In the First Chapter of the Textbook, What Is Psychology

Essay

In the first chapter of the textbook, What Is Psychology?, one of the critical thinking guidelines that we learned about was "Consider Other Interpretations." Before settling on one interpretation of the evidence, critical thinkers generate as many interpretations as possible. For example, an athlete wears a new pair of socks and then surpasses her own record for the number of baskets made during a game. Her socks become "lucky" and she makes sure to wear them for each basketball game. What type of reinforcement (from Chapter 7, Learning and Conditioning) explains the fact that she clings to her socks as a lucky charm? What other interpretations should she consider?