Question

Psychologists use the scientific approach to study human behavior, attitudes and emotions. there is this preconceived idea that "women in general are bad drivers". as a student of psychology,how would you apply the four attitudes of scientific approach ( critical thinking, skepticism, objectivity, and curiosity) while examining this conception. also think of another example from every day life related to human behavior where you may use these four attitudes so as to engage in more scientific thinking.

Answer 1

Critical thinking could be used in this example to actively engage with the proposition and propose an alternative or another proposition. Maybe in my own life experience I've known women who drive better than man, so I already have first hand example of how this is a misbelieve, but in order to prove this i have to go a step further.

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Skepticism should refrain us from making statement from things we don't know yet. The proposition is a generality and thus already tell us that is a prejudice, but moreover when we are talking about things without having knowledge is a good scientific practise to step back and know the argument before speaking.

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Objectivity is what we should aim when examine datas and proposition. Once we have the data, we could objectevely tell if this proposition respects the truth or not. Some importance should also be given to the motivation and the qualitative data, and not only the raw quantitative data, as reading and analyse only one type could lead to more misunderstading.  

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Curiosity is what we should always bring to the table in everyday matter. In the proposition, we could step back and ask why this is a well consolidates rumour, or why are the reasons behind this saying. Curiosity should be the driven to explain the world in a more complex and rich way comparing to the way other people may live.

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Other examples of proposition that could be examine by the scientific approach are almost endless. "Women are not good at STEM fields" for example, or "Men generally are more qualified leaders". It is possible to argue that every proposition could be examine in a scientific approach, and maybe we all should do it so.