CHAPTER 1: THINKING CRITICALLY WITH PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE The Need for Psychologic l Scie!

ce The Limits of Intuition and Common Sense Although in some ways we outsmart the smartest computers, our intuition often goes awry. To err is human. Without scientific inquiry and critical thinking we readily succum to hindsight ias, also called the I!knew!it!all!along phenomenon. Learning the outcome of a study "or of an e#eryday happening$ can make it seem like o #ious common sense. We also are routinely o#erconfident of our %udgments, thanks partly to our ias to seek information that confirms them. Such iases lead us to o#erestimate our unaided intuition. &nter psychological science. Science, with its procedures for gathering and sifting e#idence, restrains error. Although limited y the testa le questions it can address, a scientific approach helps us sift reality from illusion, taking us eyond the limits of our intuition and common sense. The Scientific Attitude Scientific inquiry egins with an attitude'a curious eagerness to skeptically scrutini(e competing ideas and an open!minded humility efore nature. )utting ideas, e#en cra(y! sounding ideas, to the test helps us winnow sense from nonsense. The curiosity that dri#es us to test ideas and to e*pose their underlying assumptions carries into e#eryday life as critical thinking. The Scientific +ethod ,esearch stimulates the construction of theories, which organi(e o ser#ations and imply predicti#e hypotheses. These hypotheses "predictions$ are then tested to #alidate and refine the theory and to suggest practical applications. "escri#$io! The Case Study, the Sur#ey, and -aturalistic . ser#ation Through indi#idual case studies, sur#eys among random samples of a population, and naturalistic o ser#ations, psychologists o ser#e and descri e eha#ior and mental processes. In generali(ing from o ser#ations, remem er/ ,epresentati#e samples are a etter guide than #i#id e*amples. Correl $io! Correlation and Causation The strength of the relationship etween one factor and another is e*pressed as a num er in their correlation coefficient. Scatterplots and the correlations they re#eal help us to see relationships that the naked eye might miss. 0nowing how closely two things are positi#ely or negati#ely correlated tells us how much one predicts the other. 1ut it is crucial to remem er that correlation is a measure of relationship2 it does not re#eal cause and effect. Illusory Correlations and )ercei#ing .rder in ,andom &#ents Correlations also help us to discount relationships that do not e*ist. Illusory correlations' random e#ents we notice and assume are related'arise from our search for patterns.

E%#eri&e!$ $io! &*ploring Cause and &ffect To disco#er cause!and!effect relationships, psychologists conduct experiments. 1y constructing a controlled reality, e*perimenters can manipulate one or more factors and disco#er how these independent #aria les affect a particular eha#ior, the dependent #aria le. &#aluating Therapies In many e*periments, control is achie#ed y randomly assigning people either to the e*perimental condition, the group e*posed to the treatment, or to a control condition, a group that e*periences no treatment or a different #ersion of the treatment. Independent and 3ependent 4aria les &*periments e*amine the effects of #aria les on one another in order to answer questions with a le#el of precision that allows others to repeat the study. The aim of an e*periment is to manipulate an independent #aria le, measure the dependent #aria le, and control all other #aria les. S$ $is$ic l Re so!i!g 3escri ing 3ata and +aking Inferences To e an educated person today is to e a le to apply simple statistical principles to e#eryday reasoning. .ne needn5t remem er complicated formulas to think more clearly and critically a out data. 6rom this section5s consideration of how we can organi(e, summari(e, and make inferences from data' y constructing distri utions and computing measures of central tendency, #ariation, and statistical significance'we deri#ed fi#e points to remem er/ 7. 3ou t ig, round, undocumented num ers. 8. When looking at statistical graphs in ooks and maga(ines and on tele#ision ads and news roadcasts, think critically/ Always read the scale la els and note their range. 9. Always note which measure of central tendency is reported. Then, if it is a mean, consider whether a few atypical scores could e distorting it. :. 3on5t e o#erly impressed y a few anecdotes. ;enerali(ations ased on only a few cases are unrelia le. <. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a result will occur y chance. It does not indicate the importance of the result. 're()e!$ly As*ed +)es$io!s A,o)$ Psychology Can La oratory &*periments Illuminate &#eryday Life= 1y intentionally creating a controlled, artificial en#ironment in the la , researchers aim to test theoretical principles. These principles help us to understand, descri e, e*plain, and predict e#eryday eha#iors. 3oes 1eha#ior 3epend on .ne5s Culture= Attitudes and eha#iors do #ary across cultures, ut the principles that underlie them #ary much less. Cross!cultural psychology e*plores oth our cultural differences and the uni#ersal similarities that define our human kinship.

3oes 1eha#ior 4ary with ;ender= ;ender is a asic fact of life. Although gender differences tend to capture attention, it is important to remem er our greater gender similarities. Why 3o )sychologists Study Animals= Some psychologists study animals out of an interest in animal eha#ior. .thers do so ecause knowledge of the physiological and psychological processes of animals gi#es them a etter understanding of the similar processes operating in humans. Is It &thical to &*periment on Animals= .nly a out > percent of all psychological e*periments in#ol#e animals, and under ethical and legal guidelines these animals rarely e*perience pain. -e#ertheless, animal rights groups raise an important issue/ &#en if it leads to the relief of human suffering, is an animal5s temporary suffering %ustified= Is It &thical to &*periment on )eople= .ccasionally researchers temporarily stress or decei#e people in order to learn something important. )rofessional ethical standards pro#ide guidelines concerning the treatment of oth human and animal participants. Is )sychology 6ree of 4alue ?udgments= )sychology is not #alue!free. )sychologists5 own #alues influence their choice of research topics, their theories and o ser#ations, their la els for eha#ior, and their professional ad#ice. Is )sychology )otentially 3angerous= 0nowledge is power that can e used for good or e#il. Applications of psychology5s principles ha#e so far een o#erwhelmingly for the good. )sychology addresses some of humanity5s greatest pro lems and deepest longings.