Chapter 1
What are some criticisms of Freud's hypotheses?
Therapy not replicable or objective, limited sample size, and proof of the subconscious is ambiguous at best.
Define protected falsifiability
If you came to class you know this by heart; I can't shut up about it
Real answer: Claims or ideas are phrased in a way that is likely never able to be proven wrong (examples: all affectionate cats have at least a couple pink toes, the next student that walks into my office will be less than 100 years old)
Whats an ultimate question and why can't scientists answer them?
Definition- Questions that science cannot answer, and that no conceivable advance of science could ever answer such questions
Examples: Whats the point of living, what is gravity
What was a significant issue I raised related to attributions of Jean Piaget's ideas of cognitive psychology? (Why were his findings met with empirically-based skepticism?)
His theories were based on the case study using his own kids, therefore it was highly biased and not always generalizable.
Confounding variable(s)
True or false: Psychological divisions are only applicable to fields within psychology.
False- Various differing fields from business to healthcare to the arts rely on psychology and vice versa.
Define "falsifiability criterion"
For a theory to be deemed useful and/or applicable to the real world, any predictions drawn from it must be specific vs generalized.
True or false: Psychology is the worst science for having multiple operational definitions and/or conceptualizations
False; Just because psychology professionals use different lenses to examine things doesn't mean its not useful
Whats a placebo?
Where you place your supply of bows, duh.
Real answer: An intervention that contains no effect whatsoever, yet the recipient believes it to be a helpful and/or impactful intervention.
What's the official term I used when I described researchers who "cherry pick" their participants? In other words, what's something researchers need to avoid when assigning participants to research groups?
Selection bias
What are some of psychology's top contributions ot the scientific world at large?
Statistical expertise and/or utilization for supporting various scientific claims.
Bonus points: A highly regarded and utilized writing style (APA formatting)
True or false: Data quality is more important than quantity
This is a partial trick question. Ideal science has a balance of both to ensure generalization of the findings. Researchers have issues if the data gathered is very inconsistent but there's a lot, or if the data is near-perfection but there's not much.
What's an operational definition and why does psychology of all the sciences care about it?
Definition- Scientific concepts must be observable and can be measured.
The why: Psychology needs to define variables that carry a lot of room for subjective or biased definitions. (Examples include how to define hunger, thirst, anxiety levels, etc)What are examples when we should NOT use a placebo?
Anti-psychotic medications for clients in psychosis, academic learning initiatives for college students, or anesthesia for major medical procedures.
You're most likely correct if the implications of inaction of something carries real world consequences if its not treated, like in the examples above.True or false: A negative correlation means the researcher discovered findings that have very unfavorable implications.
lol nope, it just means as one increases the other goes down
What are the differences between empirical research findings and common sense (aka folk psychology)?
Empiricism- The practice of relying on observation
Common sense/folk psychology- Stories or facts semi-based in truth, but do not hold up after scientific inquiry
True or false: Falsifiability means as soon as a previous theory is disproven, it can be forgotten forever.
False- Some aspects of the old theory may be useful, thus researchers account for the parts that work but replace what doesn't
Whats validity and reliability?
Validity: An instrument is measuring what it claims to after multiple applications
Reliability: An instrument has similar and/or exact measures over multiple uses
True or false: The more vivid a memory is, the more likely we can trust it
False: Remember my tangent about eye witness testimony (spoiler alert it doesn't work). Emotional influences from these "vivid" experiences have had more impact than believed throughout history
Whats a correlation coefficient and the number used with it?
Definition: Statistical index (or strength) of the relationship between two or more things
Number: Ranges from –1.00 to +1.00
What's a psycho fact and the real world ramifications?
Definition: Psychology statement that is not true, but was repeated so often that average people think its a fact
Impacts: Various phrases or sayings such as "opposites attract" or "I'm on a hot streak" aren't true, but people make significant choices from this misinformation
What were some of the real world examples of debunked theories that are still supported using falsifiability to prove the "opposite side" wrong?
Claims that vaccines cause autism, supporters of the flat earth theory, lizard people run world governments, etc
The principal of _____, also conceptualized as Occams Razor, states when multiple theories that have similar explanation power the simpler theory with fewer concepts and conceptual relationships is preferred.
Parsimony
What are some warning signs of pseudoscience?
Secretive "methods" to treat or cure medical or mental ailments, numerous clients supposedly benefiting from the intervention yet they're anonymous, using baseless claims that current scientific practices are wrong, and/or not allowing empirically based peer review.
Whats a term introduced in chapter 5, but further expanded on in a later chapter, that states when someone tries correlating variables that are not empirically validated?
Illusory correlation (shares the same base as the word "illusion", hence the name)