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Overview The Continuum Fallacy occurs when someone treats a range of possibilities as if they are distinct, non-overlapping categories, ignoring the middle ground or gradual transitions between extremes. For example, it’s like saying people are either “tall” o...

Overview The Fallacy of Accent occurs when the meaning of a statement is altered by placing undue emphasis on certain words or ideas, often leading to misinterpretation or distortion of the original intent. It’s not about using incorrect language but about how...

Overview The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy occurs when someone finds a pattern or relationship in data after the fact and then claims that this pattern was intended from the start. It’s named after a joke about a sharpshooter who fires randomly at a barn wall, pa...

Overview An Appeal to Probability is a type of argument where someone claims that because something is likely or probable, it must be true. This approach often relies on assumptions about what "makes sense" rather than concrete evidence. For example, if you as...

Overview The base rate fallacy occurs when people ignore general statistical information (the "base rate") in favor of specific, often anecdotal or vivid information. This cognitive bias leads to flawed conclusions because decisions are made without considerin...

Overview The Fallacy of Composition occurs when someone assumes that what is true for individual parts must also be true for the whole. For example, just because one person’s strength contributes to a team doesn’t mean the entire team will automatically perfor...

Overview The equivocation fallacy occurs when a word or phrase is used with two different meanings in the same argument without clarifying the shift. This creates confusion and often leads to incorrect conclusions. For example, saying "Birds have wings, so win...

Overview Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) was an Austrian neurologist who is widely regarded as the father of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. Freud's theories on child development,...

Overview Albert Bandura is a Canadian-American psychologist born on December 4, 1925, best known for his pioneering work in social cognitive theory, also referred to as social learning theory. His work has significantly contributed to understanding the dynamic...

Overview Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who made significant contributions to the field of psychology, particularly in the areas of personality theory, dream analysis, and collective unconscious. He was a contemporary a...

Overview Leon Festinger (1919-1989) was an American social psychologist who made significant contributions to the field of social comparison theory, cognitive dissonance theory, and group dynamics. He earned his PhD in psychology from the University of Michiga...

Overview Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist best known for proposing the Hierarchy of Needs theory, which argues that individuals have certain basic needs that must be met before they can achieve self-actualization or self-fulfillment. Maslow's work h...

Overview Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist and philosopher known for his pioneering work in child development and education. Born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland in 1896, Piaget is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of developme...

Overview Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was a British naturalist, geologist, and biologist, best known for his contributions to the science of evolution. In 1859, he published On the Origin of Species, which introduced the scientific theory that populations evolv...

Overview Erik Erikson was a renowned developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst, famous for coining the term "identity crisis" and for his significant contributions to the theory of ego development. Erikson is best known for his stage-based theory of human d...

Overview Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) was a Russian physiologist and psychologist, best known for his work in classical conditioning. Although his primary focus was on the digestive system, he became interested in studying reflexes and learning when he noticed that...

Overview B.F. Skinner was a renowned American psychologist and behaviorist, best known for his work on operant conditioning and the development of the theory of radical behaviorism. He was born on March 20, 1904, in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, and died on Augus...

Overview Karl Marx was a 19th-century philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best known for his analysis of capitalism and his ideas on how society could be organized differently. With his collaborator Friedrich Eng...

Overview John Locke (1632-1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and known as the "Father of Liberalism." His work in epistemology, political philosophy, and educational theory c...

Overview Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a influential Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of the Enlightenment era. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution and modern political and educational thought. He often presented himself ...