PSYC100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Confirmation Bias, Psychological Science, Behaviorism

• School: University of Delaware
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC100
• Professor: Agnes R.Ly

Document Summary

Psychology: involves the study of mental activity and behavior. Psychological science: the study, through research, of mind, brain, and behavior: mind - refers to mental activity. Example: perceptual experiences (sights, smells, tastes, sounds, touches) we have while interacting with world, memories, thoughts, feelings: behavior - the totality of observable human or animal actions. Range from subtle to complex (debating, philosophy, performing surgery, eating, drinking, mating) Amiable skepticism: combines openness and wariness (remains open to new ideas but is wary of new scientific findings . Critical thinking: systematically question and evaluate 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, consider if information is biased. Psychological reasoning: using psychological research to examine how people typically think, to understand when and why they are likely to draw erroneous conclusions.