PSY 2012 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Terror Management Theory, Belief Perseverance, Confirmation Bias
27 Aug 2016
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1. Human behavior is difficult to predict because almost all actions are multiply determined
(produced by many factors)
2. Psychological influences are rarely independent of each other, making it difficult to pin down
which cause or causes are operating.
3. People differ from each other in thinking emotion, personality, and behavior. These individual
differences explain why each person responds in different ways to same objective situations
4. People often influence each other, making it difficult to pin down what causes what (Reciprocal
determinism- we mutually influence each other's behavior)
5. People's behavior is often shaped by culture. Cultural differences often place limits on
generalizations that psychologists can draw about human nature
Levels of Analysis
*Social Level
*Behavioral Level
*Mental Level
*Neurological/Physiological Level
*Neurochemical Level
*Molecular Level
- Rungs on a ladder of analysis, with lower levels tied most closely to biological influences and higher
levels tied most closely to social influences.
Empiricism: science begins with the premise that knowledge should first be acquired through
observation.
Naïve realism : the belief that we see the world precisely as it is
Confirmation bias: the tendency to seek out evidence that supports our beliefs and deny, dismiss, or
distort evidence that contradicts them
Belief perseverance: tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them
Metaphysical claims: assertions about the world that are not testable
Pseudoscience: a set of claims that seem scientific but aren't
Ad hoc immunizing hypothesis: loophole that defenders of a theory use to protect their theory from
being disproven
Patternicity: the tendency to detect meaningful patterns in random stimuli
Terror management theory: our awareness of our death leaves us with an underlying sense of terror
which we cope by adopting reassuring cultural worldviews
1# Ruling out rival hypotheses
2# Correlation isn't causation
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Document Summary
Cultural differences often place limits on generalizations that psychologists can draw about human nature. Rungs on a ladder of analysis, with lower levels tied most closely to biological influences and higher levels tied most closely to social influences. Empiricism: science begins with the premise that knowledge should first be acquired through observation. Na ve realism : the belief that we see the world precisely as it is. Confirmation bias: the tendency to seek out evidence that supports our beliefs and deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that contradicts them. Belief perseverance: tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them. Metaphysical claims: assertions about the world that are not testable. Pseudoscience: a set of claims that seem scientific but aren"t. Ad hoc immunizing hypothesis: loophole that defenders of a theory use to protect their theory from being disproven. Patternicity: the tendency to detect meaningful patterns in random stimuli.
