In Chapter 1 (What Is Psychology?) the Importance of Critical

question 177

Essay

In Chapter 1 (What Is Psychology?) the importance of critical thinking was noted. In particular, a critical thinker knows that once a general question is raised, the next step is to define one's terms in a clear and concrete way. Chapter 2 (How Psychologists Do Research) provided even more detail in the discussion of operational definitions. How do behavioural geneticists define the meaning of heritability? What does it mean when a trait is said to be "highly heritable"?

---

Definitions:

Goods X

A placeholder term typically used in economic models to represent a generic good or product.

Marginal Rate

This refers to the rate at which one variable changes with respect to a change in another variable, commonly used in economics and finance to describe rates of substitution and transformation.

Perfect Substitutes

Two goods with straight-line indifference curves.

Constant

A fixed value in mathematics, physics, and other sciences, that does not change under specified conditions.