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How to Think Straight About Psychology
"Keith Stanovich's widely used and highly acclaimed book helps instructors teach critical-thinking skills within the rich context of psychology. It can be used as a stand-alone text or as a supplement in introductory psychology, critical-thinking, as well as research methods and statistics courses. It is the premier text of its kind." "Stanovich helps students become more discriminating consumers of psychological information by helping them recognize pseudoscience and be able to distinguish it from true psychological research. Psychological topics such as falsifiability, operationalism, experimental control, converging evidence, correlational vs. experimental studies, and statistics are presented as tools for critical evaluation, giving students a set ofpractical consumer skills to independently evaluate psychological claims. Students also are given a set of "consumer rules" for dealing with psychology in the media." "How to Think Straight About Psychology says what many instructors would like to say about the discipline of psychology but haven't found a way to. That is one reason adopters have called it "an instructor's dream text" and often comment "I wish I had written it. It tells my students just what I want them to hear about psychology." New to the eighth edition are expanded discussions of reliability and validity, meta-analysis, and the differences between random sampling versus random assignment. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 1985
About the author
Keith E. Stanovich
21 books156 followersKeith E. Stanovich is Emeritus Professor of Applied Psychology and Human Development at the University of Toronto and former Canada Research Chair of Applied Cognitive Science. He is the author of over 200 scientific articles and seven books. He received his BA degree in psychology from Ohio State University in 1973 and his PhD in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1977.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
May 3, 2013
I was fortunate to take Dr. Stanovich's Research Design and Cognitive Psychology classes as an undergrad psychology student. I think the book was in its first edition back then, but I still buy the update every so often. This book not only introduced me to - and gave me respect for - the scientific method, but it also has been hugely influential over the years in the way I view mainstream culture's often erroneous approach to interpreting scientific studies (i.e. fallacies, research bias, correlation implying causation, third variable problems, type I and type II errors, faulty design). I think this book is even more relevant today, in an era of the Snopes online police, non-fiction journalism, alternative medicine, self-help, and political polarization; where emotions, case studies and opinions magically become facts (and "proven" with statistics). Dr. Stanovich teaches you how to think strategically and critically in this book. This is a science book and an "art of science" book, as well as a guidebook for living an examined life with curiosity and humility about the nature of truth and knowing. Among my top books of all time and (if it were up to me) required reading for all college students.
December 10, 2009
This is a must-read, not just for people specially interested in psychology but also for consumers of psychology (which includes just about everyone!). This book will change your entire perspective on psychology and allow you to investigate psychological claims critically. I guarantee you will learn something new!
June 11, 2023
این کتاب توسط نشر رشد در سال ۸۸ با ترجمه هامایاک آودیس یانس با نام تفکر انتقادی در روانشناسی چاپ شده.
به شدت کتاب قابل توصیه ایه. مخصوصاً برای من که ابتدای این مسیر قرار داشتم. کتابیه که به شدت دید میده به آدم. نسبت به علم تجربی و این که اصولاً علم تجربی برای چی اومده و چه توقعی باید ازش داشته باشیم. این که در فضای علمی ما چه قدر شبه علم رسوخ کرده و چه قدر دید ما نسبت به روانشناسی ناشی از تصورات غلط فرهنگ عامه است می‌تونه شگفت انگیز باشه.
به شدت کتاب قابل توصیه ایه. مخصوصاً برای من که ابتدای این مسیر قرار داشتم. کتابیه که به شدت دید میده به آدم. نسبت به علم تجربی و این که اصولاً علم تجربی برای چی اومده و چه توقعی باید ازش داشته باشیم. این که در فضای علمی ما چه قدر شبه علم رسوخ کرده و چه قدر دید ما نسبت به روانشناسی ناشی از تصورات غلط فرهنگ عامه است می‌تونه شگفت انگیز باشه.
April 13, 2013
I found this book a surprisingly compelling read.
Surprising because I thought it would be very dry and text-book-y. Actually what I found was a well written clear book debunking some of the myths surrounding psychology, a comparison to other sciences as well as an introduction as to why an understanding of statistics is so importance. http://wp.me/p10Vn0-2O
Surprising because I thought it would be very dry and text-book-y. Actually what I found was a well written clear book debunking some of the myths surrounding psychology, a comparison to other sciences as well as an introduction as to why an understanding of statistics is so importance. http://wp.me/p10Vn0-2O
October 25, 2013
از متن کتاب:
سالها پس از آن که دانشجوسان اطلاعات مربوط به درس های روانشناسی مقدماتی را فراموش کنند، اصول بنیادی کتاب حاضر را برای ارزیابی ادعاهای روانشناختی به کار خواهند برد.... اگرچه این مهارت های تفکر انتقادی را میتوان برای هر رشته ای از دانش به کار برد، اما در روانشناسی اهمیت ویژه ای دارند زیرا رسانه های همگانی این رشته را به شکل تحریف یافته ای عرضه می کنند.
