Critical and Scientific Thinking in Psychology

chapter 1

Critical Thinking

• Define

• What are Critical Thinkers able to do?

• What is it not?

• Why is Critical Thinking fundamental to science?

8 Essential Guidelines to Critical Thinking

Ask Questions; Be Willing to Wonder

• Explain

Define Your Terms

• Explain

• For scientists?

• Hypothesis-Define

• Operational Definition- Define

Examine the Evidence

• Explain

• What must a claim be backed with?

• Give and Explain Autism Example

Analyze Assumptions and Biases

• Explain

• What do researchers do with their own assumptions?

• Principle of Falsifiability- Define

– How else would you say it?

Avoid Emotional Reasoning

• Explain

Don’t Oversimplify

• Explain

• Argument of Anecdote- Define

– Ex

• What do Critical Thinkers want?

Consider other Interpretations

• Explain

• Theory- Define

• What do Critical Thinkers do before settling on an explanation?

Tolerate Uncertainty• Explain

• Sometimes-1)

2)

• What happens in science?

• What does this not mean?

• What is true Critical Thinking according to Richard W. Paul?

Descriptive Studies: Establishing the Facts

• Descriptive Methods- Def

Case Studies• Define-

• May include?

• Used by?

• Illustrates?

• Drawbacks?

Observational Studies• Define

• Naturalistic- Define– Pros– Cons

• Laboratory- Define– Pros– Cons

Psychological Tests• Define

– Objective Tests- Define

• AKA

– Projective Tests- Define

• Used For?

• Standardized- Define

• Norms- Define

– How to develop norms?

• Reliable- Define

• Valid- Define

– How is it measured?

• Criticism of Tests

Surveys• Define

• Representative Sample- Define– What’s the problem?– People don’t realize?– Volunteer Bias- Define– Another Problem?– What might questions reflect?

Correlational Studies: Looking for Relationships

• Correlational Study- Define

Measuring Correlations

• Correlation- Def

• Variables- Def

• Positive Correlations- Define– Examples

• Negative Correlations- Define– Example

• Uncorrelated- Define– Examples

• Coefficient of Correlation- Define

– Perfect Positive

– Perfect Negative

– No Association

Cautions about Correlations

• Important to Remember?

– Stork Example

– Children and TV example?

• Moral of the story?

The Experiment: Hunting For Causes

• Experiment- Define

– Informed Consent- Define

– APA treatment of Animals?

Experimental Variables• Explain the Smoking Experiment?

• Independent Variable- Define

• Dependent Variable- Define

• Ideally?

• Ensures?

Experimental and Control Conditions

• Control Conditions- Define• Control in smoking experiment?• Experimental in smoking experiment?• Random Assignment- Define• Placebo- Define

– In smoking experiment?• Explain Divorced Parents Study

– Findings– Flaws

Experimenter Effects

• Single-Blind Study- Define

• Experimenter Effect- Define

• Double-Blind Study- Define

– How would this be done in smoking experiment?

Advantages and Limitations of Experiments

• Limitations?

• Field Research- Define

– Example

Evaluating the Findings

• What needs to be done once you have the results– 1)– 2)– 3)

Why Psychologists Use Statistics

• First step?• Descriptive Statistics- Define• Arithmetic Mean- Define

– Be careful?• Standard Deviation- Define• Inferential Statistics- Define• Significance Tests- Define

– Smoking Experiment

From Laboratory to Real Life

• Choosing the Best Explanation-Explain

– Sometimes the best interpretation emerges?

– Cross-Sectional Study- Define

– Longitudinal Study- Define

From Laboratory to Real LifeCon’t

• Judging the Result’s Importance- Explain

– Meta-Analysis- Define

• What does it tell researchers?