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Introduction to Psychology
Chapter 1-Thinking Critically with Psychological Science
Notes Organizer


1. Why is psychological science relevant?


2. Hindsight bias:
The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-
along phenomenon.)
3. What do hindsight bias, overconfidence and perceiving order in random events have to do with psychological science?
Hindsight bias, overconfidence, and our tendency to perceive patterns in random events often lead us to overestimate
our intuitions. But scientific inquiry can help us sift reality from illusion.
4. What is the scientific attitude?
The scientific attitude combines curiosity about the world around us, skepticism toward various claims and ideas, and
humility about ones own understanding.
Curiosity: Always asking new questions.
Skepticism: Not accepting a fact as true without challenging it; seeing if facts can withstand attempts to
disprove them
Humility: It refers to seeking the truth rather than trying to be right; a scientist needs to be able to accept being
wrong.
5. Critical thinking:
Thinking which doesnt blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden
values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.
or
Critical thinking is analyzing information, arguments, and conclusions, to decide if they make sense, rather than simply
accepting it.
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The Scientific Method
1. What is the scientific method?
A self-correcting process for asking questions and observing natures answers.
2. Theory
A theory, in the language of science, is a set of principles, built on observations and other verifiable facts, that explains
some phenomenon and predicts its future behavior.
3. Hypothesis
A hypothesis is a testable prediction consistent with our theory.
or
A hypothesis is a testable prediction, often implied by a theory.
4. Operational definitions
A statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables.
(E.g.: Human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures.)
5. Replicate/Replication
Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the
basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances.
or
Replicating research means trying the methods of a study again, but with different participants or situations, to see if
the same results happen.
Research goals/types
1. Case study
Case study is an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth, in the hope of revealing universal
principles.
or
Observing and gathering information to compile an in-depth study of one individual.

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2. What is naturalistic observation?
It means gathering data about behavior; watching but not intervening. This method can be used to study more than one
individual, and to find truths that apply to a broader population.
or
Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the
situation.
3. Survey
A method of gathering information about many peoples thoughts or behaviors through self-report rather than
observation.
or
A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a
representative, random sample of the group.
a) Population: All those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn. (Note: Except for national
studies, this does NOT refer to a countrys whole population.)
b) Random Sample: A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of
inclusion.
c) Random Sampling: Its a technique for making sure that every individual in a population has an equal chance of
being in your sample. Random means that your selection of participants is driven only by chance, not by any
characteristic.
or
Random sampling is how you get a pool of research participants that represents the population youre trying to
learn about.

Correlation

General Definition: An observation that two traits or attributes are related to each other (thus, they are co-related) .
Scientific definition: A measure of how closely two factors vary together, or how well you can predict a change in one
from observing a change in the other.
Correlation coefficient:
The correlation coefficient is a number representing how closely and in what way two variables correlate (change
together).
o The direction of the correlation can be positive (direct relationship; both variables increase together) or
negative (inverse relationship: as one increases, the other decreases).
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o The strength of the relationship, how tightly, predictably they vary together, is measured in a number
that varies from 0.00 to +/- 1.00.

Scatterplots:
Also known as scatter diagram or scatter graph, a scatterplot is a visual representation of the relationships or
associations between two numerical variables, which are represented as points (or dots), each plotted at a
horizontal axis (y-axis) and vertical axis (y-axis).
The relationship between correlation and causation:
Correlation does not mean causation!!!
Experimentation

1. Experimentation:
It means manipulating one factor in a situation to determine its effect.
or (in a more advanced way)
An experiment is a type of research in which the researcher carefully manipulates a limited number of factors (IVs) and
measures the impact on other factors (DVs). In psychology, you would be looking at the effect of the experimental
change (IV) on a behavior or mental process (DV).
2. Experimental group:
The experimental group (or experimental condition) refers to the group of participants who are exposed to the
independent variable. These participants receive or are exposed to the treatment variable.
3. Control group:
A group of subjects closely resembling the treatment group in many demographic variables but not receiving the active
medication or factor under study and thereby serving as a comparison group when treatment results are evaluated.
4. Randomly assign:
Random assignment of participants to control or experimental groups, is how you control all variables except the one
youre manipulating.
5. Placebo effect:
Experimental effects that are caused by expectations about the intervention.
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Independent & Dependent variables
1. Independent variable
The variable we are able to manipulate independently of what the other variables are doing is called the independent
variable (IV).
2. Dependent variables
The variable we expect to experience a change which depends on the manipulation were doing is called the dependent
variable (DV).
3. Confounding variables
The other variables that might have an effect on the dependent variable are confounding variables

Statistical Reasoning
/REVISION/
Why are statistics used in the field of psychology?
Statistics allows psychologists to organize data, describe data and make inferences based upon data.

Mean: The mean is the arithmetic average of a set of given numbers.
Median: The "median" is the "middle" value in the list of numbers.
Mode: It is the value that occurs most often. If no number is repeated, then there is no mode for the list.
Range: It is just the difference between the largest and smallest values.
Standard deviation: In statistics and probability theory, the standard deviation (SD) (represented by the Greek letter
sigma, ) measures the amount of variation or dispersion from the average. A low standard deviation indicates that
the data points tend to be very close to the mean (also called expected value); a high standard deviation indicates
that the data points are spread out over a large range of values. The standard deviation of a random variable,
statistical population, data set, or probability distribution is the square root of its variance.

Normal curve: A frequency curve where most occurrences take place in the middle of the distribution and taper off
on either side. Normal curves are also called bell shaped curves. A "true" normal curve is when all measures of
central tendency occur at the highest point in the curve. The normal curve is an important, strong, reoccurring
phenomenon in psychology. An example of a normal distribution would be a frequency distribution of people's
height. Most people would be of average height with extremes occurring on either side.

Statistical significance: It is the probability of some result from a statistical test occurring by chance.