, questions asked of the patient must be specific
• manipulate and independent variable, measure the dependent variable, control others

Statistical Reasoning

• measures of central tendency: outliers often throw off the average, so 62% of people can be below average ;)
• if mean is reported, consider the outliers that could have effected the calculations
• standard deviation tells wether scores are packed together or spread far apart
• how can we tell that results are not just random, natural fluctuations?
• must have: representative sample, a small variation between results, large sample
• statistical significance: a statistical statement of how likely it is that the obtained result occurred by chance
• statistical significance happens when sample averages are reliable and the difference between them is relatively large
• indicates likelihood that an event will occur by chance, not the importance of the result
• only count findings whose statistical significances are 5% or less

Psychology FAQ

- Can Laboratory experiments illuminate everyday life?

laboratory is a simplified reality, are used to test theoretical principles which explain behavior

concerns lie less in particular behaviors and more in general principles that explain behaviors

- Does behavior depend on culture?

yes, in our customs and behaviors, but not in underlying principles

- Does behavior vary with gender? 

we are similarly human, but cultural factors contribute to our differences.

-is it ethical to experiment on animals?

which do we value more: humans or animals? We value those close to our heart, such as primates which look like humans and dogs and cats, which are common pets.

• required to provide a stress free, happy, natural environment for animal test subjects
• sometimes we temporarily deceive human test subjects to get an accurate result

-Is psychology free of value judgements?

we see what we want to see, use labels to emphasize certain values