سالها پس از آن که دانشجوسان اطلاعات مربوط به درس های روانشناسی مقدماتی را فراموش کنند، اصول بنیادی کتاب حاضر را برای ارزیابی ادعاهای روانشناختی به کار خواهند برد.... اگرچه این مهارت های تفکر انتقادی را میتوان برای هر رشته ای از دانش به کار برد، اما در روانشناسی اهمیت ویژه ای دارند زیرا رسانه های همگانی این رشته را به شکل تحریف یافته ای عرضه می کنند.
November 12, 2016
The book speaks mostly about how the scientific method works, applying it to psychology. It attempts to show the difference between psychology as a science and all the pseudosciences that pretend to be part of the field: "In short, psychology has a kind of Jekyll and Hyde personality. Extremely rigorous science exists right alongside pseudoscientific and antiscientific attitudes."
Chapter 1 - Psychology is alive and well
Psychology is a young science and, because it puts under scientific investigation what was before considered to be "common sense", some people regard it with hostility.
Chapter 2 - Falsifiability
Falsifiability is introduced through the example of a doctor in 1793 who applied bloodletting to patients during an epidemic of yellow fever. If the patient became better, the result was attributed to the treatment, otherwise the doctor considered that the treatment was performed too late. Therefore, the theory that the removal of blood would heal the fever was impossible to falsify.
A theory must issue specific predictions. It should state what should and what should not happen.
As an example, the very complex freudian theory explains things related to human behavior after the fact, it can explain everything (not specific), but is unable to make predictions, therefore not falsifiable.
The author develops a theory that explains what drives human behavior: two little green men in the head that control the electrochemical processes taking place in the head. The little green men hide as soon as one would try to look for them (with X-rays for instance). Extrasensory Perception works the same: as long as nobody intrude to look into it, it functions.
Falsifiable theories allow science to move forward: as soon as a prediction made by a theory is falsified by experiments, an update or a new theory is required.
Chapter 3 -Operationism and Essentialism
Operationism: how does it work ? Concepts of scientific theories need to be linked to observable events.
Essentialism: What is the real meaning of .. ? What does it ultimately mean to speak of .. ?
Preexisting bias problem - when it comes to psychology, people come with emotionally held beliefs. People seem not to accept the need of operationalism. One problem is the use by the scientists of words from day to day life as technical terms. After all, don't we all understand concepts like smart, aggressive, anxiety ? We do, but not in the same way a psychology scientist does: he needs to specify how another lab could measure these in the same way and reach the same results.
The public expects psychology to answer essentialist questions, and, as it does not, the popular belief that there are no advances in psychology.
Chapter 4 - Testimonials and Case Study Evidence
Testimonials and case studies are useless in the evaluation of psychological theories: any practitioner of any pseudoscience can bring together a group of people to testify how effective his procedures are. This is mostly because of the placebo effect.
Chapter 5 - Correlation and causation
Two major classes of ambiguity in a correlation: the directionality problem and the third variable problem.
Several examples of selection bias are given. More than average deaths caused by respiratory problem in a region with clean air, Arizona: because people with respiratory problems tend to go there for the better air. And they tend to die there.
Chapter 6 - Getting things under control
During an experiment, scientists need to manipulate experiment variables in order to rule out alternative explanations. A control group is required to decide if a treatment is really effective.
Chapter 7 - But it's not real life
Psychology experiments sometimes attract critics such as "this is not real life".
Distinction between two kind of research: applied research, where findings of the study are applied directly to a situation and basic research, which "tests theories of the underlying mechanism that influence behavior". For the later, artificial situations are built to isolate the critical variable for study.
Chapter 8 - Avoiding the Einstein Syndrome
Connectivity principle: a new theory "must not only explain new facts, but account for the old ones". Most scientific discoveries are gradual, they rely in scientific consensus and not on breakthrough.
Unlike many pseudosciences, in science nobody has privileged access to the truth.
A theory is usually backed by many converging studies. Even if each of them may have specific flaws, the flaws are not the same and what matters is that the results converge. Views of a single expert have to be regarded with skepticism if the go agains the scientific consensus.
Chapter 9 - The misguided Search for the Magic Bullet
There is not a single cause to look after when explaining a phenomenon.
Chapter 10 - The Achilles Heel of Human Cognition
People are very bad understanding statistics and let themselves convinced easier by a single story than by numbers. There will always be a few people that goes against the strongest trend.
Especially in psychology there is a tendency to overweight single cases over abstract probabilistic information.
Chapter 11 - The role of chance in psychology
Should not try to come up with complex theory there where chance alone is enough to explain a phenomenon.
Clinical prediction does not work: when a practitioner tries to predict the behavior (for example recidive of aggressive behavior) based on clinical evaluation of a subject, they do a lot worse than what statistics predict for the case. When going with the statistics, we do know the rate of error and we have to accept it. The book calls this "accepting error in order to reduce error".
