Chapter 1 Psychology and Scientific Thinking

psychology	the scientific study of the mind, brain, and behavior
levels of analysis	rungs on a ladder of analysis, with lower levels tied most closely to biological influences and higher levels tied most closely to social influences
multiply determined	caused by many factors
individual differences	variations among people in their thinking, emotion, personality, and behavior
naive realism	belief that we see the world precisely as it is
scientific theory	explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world
hypothesis	testable prediction derived from a scientific theory
confirmation bias	tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypotheses and deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that contradicts them
belief perseverance	tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them
metaphysical claim	assertions about the world that are not testable
pseudoscience	set of claims that seems scientific but isn't
ad hoc immunizing hypothesis	escape hatch or loophole that defenders of a theory use to protect their theory from falsification
apophenia	tendency to perceive meaningful connections among unrelated phenomena
pareidolia	tendency to perceive meaningful images in meaningless visual stimuli
terror management theory	theory proposing that our awareness of our death leaves us with an underlying sense of terror with which we cope by adopting reassuring cultural worldviews
scientific skepticism	approach of evaluating all claims with an open mind but insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them
critical thinking	set of skills for evaluating all claims in an open-minded and careful fashion
correlation-causation fallacy	error of assuming that because one thing is associated with another, it must cause the other
variable	anything that can vary
falsifiable	capable of being disproved
replicability	when a study's finding are able to be duplicated, ideally by independent investigators
introspection	method by which trained observers carefully reflect and report on their mental experiences
structuralism	school of psychology that aimed that identify the basic elements of psychological experience
functionalism	school of psychology that aimed to understand the adaptive purposes of psychological characteristics
natural selection	principle that organisms that possess adaptions survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other organisms
behaviorism	school of psychology that focuses on uncovering the general laws of learning by looking at observable behavior
cognitive psychology	school of psychology that proposes that thinking is central to understanding behavior
cognitive neuroscience	relatively new field of psychology that examines the relation between brain functioning and thinking
psychoanalysis	school of psychology, founded by Sigmund Freud, that focuses on internal psychological processes of which we're unaware
evolutionary psychology	discipline that applies Darwin's theory of natural selection to human and animal behavior
basic research	research examining how the mind works
applied research	research examining how we can use basic research to solve real-world problems