Week 1/ Chapter 1

• Applied research is research examining how we can use basic research to solve real-world problems.
• William James, the father of psychology, stated that psychology is a complex discipline with few simple explanations.
• Psychology is a science based on evidence.
• Psychology spans from neurons to neighborhoods in terms of levels of analysis.
• Some psychologists believe biological factors best explain behavior, while others believe social factors best explain behavior.
• Psychological questions can be approached scientifically.
• Common sense isn't always wrong, but our understanding of ourselves and the world is often very mistaken due to naive realism, the notion that seeing is believing.
• To think scientifically, it's important to learn when and when not to use common sense conclusions.
• Science begins with empiricism, the principle that knowledge should be initially acquired through observation.
• Psychologists always rely on systematic research methods.
• Human behavior is far more complex to predict than other sciences.
• Psychology is a science, despite being believed otherwise by some people.
• Scientific theory is an explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world.
• Hypothesis is a testable prediction derived from a scientific theory.
• Theory is all general scientific explanations for how the world works.
• Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out evidence that supports our beliefs and denies or dismisses contradictory evidence.
• Belief perseverance is the tendency to stick to our original beliefs even when evidence contradicts them.
• Metaphysical claim is an assertion about the world that is not testable.
• Psychology is growing extensively and so are treatments for psychological ailments.
• Not all psychological information in popular culture is accurate.
• Pseudoscience is a set of claims that seem scientific but isn't.
• Ad hoc immunizing hypothesis is an escape hatch or loophole that defenders of a theory use to protect their theory from falsification.
• Correlation-causation fallacy- error of assuming that because one thing is associated with another, it must cause the other
• Scientific skepticism- approach of evaluating all claims with an open mind but insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them
• Critical thinking- set of skills for evaluating all claims in an open-minded and careful manner
• Thinking clearly is an antidote against pseudoscience
• Emotional reasoning fallacy- error of using our emotions as guides for evaluating the validity of a claim
• Variable- Anything that can vary
• Not me fallacy- error of believing that we are immune from errors in thinking that afflict other people
• Bandwagon fallacy- error of assuming a claim is correct because it is widely believed
• Most anecdotes are very hard to interpret as evidence.
• Hasty generalization fallacy- error of drawing a conclusion on the basis of insufficient evidence
• Argument from adverse consequences fallacy- error of confusing the validity of a belief with its real-world consequences
• Appeal to ignorance fallacy- error of assuming a claim must be true because no one has shown it to be false
• Falsifiable- capable of being disproved
• Logical Fallacies
• Appeal to authority fallacy- error of accepting a claim simply because an authority figure endorses it
• Either or fallacy- error of framing a question as though we can only answer it in one of two ways
• Genetic fallacy- error of confusing the validity of a belief with its origins
• Naturalistic fallacy- error of inferring a moral judgment from a scientific fact