PSY 1004 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Torsten Wiesel, Daniel Kahneman, Roger Wolcott Sperry
15 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Topic 1
Challenges
The Freud Problem
●Exaggerated contributions
●Theories built on case studies
●Believed all humans/ mindset are explained as originating from childhood experiences
and conflicting unconscious mental agents
●“Pop” psychology
Challenges
Major Contributions
●David Hubel and Torsten wiesel- visual systems
●Daniel Kahneman- cognitive processing
●Herbert Simon- decision making
●Roger Sperry- “split brain”
●Diversity of topics
○APA divisions
●Young science
●Complexity of human behavior
○Abstract concepts
●Non Scientific ways knowing
○Authority- believe what you are told from a credible or powerful figure or course
○Relies on method of faith
●Rational Method
○Drawing conclusions based on reasoning
○Logical conclusions based on prior information
○Ex: all 3 year olds are afraid of the dark
○Amy is 3 years old
■Therefore amy is scared of the dark
■Younger generations are more technologically advanced than older
generations
■Technology is more recent in history, older people aren’t recent in history
●Rational method problems
○Arguments dont always logically support conclusion
○Ex. all apples are fruits
○Some fruits are oranges
○Thus, some apples are oranges
Logic fallacy (errors in reasoning)
●Non sequitur logical fallacy- some mistake in your reason, not really related to each other
●Post hoc ergo prophet hoc - because two things happen simultaneously doesn’t mean that
they’re related in a meaningful way
●False-binary opposition- you’re either for something or against something, all or nothing,
false dilemma
Non Scientific ways of knowing
●Intuition
○Implicit/instinctive ways of knowing - truthiness
○Based on common sense
○Related to method of tenacity (gut feeling)
○Can be counterintuitive or contradictory
○Based on your life experiences
○Teaching your grandma
○No real systematic design
Ways of knowing- Empirical
●Relies on experience
●Objective
●Formulating specific questions and systematically finding answers
●I’ve had to teach my parents things about technology
Method of authority
Rational method
Method of intuition
Empirical method
Characteristics of Science
●Scientific method
○Define a problem
○Form a hypothesis
○Generate a testable prediction
○Systematic observations
○Support, refute, or refine the original hypothesis
●Progressive/Tentative
○Self correcting w/ new evidence
○Mistakes made public
○Paradigm shifts- based on what the current status is on one problem
●Parsimonious
○Simple explanations are usually best
○Occam’s Razor - theory that the simplest explanation is probably the best
●Testable
○Falsifiable- you should be able to support or show false
○Replicable (peer review, public)
Characteristics of Science
Concerned with Theory- why and how
●Fact- piece of daata recognized as valid
●Theory- describes a large body of evidence, summarizes facts and hypotheses
after
repeated testing
●Theory vs law
○Law more commonly used as mathematically statement but in science, essentially
the same meaning
●A key feature of science and the empirical method is objectivity
○Not influenced by researcher bias
Assumptions of Science
●Regularity- the world exists without us realizing it
●Realism- deals with the fact that things that happen here remain constant
●Causality - all events have causes
●Discoverable- in science there’s an idea that everything can be discovered
●Rationality - way of knowing is through rationing, to a certain extent we can understand
the world through logic but we do have to be careful of logical fallacies
Pseudoscience
●Ideas presented as science but lack key characteristics of science!
●Characteristics of pseudoscience
○jargon - common language used in a specific field
○Secrecy
○Not refutable
○Negative results discounted or excused- it doesn’t happen to you because you
don’t believe
○Testimonials- someones account of what has happened to them
■Vividness effect - my grandpa smoked every day and he was fine
■Placebo effects may account for success of pseudoscientific “treatments”
■33% of people reported they helped them
Document Summary
Believed all humans/ mindset are explained as originating from childhood experiences and conflicting unconscious mental agents. David hubel and torsten wiesel- visual systems. Authority - believe what you are told from a credible or powerful figure or course. Ex: all 3 year olds are afraid of the dark. Therefore amy is scared of the dark. Younger generations are more technologically advanced than older generations. Technology is more recent in history, older people aren"t recent in history. Non sequitur logical fallacy- some mistake in your reason, not really related to each other. Post hoc ergo prophet hoc - because t wo things happen simultaneously doesn"t mean that. False-binary opposition- you"re either for something or against something, all or nothing, they"re related in a meaningful way false dilemma. Related to method of tenacity (gut feeling) Formulating specific questions and systematically finding answers. I"ve had to teach my parents things about technology. Support, refute, or refine the original hypothesis.
