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Fallacies & Pitfalls in Psychology
This section includes 4 articles on fallacies and pitfalls in psychology:
Logical Fallacies in Psychology: 26 Types
This brief article defines and provides examples of the following logical fallacies: ad hoc rationalization, ad hominem, affirming the consequent, appeal to ignorance (ad ignorantium), argument to logic (argumentum ad logicam), begging the question (petitio principii), composition fallacy, denying the antecedent, disjunctive fallacy, division fallacy, existential fallacy, false analogy, false continuum, false dilemma, false equivalence, genetic fallacy, golden mean fallacy, ignoratio elenchi, mistaking deductive validity for truth, naturalistic fallacy, nominal fallacy, post hoc ergo propter hoc (after this, therefore because of this), red herring, slippery slope, straw person, and you too (tu quoque).
Ethics, Language, & Critical Thinking: Using Words to Deceive
This excerpt from the section on Language in the chapter on "Ethics & Critical Thinking" in Ethics in Psychotherapy & Counseling: A Practical Guide, 4th Edition (2011) shows how we often lose sight of ethical issues as they disappear in clouds of clichés, jargon, dogma, deceptive words, and careless language. It looks at 8 common language patterns that hide or confuse ethical issues, responsibilities, or consequences.
21 Ethical Fallacies: Cognitive Strategies To Justify Any Unethical Behavior
This brief article discusses 21 common fallacies and rationalizations we tend to use to justify unethical behavior and quiet a noisy conscience.
10 Fallacies in Psychological Assessment
This brief article discusses 9 common fallacies and pitfalls that plague psychological testing and assessment: mismatched validity; confirmation bias; confusing retrospective and prospective accuracy (switching conditional probabilities); unstandardizing standardized tests; ignoring the effects of low base rates; misinterpreting dual high base rates; financial bias; ignoring the effects of audio-recording, video-recording, or the presence of third party observers; and uncertain gatekeeping.