Chapter 12 - The Rodney Dangerfield of the Sciences
The bad image the psychology has is due to the pseudo-scientific literature addressed to the large public as well as "anti scientific attitudes within parts of psychology itself". The latter is about practices in psychology with no scientific grounds, and practitioners reluctant to submit themselves to experiment on the grounds that what they do is "more art than science".
The medias are more interested in quacks and pseudo scientists as they make better ratings. This also contributes the the bad image psychology has.
Chapter 1 - Psychology is alive and well
Psychology is a young science and, because it puts under scientific investigation what was before considered to be "common sense", some people regard it with hostility.
Chapter 2 - Falsifiability
Falsifiability is introduced through the example of a doctor in 1793 who applied bloodletting to patients during an epidemic of yellow fever. If the patient became better, the result was attributed to the treatment, otherwise the doctor considered that the treatment was performed too late. Therefore, the theory that the removal of blood would heal the fever was impossible to falsify.
A theory must issue specific predictions. It should state what should and what should not happen.
As an example, the very complex freudian theory explains things related to human behavior after the fact, it can explain everything (not specific), but is unable to make predictions, therefore not falsifiable.
The author develops a theory that explains what drives human behavior: two little green men in the head that control the electrochemical processes taking place in the head. The little green men hide as soon as one would try to look for them (with X-rays for instance). Extrasensory Perception works the same: as long as nobody intrude to look into it, it functions.
Falsifiable theories allow science to move forward: as soon as a prediction made by a theory is falsified by experiments, an update or a new theory is required.
Chapter 3 -Operationism and Essentialism
Operationism: how does it work ? Concepts of scientific theories need to be linked to observable events.
Essentialism: What is the real meaning of .. ? What does it ultimately mean to speak of .. ?
Preexisting bias problem - when it comes to psychology, people come with emotionally held beliefs. People seem not to accept the need of operationalism. One problem is the use by the scientists of words from day to day life as technical terms. After all, don't we all understand concepts like smart, aggressive, anxiety ? We do, but not in the same way a psychology scientist does: he needs to specify how another lab could measure these in the same way and reach the same results.
The public expects psychology to answer essentialist questions, and, as it does not, the popular belief that there are no advances in psychology.
Chapter 4 - Testimonials and Case Study Evidence
Testimonials and case studies are useless in the evaluation of psychological theories: any practitioner of any pseudoscience can bring together a group of people to testify how effective his procedures are. This is mostly because of the placebo effect.
Chapter 5 - Correlation and causation
Two major classes of ambiguity in a correlation: the directionality problem and the third variable problem.
Several examples of selection bias are given. More than average deaths caused by respiratory problem in a region with clean air, Arizona: because people with respiratory problems tend to go there for the better air. And they tend to die there.
Chapter 6 - Getting things under control
During an experiment, scientists need to manipulate experiment variables in order to rule out alternative explanations. A control group is required to decide if a treatment is really effective.
Chapter 7 - But it's not real life
Psychology experiments sometimes attract critics such as "this is not real life".
Distinction between two kind of research: applied research, where findings of the study are applied directly to a situation and basic research, which "tests theories of the underlying mechanism that influence behavior". For the later, artificial situations are built to isolate the critical variable for study.
Chapter 8 - Avoiding the Einstein Syndrome
Connectivity principle: a new theory "must not only explain new facts, but account for the old ones". Most scientific discoveries are gradual, they rely in scientific consensus and not on breakthrough.
Unlike many pseudosciences, in science nobody has privileged access to the truth.
A theory is usually backed by many converging studies. Even if each of them may have specific flaws, the flaws are not the same and what matters is that the results converge. Views of a single expert have to be regarded with skepticism if the go agains the scientific consensus.
Chapter 9 - The misguided Search for the Magic Bullet
There is not a single cause to look after when explaining a phenomenon.
Chapter 10 - The Achilles Heel of Human Cognition
People are very bad understanding statistics and let themselves convinced easier by a single story than by numbers. There will always be a few people that goes against the strongest trend.
Especially in psychology there is a tendency to overweight single cases over abstract probabilistic information.
Chapter 11 - The role of chance in psychology
Should not try to come up with complex theory there where chance alone is enough to explain a phenomenon.
Clinical prediction does not work: when a practitioner tries to predict the behavior (for example recidive of aggressive behavior) based on clinical evaluation of a subject, they do a lot worse than what statistics predict for the case. When going with the statistics, we do know the rate of error and we have to accept it. The book calls this "accepting error in order to reduce error".
Chapter 12 - The Rodney Dangerfield of the Sciences
The bad image the psychology has is due to the pseudo-scientific literature addressed to the large public as well as "anti scientific attitudes within parts of psychology itself". The latter is about practices in psychology with no scientific grounds, and practitioners reluctant to submit themselves to experiment on the grounds that what they do is "more art than science".
