1.2 Methods in Psychology

Question 1

dogmatism

Answer 1

The tendency for people to cling to their assumptions without evidence

Question 2

dogma

Answer 2

A principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true

Question 3

empiricism

Answer 3

• the belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation
• an essential element of the scientific method

Question 4

empirical

Answer 4

based on or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic

Question 5

theory

Answer 5

hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon

Question 6

parsimony

Answer 6

the simplest theory that explains all the evidence is the best one

Question 7

hypothesis

Answer 7

FALSIFIABLE prediction made by a theory

Question 8

give an example of a hypothesis that cannot be empirically tested

Answer 8

• that God created the universe
• that we are actually dreaming. right now

Question 9

what can be bad about the scientific method

Answer 9

observation: they can be influenced by many factors which can make them unreliable

tradition: time doesn’t mean anything (just because it happened before doesn’t mean it will again/ will be true again)

intuition: your common sense might not be right all the time

authority: believing in authority figures blindly