Week 2 (Multiple Choice)

Safeguarding Against Fallacies

• Science uses systematic observation, falsifiability, and replication to combat cognitive biases.
• Science relies on empirical evidence and objective data rather than intuition or personal beliefs.
• Biases are tendencies for or against an object, person, or idea, which can influence outcomes.

Examples of Biases

• Confirmation bias involves seeking evidence that supports beliefs and dismissing contradictory evidence, predisposing people to belief perseverance.
• Karl Popper introduced falsifiability, the ability to refute scientific theories, to address confirmation bias.
• Fixation is the inability to see a problem from a new perspective.
• Hindsight bias is the tendency to see events as more predictable after they have occurred, related to anchoring bias.
• Bias blind spot causes people to believe they are less biased than their peers.
• Base rate neglect involves ignoring the underlying prevalence of a phenomenon when making probability judgments.
• Halo and horn effects occur when a positive impression in one area influences impressions in other areas, with the horn effect being the opposite.

Bias and Cognitive Ability

• Cognitive biases are mostly unrelated to cognitive ability, such as confirmation bias and base rate neglect.
• Some biases, like bias blind spot, may be stronger in those with high cognitive ability.
• High intelligence does not necessarily protect against bias.
• Biases can be problematic, interfering with critical and scientific thinking.
• Scientific progress occurs through critique among scientists due to inherent biases.

Science as a Safeguard

• Empirical methods counteract biases and fallacies in science.
• Falsifiability, Karl Popper’s principle, is required to test theories and counter confirmation bias.
• Scientific skepticism encourages open-mindedness while demanding strong evidence.
• Replication ensures that findings are generalizable and not coincidental.
• Occam's Razor favors the simplest explanation.

Levels of Analysis (Depression)

• Social level examines loss of relationships and lack of social support.
• Behavioral level observes decreased pleasure in activities.
• Mental level notes depressed thoughts.
• Neurological/physiological level identifies differences in brain functioning related to mood.
• Neurochemical level identifies variations in chemical messengers that influence mood.
• Molecular level examines genetic variations predisposing depression.

Psychological Pseudoscience vs. Science

• Pseudoscience lacks falsifiability, self-correction, and replicability, relying on anecdotes and confirmation bias.
• Psychological science is based on empirical evidence, peer review, and the scientific method.
• Science is an approach to evidence and explanations, while pseudoscience presents itself as scientific but is not.
• A scientific theory explains a large number of findings and requires a testable prediction or hypothesis.

Psychological Science

• This is grounded in empirical evidence.
• It relies on falsifiable hypotheses.
• Replicated and peer-reviewed results.

Psychological Pseudoscience

• This lacks safeguards against biases like confirmation bias and belief perseverance.
• It uses anecdotes instead of systematic data
• Avoids self-correction, involving belief perseverance.
• Uses ad hoc immunizing hypotheses to protect theories from falsification.
• Lacks replication and review by other scholars.

Belief Perseverance and the Backfire Effect

• Belief perseverance is resistance to changing beliefs despite contradictory evidence.
• Maintenance of initial ideas/beliefs despite exposure to disconfirming ideas.
• The backfire effect is strengthening beliefs when faced with contradictory evidence.

Considerations with Pseudoscience

• Opportunity costs include missing more productive/effective alternatives.
• Direct harm can result from some forms of pseudoscience.
• Impaired critical thinking skills can occur from misinformation and can affect citizens.
• Science uses theories and hypotheses to understand the world.
• Pseudoscience lacks scientific safeguards, specifically in confirmation bias and belief perseverance.
• People are drawn to pseudoscience for meaning and comfort.
• Pseudoscience has opportunity costs, causes direct harm, and impairs critical thinking.

Reasons for Attraction to Pseudoscience

• Humans seek patterns and meaning, making pseudoscience attractive with simple explanations and reassurance.
• Cognitive biases like belief perseverance and the backfire effect reinforce pseudoscientific thinking.

Why People are Drawn to Pseudoscience

• Patternicity is the tendency to see patterns where none exist.
• There is a comfort factor in simple explanations for complex issues.
• Belief perseverance stems from strong emotional attachment to existing beliefs.
• The backfire effect involves strengthening pseudoscientific beliefs with contradictory evidence.
• Examples include astrology, homeopathy, and conspiracy theories.

Key Features of Scientific Skepticism

• Scientific skepticism evaluates claims with an open mind but requires strong empirical evidence.
• Principles include ruling out rival hypotheses, recognizing correlation vs. causation, and ensuring replicability.

Essential Elements of Scientific Skepticism

• Open-mindedness (evaluating all claims with curiosity).
• Demanding strong evidence before accepting claims.
• Evaluating claims with open mind and insisting on compelling evidence, where critical thinking is important.

Principles of Scientific Thinking

• Extraordinary Claims require very persuasive evidence.
• Testing Predictions determines accuracy.
• Generalizability assesses findings across groups.
• Replicability ensures duplication by independent researchers.
• Ruling Out Rival Hypotheses involves eliminating other explanations.
• Distinguishing Correlation vs. Causation ensures A causes B.

Principles of Scientific Thinking

• Science is a method based on empiricism, involving knowledge through observation, not a belief system.

Theories & Hypotheses

• Theory is a broad explanation for various findings.
• Hypothesis is a specific, testable prediction derived from a theory.

Scientific Method

• Objective observation.
• Falsifiability to disprove claims.
• Systematic testing through experiments.

Replication

• Foundational element of scientific method.
• Demonstrates findings' generalizability.
• Replication crisis highlights the need for reform in psychology and scientific methodology.
• The media is more likely to report novel/sensational findings, so it's important to ensure the public receives accurate information.

Explanations for Poor Replication

• Publish-or-perish mentality drives the need to publish at all costs
• Publication bias
• P-hacking