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Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

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Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

The Need for Psychological Science The limits of Intuition and

Common Sense

The Scientific Attitude

The Scientific Method

FAQS About Psychology

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Impression of Psychology Hoping to satisfy curiosity, many people listen to talk-radio counselors and psychics to know

about others and themselves.

Dr. Crane (radio-shrink)

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Psychic (Ball gazing)

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The Need for Psychological Science

Intuition & Common Sense

Many of us believe that intuition and common sense are enough to bring forth answers about

human nature.

Although intuition and common sense may aid queries, they are not free of error.

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Limits of Intuition

Personal interviewers tend to be overconfident

of their “gut feelings” about job applicants.

Taxi/ G

etty Images

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Errors of Common Sense

Try this !

If you were to fold a piece of paper (0.1 mm thick) 100 times, how large do you think its thickness

would be?

800,000,000,000,000 times the distance between the sun and the earth.

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We tend to believe, after learning about an

outcome, that we would have foreseen it. We

knew that the dot.com stocks would plummet,

only after they did.

Hindsight BiasHindsight Bias is the “I-knew-it-all-along” phenomenon.

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OverconfidenceWe tend to think we know more than we actually do.

Anagram

BARGEGRABE

ENTRYETYRN

WATERWREAT

How long do you think would it take to unscramble

these anagrams?

People said about 10 seconds. On average they

took about 3 minutes (Goranson, 1978).

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Psychological Science

1. How can we differentiate between uninformed opinions and examined conclusions?

2. The science of psychology can help make these examined conclusions, which lead to our understanding what people feel, think, act, as they do!

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The Scientific Attitude

The scientific attitude is composed of curiosity (passion for exploration), skepticism (doubting and questioning) and humility (humbleness to

accept when wrong).

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Critical Thinking

Critical thinking does not blindly accept

arguments and conclusions.

It examines assumptions, discerns

hidden values, evaluates evidence,

assesses conclusions.The Amazing Randi

Courtesy of the Jam

es Randi E

ducat ion Foundat ion

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Scientific Method

Psychologists, like all scientists, use the scientific method to construct theories that

organize, summarize and simplify observations.

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Theory is an explanation that integrates principles, organizes and predicts behaviors

or events.

For example, low self-esteem contributes to depression.

Theory

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Hypothesis is a testable prediction, often induced by a theory, to enable us to accept,

reject or revise the theory.

People with low self-esteem are apt to feel more depressed.

Hypothesis

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Research would require us to administer tests of self esteem and depression to

people. Individuals who score low on self-esteem measures and high on depression

tests, would confirm our hypothesis.

Research Observations

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Research Process

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FAQ

Q1. Can laboratory experiments illuminate everyday life?

Ans: Artificial laboratory conditions are created to study behavior in simplistic terms. The goal is to find underlying principles that govern behavior.

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FAQ

Q2. Does behavior depend on one’s culture?

Ans: Even when specific attitudes and behaviors vary across cultures, as they often do, the underlying processes are much the same.

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i Vitale/ G

etty Image s

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FAQ

Q3. Does behavior vary with gender?

Ans: Yes. Biology determines our sex, and then culture further bends the genders. Yet in many

ways women and men are similarly human.

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FAQ

Q4. Why do psychologists study animals?

Ans: Study of animals gives us understanding of many behaviors that may have common biology

across animals and humans.

D. Shapiro, © Wildlife Conservation Society

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FAQ

Q5. Is it ethical to experiment on animals?

Ans: Yes. To gain insights to devastating and fatal diseases. All researchers who deal with animal

research are required to follow ethical guidelines in caring for these animals.

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FAQ

Q6. Is it ethical to experiment on people?

Ans: Yes. Experiments that do not involve any kind of physical or psychological harm that is

beyond normal levels encountered in daily life can be carried out.

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FAQ

Q7. Is psychology free of value judgments?

Ans: No. Psychology emerges from people who subscribe to a set of values and judgments.

© Roger Shepard