PSYC-104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Terror Management Theory, Thomas Gilovich, Belief Perseverance
19 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Psychology: scientific study of mind, brain and behaviors. Actions are multiply determined (caused by many factors) Interrelated traits, influences are not independent: makes it difficult to pinpoint cause-effect relationships. Mutually influence each others behavior: reciprocal determinism: hard to know what"s causing what. Culture shapes behavior: emic: research from perspective of subject, etic: from perspective of researcher. Na ve realism: belief that we see the world precisely as it is, our beliefs shape our perspectives of the world. Science is an approach to evidence, begins with empiricism: knowledge acquired through observation. Scientific theory: explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world. Misconceptions: a theory explains one specific event, its just an educated guess. Confirmation bias: tendency to seek out evidence that supports out beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts our beliefs tunnel vision . Belief perseverance: tendency to stick to original beliefs even when evidence contradicts them don"t confuse me with the facts .
