Introduction to Psychology

Introduction to Psychology of 97 Subsequently, people tend to heavily weigh their judgments toward more recent information, forming new opinions biased toward that latest news. Hindsight Bias- Reflects a tendency to overestimate one’s s own ability to have predicted or foreseen an event after learning about the outcome. Fairness Bias- “Doing the right thing” describes the fairness bias; or that most people are instinctively motivated to do the right thing. Avoiding Loss Bias- Refers to people's tendency to strongly prefer avoiding losses to acquiring gains. Some studies suggest that losses are twice as powerful, psychologically, as gains. Confirmation Bias- The tendency to look for evidence that will confirmwhat one believes, rather than looking for evidence that could disconfirm one’s beliefs. Mental Sets- Falling back on solutions that have worked in the past. In many cases, this is a useful approach that allows us to quickly come up with answers. In some instances, however, this strategy can make it difficult to think of new ways of solving problems. These mental sets can sometimes lead to rigid thinking and can create difficulties in the problem-solving process. Cognitive Dissonance- In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. People tend to seek consistency in their beliefs and perceptions. So what happens when one belief conflicts with another previously held belief? The term cognitive dissonance is used to describe the feeling of discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs. When there is a discrepancy between beliefs and behaviors, something must change in order to eliminate or reduce the dissonance. 7.2 Intelligence Intelligence- Is the ability to acquire knowledge, to think and reason effectively, and to deal adaptively with the environment. Intelligence is about problem-solving ability. History of Measurement- Historically, two scientists with entirely different agendas played seminal roles in the study and measurement of mental skills. The contributions of Sir Francis Galton and Alfred Binet set the stage for later attempts to measure intelligence and discover its causes. Galton’s studies of heredity genius and Binet’s methods for measuring differences in children’s mental skills were important historical milestones in the study of intelligence. IQ Testing- William Stern developed the intelligence quotient (IQ) which is the ratio of mental age to chronological age, multiplied by 100. Most modern intelligence tests, such as the Wechsler scales, measure an array of mental abilities, including global IQ, and verbal and performance IQs. Other © 2015 Achieve Page 54