The medias are more interested in quacks and pseudo scientists as they make better ratings. This also contributes the the bad image psychology has.
Read
April 11, 2023Luin tän ihan turhaan💀 mut ainakin oon nyt fiksu ja filmaattinen, lihaksikas atleettinen
May 16, 2023
Luin tän loppuun vaikka kävinki tenttimässä sen jo viikkoja sitten. Hieman hämmentävä teos. Aika paljon mielestäni perustietoa, jonka kirjailija kuitenkin olettaa olevan vierasta lukijalle. Onko mulla siis liian positiivinen kuva ihmisistä vai kirjailijalla liian negatiivinen? Vai kertooko tää siitä koulutustason eroista Suomen ja jenkkien välillä?
Kirjan tarkoitus oli vakuuttaa lukija siitä että psykologia oli tiedettä. Siinä se ei onnistunut, paremminkin päinvastoin. Vähän ikävää että psykologia (tai kirjailija) pyrki kirjassa korostamaan tieteellisyyttään väittämällä etteivät jotkin muut alat ole niin tieteellisiä :D ja vaikka eivät olisi, miten se psykologiaan liittyy? Vähän mielenkiintoinen kurssikirja, ehkä psykan laitos voisi vähän päivittää valikoimaansa.
Ainoo plussa se että kirja dissasi Freudia ja tietty jotain kertoo se että jaksoin lukea sen loppuun.
Kirjan tarkoitus oli vakuuttaa lukija siitä että psykologia oli tiedettä. Siinä se ei onnistunut, paremminkin päinvastoin. Vähän ikävää että psykologia (tai kirjailija) pyrki kirjassa korostamaan tieteellisyyttään väittämällä etteivät jotkin muut alat ole niin tieteellisiä :D ja vaikka eivät olisi, miten se psykologiaan liittyy? Vähän mielenkiintoinen kurssikirja, ehkä psykan laitos voisi vähän päivittää valikoimaansa.
Ainoo plussa se että kirja dissasi Freudia ja tietty jotain kertoo se että jaksoin lukea sen loppuun.
April 3, 2020
2015.08.03–2015.08.07
Contents
Stanovich KE (2013) How to Think Straight About Psychology (10e)
Preface
01. Psychology Is Alive and Well (and Doing Fine Among the Sciences)
• The Freud Problem
• The Diversity of Modern Psychology
• • Implications of Diversity
• Unity in Science
• What, Then, Is Science?
• • Systematic Empiricism
• • Publicly Verifiable Knowledge: Replication and Peer Review
• • Empirically Solvable Problems: Scientists' Search for Testable Theories
• Psychology as a Young Science
• Summary
02. Falsifiability: How to Foil Little Green Men in the Head
• Theories and the Falsifiability Criterion
• • The Theory of Knocking Rhythms
• • Freud and Falsifiability
• • The Little Green Men
• • Not All Confirmations Are Equal
• • Falsifiability and Folk Wisdom
• • The Freedom to Admit a Mistake
• • Thoughts Are Cheap
• Errors in Science: Getting Closer to the Truth
• Summary
03. Operationism and Essentialism: "But, Doctor, What Does It Really Mean?"
• Why Scientists Are Not Essentialists
• • Essentialists Like to Argue About the Meaning of Words
• • Operationists Link Concepts to Observable Events
• • Reliability and Validity
• • Direct and Indirect Operational Definitions
• • Scientific Concepts Evolve
• Operational Definitions in Psychology
• • Operationism as a Humanizing Force
• • Essentialist Questions and the Misunderstanding of Psychology
• Summary
04. Testimonials and Case Study Evidence: Placebo Effects and the Amazing Randi
• The Place of the Case Study
• Why Testimonials Are Worthless: Placebo Effects
• The "Vividness" Problem
• • The Overwhelming Impact of the Single Case
• • The Amazing Randi: Fighting Fire with Fire
• Testimonials Open the Door to Pseudoscience
• Summary
05. Correlation and Causation: Birth Control by the Toaster Method
• The Third-Variable Problem: Goldberger and Pellagra
• • Why Goldberger's Evidence Was Better
• The Directionality Problem
• Selection Bias
• Summary
06. Getting Things Under Control: The Case of Clever Hans
• Snow and Cholera
• Comparison, Control, and Manipulation
• • Random Assignment in Conjunction with Manipulation Defines the True Experiment
• • The Importance of Control Groups
• • The Case of Clever Hans, the Wonder Horse
• • Clever Hans in the 1990s
• • Prying Variables Apart: Special Conditions
• • Intuitive Physics
• • Intuitive Psychology
• Summary
07. "But It's Not Real Life!": The "Artificiality" Criticism and Psychology
• Why Natural Isn't Always Necessary
• • The "Random Sample" Confusion
• • The Random Assignment Versus Random Sample Distinction
• • Theory-Driven Research Versus Direct Applications
• Applications of Psychological Theory
• • The "College Sophomore" Problem
• • The Real-Life and College Sophomore Problems in Perspective
• Summary
08. Avoiding the Einstein Syndrome: The Importance of Converging Evidence
• The Connectivity Principle
• • A Consumer's Rule: Beware of Violations of Connectivity
• • The "Great Leap" Model Versus the Gradual-Synthesis Model
• Converging Evidence: Progress Despite Flaws
• • Converging Evidence in Psychology
• Scientific Consensus
• • Methods and the Convergence Principle
