PSY100H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Observational Error, Intelligence Quotient, Unconscious Mind
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PSY100H1 Full Course Notes
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The reasons why people do things is very important; they are important for predicting their likely success and the outcomes they are likely to run into. In psychology it is quite clear that nothing is certain, explanations virtually never break down to single factor explanation. Everything is probabilistic, everything is an estimate (cid:523)estimate of the truth whether it(cid:495)s a finding, result, research etc. (cid:524). Our reasoning is most of the time probabilistic. There is always uncertainty, there is always error. The reasons why people do something matter because it predicts their future outcomes. There must be a correspondence between the quality of reasoning and future outcomes. If you help people make their reasons more explicit for themselves, you increase their probability for future outcomes to be more successful (this way you gain a little control over your outcomes). Studying psychology also illustrates the importance of our inner world.
