AP Psychology AMSCO Guided Notes
0.4: Argumentation
AP Psychology Guided Notes
AMSCO 0.4 - Argumentation
I. Practice 4.A: Propose a Defensible Claim
1. What is the difference between a claim and a fact, and why must a claim be defensible?
2. How does the example of prosocial music lyrics demonstrate the difference between an opinion, a fact, and a defensible claim?
3. What two elements must a defensible claim contain to be effective in argumentation?
II. Practice 4.B: Provide Reasoning Grounded in Scientifically Derived Evidence
1. What is the relationship between evidence and reasoning in constructing a psychological argument?
2. How do scientifically derived evidence and reasoning work together to support, refute, or modify a claim?
A. Gathering Scientifically Derived Evidence
1. What are the three sources of evidence presented about prosocial music and behavior, and what different findings did each study report?
2. Why is evidence alone insufficient to prove a claim about the relationship between prosocial music and behavior?
B. Reasoning That Supports Claims
1. What are four strategies for using reasoning to support a psychological claim?
2. How can applying psychological concepts like priming or social learning theory strengthen an argument about prosocial music?
3. How does anticipating disagreements or counterclaims strengthen a supporting argument?
C. Reasoning That Refutes Claims
1. What are four strategies for using reasoning to refute a psychological claim?
2. How can offering alternative explanations or providing conflicting evidence refute a claim about prosocial music?
3. Why is questioning the universality or generalizability of a claim an effective refutation strategy?
D. Reasoning That Modifies a Claim
1. What are two strategies for modifying a claim to better align with available evidence?
2. How can limiting the scope or suggesting the need for additional research refine an overly broad claim?
III. Explaining Nuances of Claims, Policies, or Norms with Scientifically Derived Evidence
1. What are nuances in research, and how do they relate to the basic claim, how/why, and why it matters?
2. What is the difference between nuances in process and nuances in findings when evaluating research?
3. How can differences in research context (such as controlled classroom settings versus real-world restaurants) affect the interpretation of findings about prosocial music?
IV. Explaining the Effectiveness of Claims, Policies, or Norms with Scientifically Derived Evidence
1. How can scientifically derived evidence be used to evaluate whether a claim about human behavior is effective or not?
2. What is the relationship between a claim about listeners paying more attention to music than lyrics and evidence that prosocial lyrics influence behavior?
3. How might a policy about playing 'easy listening' music in a workplace be evaluated using evidence about music and mood?
V. Implicit Attitudes
1. What is the difference between explicit attitudes and implicit attitudes?
2. How do implicit biases revealed by the Implicit Association Test affect real-world behaviors like hiring and healthcare?
VI. The Just-World Phenomenon
1. What is the just-world phenomenon and how does it influence implicit attitudes toward people in poverty or victims of discrimination?
VII. In-Group Bias and Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
1. How do in-group bias and out-group homogeneity bias differ in their effects on social behavior?
2. What are examples of how in-group bias manifests in decision-making, resource allocation, and interpersonal interactions?
VIII. Ethnocentrism
1. How does ethnocentrism differ from in-group bias in terms of the scale at which it operates?
2. Why might people from Western cultures judge arranged marriages as oppressive while people from other cultures view them favorably?
IX. Developing and Changing Attitudes
1. What factors influence the formation of attitudes?
A. Belief Perseverance
1. What is belief perseverance and how does confirmation bias contribute to it?
2. Why do people continue to hold beliefs even after evidence contradicting them has been presented?
B. Cognitive Dissonance
1. What is cognitive dissonance and what are the ways people reduce it?
2. How did Festinger's experiment with the boring task demonstrate that behavior change can lead to attitude change?
3. What is effort justification and how does it relate to cognitive dissonance?
Key Terms
claim
defensible
reasoning
support
refute
modify
evidence
policy
norm
established claim
nuance
synthesizing