• • The Progression to More Powerful Methods
• A Counsel Against Despair
• Summary
09. The Misguided Search for the "Magic Bullet": The Issue of Multiple Causation
• The Concept of Interaction
• The Temptation of the Single-Cause Explanation
• Summary
10. The Achilles' Heel of Human Cognition: Probabilistic Reasoning
• "Person-Who" Statistics
• Probabilistic Reasoning and the Misunderstanding of Psychology
• Psychological Research on Probabilistic Reasoning
• • Insufficient Use of Probabilistic Information
• • Failure to Use Sample-Size Information
• • The Gambler's Fallacy
• • A Further Word About Statistics and Probability
• Summary
11. The Role of Chance in Psychology
• The Tendency to Try to Explain Chance Events
• • Explaining Chance: Illusory Correlation and the Illusion of Control
• Chance and Psychology
• • Coincidence
• • Personal Coincidences
• Accepting Error in Order to Reduce Error: Clinical Versus Actuarial Prediction
• Summary
12. The Rodney Dangerfield of the Sciences
• Psychology's Image Problem
• • Psychology and Parapsychology
• • The Self-Help Literature
• • Recipe Knowledge
• Psychology and Other Disciplines
• Our Own Worst Enemies
• Isn't Everyone a Psychologist? Implicit Theories of Behavior
• The Source of Resistance to Scientific Psychology
• The Final Word
References
Credits
Name Index
Subject Index
Contents
Stanovich KE (2013) How to Think Straight About Psychology (10e)
Preface
01. Psychology Is Alive and Well (and Doing Fine Among the Sciences)
• The Freud Problem
• The Diversity of Modern Psychology
• • Implications of Diversity
• Unity in Science
• What, Then, Is Science?
• • Systematic Empiricism
• • Publicly Verifiable Knowledge: Replication and Peer Review
• • Empirically Solvable Problems: Scientists' Search for Testable Theories
• Psychology as a Young Science
• Summary
02. Falsifiability: How to Foil Little Green Men in the Head
• Theories and the Falsifiability Criterion
• • The Theory of Knocking Rhythms
• • Freud and Falsifiability
• • The Little Green Men
• • Not All Confirmations Are Equal
• • Falsifiability and Folk Wisdom
• • The Freedom to Admit a Mistake
• • Thoughts Are Cheap
• Errors in Science: Getting Closer to the Truth
• Summary
03. Operationism and Essentialism: "But, Doctor, What Does It Really Mean?"
• Why Scientists Are Not Essentialists
• • Essentialists Like to Argue About the Meaning of Words
• • Operationists Link Concepts to Observable Events
• • Reliability and Validity
• • Direct and Indirect Operational Definitions
• • Scientific Concepts Evolve
• Operational Definitions in Psychology
• • Operationism as a Humanizing Force
• • Essentialist Questions and the Misunderstanding of Psychology
• Summary
04. Testimonials and Case Study Evidence: Placebo Effects and the Amazing Randi
• The Place of the Case Study
• Why Testimonials Are Worthless: Placebo Effects
• The "Vividness" Problem
• • The Overwhelming Impact of the Single Case
• • The Amazing Randi: Fighting Fire with Fire
• Testimonials Open the Door to Pseudoscience
• Summary
05. Correlation and Causation: Birth Control by the Toaster Method
• The Third-Variable Problem: Goldberger and Pellagra
• • Why Goldberger's Evidence Was Better
• The Directionality Problem
• Selection Bias
• Summary
06. Getting Things Under Control: The Case of Clever Hans
• Snow and Cholera
• Comparison, Control, and Manipulation
• • Random Assignment in Conjunction with Manipulation Defines the True Experiment
• • The Importance of Control Groups
• • The Case of Clever Hans, the Wonder Horse
• • Clever Hans in the 1990s
• • Prying Variables Apart: Special Conditions
• • Intuitive Physics
• • Intuitive Psychology
• Summary
07. "But It's Not Real Life!": The "Artificiality" Criticism and Psychology
• Why Natural Isn't Always Necessary
• • The "Random Sample" Confusion
• • The Random Assignment Versus Random Sample Distinction
• • Theory-Driven Research Versus Direct Applications
• Applications of Psychological Theory
• • The "College Sophomore" Problem
• • The Real-Life and College Sophomore Problems in Perspective
• Summary
08. Avoiding the Einstein Syndrome: The Importance of Converging Evidence
• The Connectivity Principle
• • A Consumer's Rule: Beware of Violations of Connectivity
• • The "Great Leap" Model Versus the Gradual-Synthesis Model
• Converging Evidence: Progress Despite Flaws
• • Converging Evidence in Psychology
• Scientific Consensus
• • Methods and the Convergence Principle
• • The Progression to More Powerful Methods
• A Counsel Against Despair
• Summary
09. The Misguided Search for the "Magic Bullet": The Issue of Multiple Causation
• The Concept of Interaction
• The Temptation of the Single-Cause Explanation
• Summary
10. The Achilles' Heel of Human Cognition: Probabilistic Reasoning
• "Person-Who" Statistics
