Psychology as a Science
In this activity, you will use science to explore the world of psychics and to avoid falling victim to the flaws of thinking.
Dr. Melanie Maggard
Dr. Natalie J. Ciarocco, Monmouth University
Dr. David B. Strohmetz, Monmouth University
Dr. Gary W. Lewandowski, Jr., Monmouth University
Being a good scientist requires objectivity, skepticism, creativity, empirical reasoning, and communication. Since psychology is a science, psychologists should strive to develop these characteristics in their practice and research. As scientists, we can use these skill sets to test a range of questions we might have about the world around us, and to explain and predict human behavior and thoughts.
After reading about our natural flaws in thinking, think about how they might affect our ability to be good scientists. For example, what is your take on the legitimacy of psychics? Do you believe in clairvoyance, or know people who do? How do your past experiences or beliefs shape your attitudes about this topic? Let’s see if, in spite of past experiences or beliefs, you can use what you have learned in class to analyze the topic of psychics through an objective, scientific lens.
Scenario: You remember a time when you visited a psychic, who predicted that you would meet a person who would become a close friend. Behold—you then met someone at a party and became friends only weeks later!
Representativeness Heuristic
Confirmation Bias
Hindsight Bias
Believing unconditionally in the psychic’s authority on your new friendship is an example of which flaw in thinking?
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Scenario: You often refer to yourself as Psychic Sammie because the predictions you make about your friends’ lives turn out to be more accurate than what your friends predict. You find this title appropriate and consider opening a fortune-telling stand to make some extra cash.
Better-than-average Effect
Introspection
Pleasure Paradox
What flaw in thinking are you displaying here?
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Scenario: Lisa prides herself on being a good psychic and routinely tells new clients about her success in predicting major life events. When you ask her how she can be sure that her predictions come true, Lisa avoids the question and states that she just knows it to be true.
Introspection
Hindsight Bias
Overconfidence Phenomenon
What flaw in thinking is evident here?
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There has been a recent surge in research on psychics, such as that of Bem—who surprised the scientific world with evidence supporting the validity of psychic claims (2011)—and others who have attempted to replicate his findings.
Which of the following characteristics is difficult for us to assume that these other researchers have?
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Researchers who replicate Bem’s (2011) studies are recreating the same methods he used, but with different samples.
Replication
They are able to do this because Bem communicated how he conducted his studies in a research article with his findings. Replication in scientific research serves all of the following purposes except which one?
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Since you want to be a good scientist, you decide to be open-minded about the credibility of psychics and conduct some research of your own. In order to collect data for your study, you ask your family to provide personal examples of psychic phenomena.
Empirical Research
Nonempirical Research
What type of research are you conducting?
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Because your first study provided you with limited insight into the credibility of psychics, you decide to conduct another study. You call a famous psychic, record the predictions he makes about you for 6 months, and then compare the predictions to real-life events.
What type of research are you conducting?
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You are determined to complete your research on the credibility of psychics and decide to conduct one last study (third time's the charm!). In a series of trials, you ask a group of proclaimed psychics to predict which card you will pull out of a deck. You record the psychics' predictions and the correct answers, comparing the accuracy of their predictions with the results that would be expected by chance.
What type of research are you conducting?
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You know now that being a good scientist is not easy, but it is worthwhile! Keep in mind that personal experiences, though useful in giving us ideas for research, can lead to our making assumptions (and you know what they say about assumptions). These assumptions often lead to flaws in our thinking, which, in turn, keep us from seeing a situation for what it really is.
Strive to ask questions, remain objective, and be open-minded when presented with ideas and findings from research. Taking these steps grows your knowledge about the world through systematic observations and measurements, and means you are well on your way to becoming a true scientist.
Congratulations! You have successfully completed this activity.