PS101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Belief Perseverance, Naturalistic Observation, Confirmation Bias
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Psychology is the scientific study of the mind, brain, and behaviour. It"s the set of safegua(cid:396)d agai(cid:374)st t(cid:449)o human tendencies: To seek out evidence that supports our hypothesis and deny, dismiss or disto(cid:396)t e(cid:448)ide(cid:374)(cid:272)e that does(cid:374)"t = (cid:272)o(cid:374)fi(cid:396)(cid:373)atio(cid:374) (cid:271)ias. To cling to our beliefs despite contrary evidence = belief perseverance. Applied: examines how we can use basic research to solve real-world problems: does playing with technology (eg leappad, ipad) promote language learnings in toddlers, what"s the (cid:373)ost opti(cid:373)al (cid:449)ay to study (eg highlighti(cid:374)g (cid:448)s (cid:373)aki(cid:374)g (cid:373)ea(cid:374)i(cid:374)gful notes) Explanation: example: what do we eat. Prediction of the circumstances that lead to the expression of a certain behaviour. Usually the first step in the understanding behaviour or mental processes. Naturalistic observation & laboratory observation, case study. Researchers try to understand the causes of the behaviour/mental process. When researchers can specify conditions which will likely cause the behaviour or cognitive process to occur.