• Probabilistic Reasoning and the Misunderstanding of Psychology
• Psychological Research on Probabilistic Reasoning
• • Insufficient Use of Probabilistic Information
• • Failure to Use Sample-Size Information
• • The Gambler's Fallacy
• • A Further Word About Statistics and Probability
• Summary
11. The Role of Chance in Psychology
• The Tendency to Try to Explain Chance Events
• • Explaining Chance: Illusory Correlation and the Illusion of Control
• Chance and Psychology
• • Coincidence
• • Personal Coincidences
• Accepting Error in Order to Reduce Error: Clinical Versus Actuarial Prediction
• Summary
12. The Rodney Dangerfield of the Sciences
• Psychology's Image Problem
• • Psychology and Parapsychology
• • The Self-Help Literature
• • Recipe Knowledge
• Psychology and Other Disciplines
• Our Own Worst Enemies
• Isn't Everyone a Psychologist? Implicit Theories of Behavior
• The Source of Resistance to Scientific Psychology
• The Final Word
References
Credits
Name Index
Subject Index
April 17, 2011
ESSENTIAL.
Clearly this book is able to shape your view on life as a whole. I believe that after reading it few are the people who will not use the information revealed in this piece of solid gold as responsible as possible at their own risk.
Clearly this book is able to shape your view on life as a whole. I believe that after reading it few are the people who will not use the information revealed in this piece of solid gold as responsible as possible at their own risk.
February 6, 2014
Mandatory reading for anyone doing science, not only psychology!
February 20, 2019
How heteronormative
September 22, 2020
Boken ger en riktigt bra bild av vad vetenskaplig metod innebär, i synnerhet inom psykologisk forskning.
Redogör för olika viktiga begrepp, koncept och regler genom en mängd olika exempel. Skulle säga att ungefär 80% av boken utgörs av exempel som förklarar fenomen i den vetenskapliga världen. Blir både roligare att läsa och ger även en ”djupare” förståelse för det som förklaras.
Denna känns nästan lite mer som en populärvetenskaplig bok än kurslitteratur, vilket inte är negativt. Stanovich skötte det snyggt.
Redogör för olika viktiga begrepp, koncept och regler genom en mängd olika exempel. Skulle säga att ungefär 80% av boken utgörs av exempel som förklarar fenomen i den vetenskapliga världen. Blir både roligare att läsa och ger även en ”djupare” förståelse för det som förklaras.
Denna känns nästan lite mer som en populärvetenskaplig bok än kurslitteratur, vilket inte är negativt. Stanovich skötte det snyggt.
May 24, 2021
4.5+
great book.
is a very good reading on how to distinguish science from pseudo-science
great book.
is a very good reading on how to distinguish science from pseudo-science
Read
April 27, 2022love how you can literally explain all these concepts combined in like 40 pages but my guy chose to do it in over 200
December 9, 2014
Though I have read this book for many years. I would like to recommend this book to every one I know in my life.
This book is not only talking about what psychology is scientific and what is not, it is talking about how to judge what ever a theory is a scientific theory or not. In another words, it is a first book I have ever read talking about what Karl Poper's falsifiability means.
But to use the falsifiability to judge something is so difficult, that is why it needs a book to describe it. In fact, people usually are easily to be "treated" by their evolutionary habits. For an example, people like more fresh and live stories than statistical data.
In China, it seems a lot of people are atheists, however, I'd rather call them speculators on faith. Even if they like to be atheists, they are not skeptics but often they were nihilist. Part of the left believe anything that seems helpful to them, So the most controversial topic is: Is Chinese traditional medicine knowledge scientific?
Obviously, Chinese traditional medicine knowledge is unscientific, because the theory is not falsifiable, and the Chinese traditional drugs have not done any strict double-blind experiments.
But things become more complicated, in China, if one go to a formal hospital even in a big city, doctors there would prescribe some traditional drugs for you.Even the china food and drug administration recommend them in their official website.
So this book, even have been translated into Chinese for many years, and recommend in douban(a chinese website like goodreads) by thousand readers, I 'd like to recommend any one passing by who would like to read it and could benefit from it.
This book is not only talking about what psychology is scientific and what is not, it is talking about how to judge what ever a theory is a scientific theory or not. In another words, it is a first book I have ever read talking about what Karl Poper's falsifiability means.
