1. Introduction to the Research Unit

2. Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
- Carl Sagan

3. “Buried deep within each and every one of us there is an instinctive, heart-felt awareness that provides – if we allow it to – the most reliable guide.” - Prince Charles, 2000
Are our instincts our
“most reliable guide?”

4. Reno, NV or Los Angeles, CA
Which is further east:
Reno, NV or Los Angeles, CA
Atlanta, GA or Detroit, MI

7. Which is further north: New York, NY or Paris, France?

9. “The naked intellect is an extraordinarily inaccurate instrument
“The naked intellect is an extraordinarily inaccurate instrument.” - Madeleine L’Engle, 1973

10. Hindsight Bias Hindsight Bias
The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that you could have foreseen the result.
“I knew it all along”

11. Hindsight Bias
Common sense more easily describes what has happened that what will happen.

12. Overconfidence Overconfidence
The tendency to be more confident than correct – to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgments
Together with hindsight bias, can lead to overestimate our intuition

16. How good are you at solving anagrams?
WREAT = WATER
ETRYN = ENTRY
GRABE =
OCHSA =
BARGE
CHAOS
We humans tend to think we know more than what we do.

17. How much confidence do you have in world facts?
Hand out
Research in Psychology w/s

18. Perceiving Order in Random Events
We have a natural eagerness to make sense out of our world, so we perceive patterns.
1 in 2,598,960
1 in 2,598,960

19. The Scientific Attitude
Three main components
Curious eagerness
Skeptical testing of ideas
Open-minded humility

20. These factors are why we need to
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions
These factors are why we need to
engage in research.

21. How does the scientific attitude contribute to critical thinking?
Ticket Out The Door
How does the scientific attitude contribute to critical thinking?
The scientific attitude combines curiosity, skepticism, and humility to evaluate evidence, assess conclusions, and examine our own assumptions.