What is Psychology?
Scientific study of behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organisms physical state, mental state, and external environment.
What do psychologists do?
– Research – Clinical practice – Other applications
What psychologists do
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Research
Developmental psychologists Educational psychologists
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Industrial/Organizational psychologists
Health psychologists Social psychologists
What psychologists Do
• Psychological Practice
• Psychologist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist?
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Other settings- application of research
• Advertising, organizational problems, animal behavior, legal issues, sports, environmental issues, military training
What is Critical Thinking?
• Ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons and evidence, rather than emotion and anecdote alone. • “CDC study: Binge drinkers prefer beer”
Eight critical thinking guidelines
1. Ask questions • Ask why, how, when, who Define your terms • Operational definition: Definition that clearly defines how the variable is being used in this particular context.
2.
Examine evidence • How reliable is the evidence? • How reliable is the source? 4. Analyze assumptions and biases • What are the unquestioned assumptions? • What are the biases?
3.
Eight critical thinking guidelines
5. Avoid emotional reasoning • Gut feelings instead of clear thinking? 6. Don’t oversimplify • Resist easy generalizations • Reject either- or- thinking 7. Consider other interpretations 8. Tolerate uncertainty – Sometimes there’s no available evidence