But to use the falsifiability to judge something is so difficult, that is why it needs a book to describe it. In fact, people usually are easily to be "treated" by their evolutionary habits. For an example, people like more fresh and live stories than statistical data.
In China, it seems a lot of people are atheists, however, I'd rather call them speculators on faith. Even if they like to be atheists, they are not skeptics but often they were nihilist. Part of the left believe anything that seems helpful to them, So the most controversial topic is: Is Chinese traditional medicine knowledge scientific?
Obviously, Chinese traditional medicine knowledge is unscientific, because the theory is not falsifiable, and the Chinese traditional drugs have not done any strict double-blind experiments.
But things become more complicated, in China, if one go to a formal hospital even in a big city, doctors there would prescribe some traditional drugs for you.Even the china food and drug administration recommend them in their official website.
So this book, even have been translated into Chinese for many years, and recommend in douban(a chinese website like goodreads) by thousand readers, I 'd like to recommend any one passing by who would like to read it and could benefit from it.
February 19, 2008
This book changed my perspective on life, love, and liberty!!
All hail Keith Stanovich!!
Seriously, I almost moved to Toronto to follow the golden beacon of the Stanovich.
Here he presents the basic tenets of Psychology and science. In doing so, he presents a world of hope. There is a hope that we may learn about our world. This enriches our lives.
There is no need for a giant FSM in the sky. Science is religion.
That's only my personal view, though.
Read, and be enlightened!!
All hail Keith Stanovich!!
Seriously, I almost moved to Toronto to follow the golden beacon of the Stanovich.
Here he presents the basic tenets of Psychology and science. In doing so, he presents a world of hope. There is a hope that we may learn about our world. This enriches our lives.
There is no need for a giant FSM in the sky. Science is religion.
That's only my personal view, though.
Read, and be enlightened!!
Read
December 28, 2016I could give this book a seventeen star rating, if only because it represents the end of the semester (read: the too-busy-for-good-books marathon). For the sake of objectivity, I won't rate it at all. It was interesting, maybe even essential, and (but) too accessible to be used in a senior psychology class.
March 25, 2009
a must read for anyone looking to learn how think critically about any of fields in the social sciences. read it.
August 20, 2010
Would be a really good introduction to psychological issues for undergraduate students who are taking a psych class for the first time. Interesting topics and interesting writing style.
October 19, 2012
Required reading for my Senior Project in Psychology class. Not a bad book, author provides way too many examples for each concept. The book does a great job breaking down the scientific process.
June 26, 2014
Awesome! Should be required reading prior to doing any kind of science course. Also a great book to learn how think critically--something everyone lacks in one way or another.
July 5, 2016
Boring but incredibly useful for understanding analytical thinking and psychology.
January 28, 2021
This is an important book that introduces how to think about psychology but the method and inference can be used in much broader topics.
The author first introduced the concept of falsifiable theory: a theory that makes public testable and specific predictions. The more general the predictions are, the worse the theory is because it comes less falsifiable.
One example of the non-falsifiable theory is Freudian psychoanalytic theory. A quote from the author: "Freudian psychoanalytic theory currently plays a much larger role as a spur to the literary imagination than as a theory in contemporary psychology. Its demise within psychology can be traced in part to its failure to satisfy the falsifiability criterion"
It continues to introduce other very critical concepts like the replication of results, operationalism, controlled study, probabilistic reasoning, and statistical thinking, etc.
The one thing I find particularly useful is how to think about causal inference, which I summarized as follows:
When one is given the argument of "A caused B", ask these questions:
1. Is it possible that actually B caused A (directionality problem)
2. Is it possible that another variable C caused both A and B (third variable problem)
3. Even if it’s really A caused B, is A the only variable that could cause B (multiple causations)
4. If there are multiple variables that caused B, is A even the most important one?
5. Is it possible that just a pure chance that A and B occurred together? (coincidences need no special explanation)
Compared to learn these concepts, it's more important to use these concepts in one's daily life, which needs many practices.
The author first introduced the concept of falsifiable theory: a theory that makes public testable and specific predictions. The more general the predictions are, the worse the theory is because it comes less falsifiable.
One example of the non-falsifiable theory is Freudian psychoanalytic theory. A quote from the author: "Freudian psychoanalytic theory currently plays a much larger role as a spur to the literary imagination than as a theory in contemporary psychology. Its demise within psychology can be traced in part to its failure to satisfy the falsifiability criterion"
It continues to introduce other very critical concepts like the replication of results, operationalism, controlled study, probabilistic reasoning, and statistical thinking, etc.
The one thing I find particularly useful is how to think about causal inference, which I summarized as follows:
When one is given the argument of "A caused B", ask these questions:
1. Is it possible that actually B caused A (directionality problem)
2. Is it possible that another variable C caused both A and B (third variable problem)
3. Even if it’s really A caused B, is A the only variable that could cause B (multiple causations)
4. If there are multiple variables that caused B, is A even the most important one?
5. Is it possible that just a pure chance that A and B occurred together? (coincidences need no special explanation)
Compared to learn these concepts, it's more important to use these concepts in one's daily life, which needs many practices.
