Chapter 1: The science of psychology
Psychology = the study of thoughts, feelings and behavior.
Psychologist = someone whose career involves understanding people’s minds or predicting
their behavior.
Humans are intuitive psychologists
Psychological science uses data to find answers
1.1
Psychological science = the study, through research, of mind, brain and behavior.
→ Mind refers to mental activity (results from biochemical processes within the brain)
- memories
- thoughts
- feelings
- perceptual experiences (zintuigen)
→ Behavior describes the totality of observable human or animal actions
(psychologists studied behavior rather than mental states due to lack of instruments →
technology evolves and so mental state is explored further)
1.2
Amiable skepticism → combines openness and wariness
An amiable skeptic
→ remains open to new ideas but is wary of new “scientific findings” when good evidence
and sound reasoning do not seem to support them.
→ develops the habit of carefully weighing the facts when deciding what to believe
Critical thinking = systematically questioning and evaluating information using well-
supported evidence.
→ looking for holes in evidence, using logic and reasoning to see whether the information
makes sense, and considering alternative explanations.
→ considering whether the information might be biased, such as by personal or political
agendas
Many decades of psychological research have shown that people’s intuitions are often
wrong, and they tend to be wrong in predictable ways that make critical thinking very
difficult.
1.3
Common biases:
1. Confirmation bias
→ Ignoring evidence, only using/believing the evidence that you feel supports your
theory
1
, 2. Seeing causal relationships that do not exist
→ misperception that two events that happen at the same time must somehow be
related
3. Accepting after-the fact explanations
→ known as hindsight (true?); Once people know an outcome, they interpret and
reinterpret old evidence to make sense of that outcome, giving a false sense of
predictability.
4. Taking mental shortcuts
→ can lead to inaccurate judgements and biased outcomes
mental shortcuts = heuristics
availability heuristic = when things that come most easily to mind guide our thinking
1.4
Positive illusions
→ better-than-average effect
→ optimism bias
- overestimate likelihood of experiencing positive events
- underestimate likelihood of experiencing negative events
People are often blissfully unaware of their weaknesses because they cannot judge those
weaknesses at all
hypothesis generation = take a moment to consider some possibilities;
Dunning-Kruger effect = people lack the ability to evaluate their own performance in areas
where they have little expertise
1.5
Mind/body problem = Are the mind and body separate and distinct, or is the mind simply
the subjective experience of ongoing brain activity?
dualism = the idea that the mind and the body are separate yet intertwined.
early views of dualism → mental functions had been considered the mind’s sovereign
domain, separate from body functions
Descartes’ view → the body was nothing more than an organic machine governed by
“reflex”. Many mental functions (memory and imagination) resulted from body
functions. Deliberate action was controlled by the rational mind. The rational mind
was divine and separate from the body.
Nowadays → psychologists reject dualism. The mind arises from brain activity and the
activities of the mind change the brain. The mind and brain do not exist separately.
Mind/body problem
→ separation of mental life and the body; “Is an emotion separate from the brain that
produces it?”
2
Psychology = the study of thoughts, feelings and behavior.
Psychologist = someone whose career involves understanding people’s minds or predicting
their behavior.
Humans are intuitive psychologists
Psychological science uses data to find answers
1.1
Psychological science = the study, through research, of mind, brain and behavior.
→ Mind refers to mental activity (results from biochemical processes within the brain)
- memories
- thoughts
- feelings
- perceptual experiences (zintuigen)
→ Behavior describes the totality of observable human or animal actions
(psychologists studied behavior rather than mental states due to lack of instruments →
technology evolves and so mental state is explored further)
1.2
Amiable skepticism → combines openness and wariness
An amiable skeptic
→ remains open to new ideas but is wary of new “scientific findings” when good evidence
and sound reasoning do not seem to support them.
→ develops the habit of carefully weighing the facts when deciding what to believe
Critical thinking = systematically questioning and evaluating information using well-
supported evidence.
→ looking for holes in evidence, using logic and reasoning to see whether the information
makes sense, and considering alternative explanations.
→ considering whether the information might be biased, such as by personal or political
agendas
Many decades of psychological research have shown that people’s intuitions are often
wrong, and they tend to be wrong in predictable ways that make critical thinking very
difficult.
1.3
Common biases:
1. Confirmation bias
→ Ignoring evidence, only using/believing the evidence that you feel supports your
theory
1
, 2. Seeing causal relationships that do not exist
→ misperception that two events that happen at the same time must somehow be
related
3. Accepting after-the fact explanations
→ known as hindsight (true?); Once people know an outcome, they interpret and
reinterpret old evidence to make sense of that outcome, giving a false sense of
predictability.
4. Taking mental shortcuts
→ can lead to inaccurate judgements and biased outcomes
mental shortcuts = heuristics
availability heuristic = when things that come most easily to mind guide our thinking
1.4
Positive illusions
→ better-than-average effect
→ optimism bias
- overestimate likelihood of experiencing positive events
- underestimate likelihood of experiencing negative events
People are often blissfully unaware of their weaknesses because they cannot judge those
weaknesses at all
hypothesis generation = take a moment to consider some possibilities;
Dunning-Kruger effect = people lack the ability to evaluate their own performance in areas
where they have little expertise
1.5
Mind/body problem = Are the mind and body separate and distinct, or is the mind simply
the subjective experience of ongoing brain activity?
dualism = the idea that the mind and the body are separate yet intertwined.
early views of dualism → mental functions had been considered the mind’s sovereign
domain, separate from body functions
Descartes’ view → the body was nothing more than an organic machine governed by
“reflex”. Many mental functions (memory and imagination) resulted from body
functions. Deliberate action was controlled by the rational mind. The rational mind
was divine and separate from the body.
Nowadays → psychologists reject dualism. The mind arises from brain activity and the
activities of the mind change the brain. The mind and brain do not exist separately.
Mind/body problem
→ separation of mental life and the body; “Is an emotion separate from the brain that
produces it?”
2
