Unit 2: Before You Move On

1. How might critical thinking help us assess someone’s interpretation of people’s dreams
or their claims to communicate with the dead?
Instinct when hearing someone say they can communicate with the dead is to laugh and brush it
off. But with critical thinking, we learn to look past our biases and really consider the science. It
is the same if you are a believer of that person communicating with the dead. You cannot blindly
accept any immediate conclusion. And when assessing dreams, we must examine the details of
not just the dream, but the dreamer as well. We must find the hidden clues and details and use
them to form a conclusion, which is what critical thinking is.
2. How does the scientific attitude contribute to critical thinking?
Curiosity, skepticism, and humility make critical thinking possible. Curiosity and skepticism lead
to not blindly accepting arguments and conclusions because they seem right, but rather
examining those arguments and searching for the validity of them in a variety of ways. This can
only occur with humility, so we are open to all arguments and seeing something that did not
register with us at first. We must consider everything to achieve critical thinking.
3. Can you recall examples of misleading surveys you have experienced or read about?
What survey principles did they violate?
I believe I once saw a survey about how happy people were with a type of car, but in the ad, the
people interviewing phrased their questions like, “How happy are you with this car?” and not
like, “How do you feel about this car?” With the question that was actually asked, they used
positive words like “happy” to influence those who were asked instead of asking without using
descriptive wording.
4. What are some strengths and weaknesses of the three different methods psychologists
use to describe behavior-case studies, naturalistic behavior, and surveys?
Case studies may reveal a whole truth based on just one individual/group, but it does not work if
that individual is different from the rest of the population. Naturalistic behavior offer descriptions
of behavior but do not explain behavior. Surveys are not a sure thing because they may not be
real opinions of people asked or may be influenced by wording effects but they might possibly
offer a representative opinion or behavior of the whole if there is a proper random sample.
5. If you were to become a research psychologist, what questions would you like to explore
with experiments?
Does exercise before testing improve test scores? How does your environment when testing
affect your scores (in terms of colors, size, etc.)?
6. Why, when testing a new drug to control blood pressure, would we learn more about its
effectiveness from giving it to half of the participants in a group of 1000 than to all 1000
participants?
Compare both groups; the control (the ones not given the drugs) and the experimental (the ones
given the drugs).
7. Find a graph in a popular magazine ad. How does the advertiser use (or abuse)
statistics to make a point?
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/55b6a6dce4b089e11621d3ed/55b6cddee4b0f4fbddc2f55
7/55b6d097e4b0d8b921b03285/1438044508888/
This graph uses statistics to prove how much better one brand of cleanser is than another by
relying on percentages in favor of one cleanser and what the consumers care about when it

This study source was downloaded by 100000815403697 from CourseHero.com on 03-23-2022 06:37:54 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/58617973/Unit-2-Before-You-Move-On/
 comes to cleansers.
8. Can you solve the puzzle?
Because one term may be short enough to easily maintain good scores, but when graduation
comes around there have been several terms that a student has gone through and could not
maintain everything perfectly forever. The problem is maintenance over time.
9. Were any of this module’s Frequently Asked Questions your questions? Do you have
other questions or concerns about psychology?
I did question the safety of the test subjects so it was interesting to have that answered. I’m also
curious about how infants are tested when it comes to developmental psychology. I’m sure they
have the highest standards of care, consideration, and the strictest rules in place, but I’m very
curious.
10. How are human and animal participants protected?
Some institutions, like the Psychological Society has guidelines for the animals’ well beings and
care. As does the European Parliament and the APA. Humans are protected by the APA as well,
the Psychological Society, and psychologists everywhere. There are guidelines and rules in
place.

This study source was downloaded by 100000815403697 from CourseHero.com on 03-23-2022 06:37:54 GMT -05:00

https://www.coursehero.com/file/58617973/Unit-2-Before-You-Move-On/
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)