July 30, 2018
Of all the academically relevant texts in the world of psychology, nothing is more important or fundamental than this. It's not perfect as it seems to pay very minimal attention to the qualitative-phenomenologic approach (which is integral to the whole person perspective of psychology) and seems to be trying very very hard to be like a physical science by making way too much comparisons with medicine and physics, trying to prove how similar we are as sciences.
I think psychology also has to account for the uniqueness of individual experiences if we agree that everything is fair game when it comes to science. I don't necessarily want the author to agree with me on this epistemological stance, but I think there's a lot of value if he offered a chapter discussing how the qualitative approach fits (or otherwise ) into this frame of science. The small paragraph acknowledging the usefulness of case studies for exploratory purposes was quite unsatisfactory.
Otherwise, I can't recommend this enough.
I think psychology also has to account for the uniqueness of individual experiences if we agree that everything is fair game when it comes to science. I don't necessarily want the author to agree with me on this epistemological stance, but I think there's a lot of value if he offered a chapter discussing how the qualitative approach fits (or otherwise ) into this frame of science. The small paragraph acknowledging the usefulness of case studies for exploratory purposes was quite unsatisfactory.
Otherwise, I can't recommend this enough.
September 2, 2017
It's actually a great book on scientific method and critical thinking. All these concepts can help any one new to social science to better understand ourselves and society. It also give readers tools to identify and tear down claims of pseudoscience. Most examples used here are memorable and often compelling (...for a reason, this is a book on psychology after-all.)
Curiously, the format and prose are probably a bit off-putting for readers not from educated background but the content might be too light to be used in any psychology class. That being said, those already with a background in psychology may still benefit from remarks on the state of psychological science(Says, the APA and APS divide).
Curiously, the format and prose are probably a bit off-putting for readers not from educated background but the content might be too light to be used in any psychology class. That being said, those already with a background in psychology may still benefit from remarks on the state of psychological science(Says, the APA and APS divide).
July 23, 2020
The book is for those people who don’t think of psychology as proper science and think it as mere “common sense”. Even a majority of well educated people try to downplay its legitimacy because they fear that psychology, mainly evolutionary psychology, is not politically correct. The author argues against this overwhelming public apathy. He tries to dispel many myths associated with psychology as well as demonstrates how it really works by going into the details of underlying scientific methods. That makes it a very good book for the skeptics.
But for me, Psychology is one of the most fascinating subjects out there. So, I, being already a devout believer, found most of the text to be obvious and rather boring at many instances. That’s why a 3 star from me.
But for me, Psychology is one of the most fascinating subjects out there. So, I, being already a devout believer, found most of the text to be obvious and rather boring at many instances. That’s why a 3 star from me.
December 21, 2021
Scope of psychology:
- Psychology is more about statistics with controlled experiments.
- Note that Freud's experiments do not have controlled groups.
- Psychology deals with verifiable hypotheses, and other questions such as who we are, whether people have souls, etc., belong to philosophy.
For every hypothesis, we need to
- define the concept
- follow the practice of experimental science
- measure the quantities
- make sure the conclusions are reproducible and can serve as public knowledge
Not psychology:
- Pseudo science
- Not falsifiable (Many Freud's theories are not falsifiable)
- Case studies without placebo control groups
- Not well controlled experimental setups
- Psychology is more about statistics with controlled experiments.
- Note that Freud's experiments do not have controlled groups.
- Psychology deals with verifiable hypotheses, and other questions such as who we are, whether people have souls, etc., belong to philosophy.
For every hypothesis, we need to
- define the concept
- follow the practice of experimental science
- measure the quantities
- make sure the conclusions are reproducible and can serve as public knowledge
Not psychology:
- Pseudo science
- Not falsifiable (Many Freud's theories are not falsifiable)
- Case studies without placebo control groups
- Not well controlled experimental setups
March 3, 2018
This was a required book for one of my university classes. However, I would recommend it to anyone. The world of pseudoscience and faux studies are running rampant and it appears no one blinks an eye but continues on consuming and never questioning. It’s laid out simply for everyone to read. It teaches the fundamentals of science and critical thinking. I never thought I would recommend one of my required readings but this is necessary and should be taught to every person in society.
November 11, 2020
Overall, it's a great book on scientific reasoning. I gave it 4 stars out of 5 for two reasons: 1. Even though the falsifiability criterion is a huge point, Popper's theory still has such limitations as Global Warming. I'm not saying, Stanovich had to mention it, but ignoring some perspectives made this book a bit one dimensional. 2. Last chapter on psychology as an ideological monoculture, and in particular, the message that Democrats as much science deniers as Republicans.
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