Chapter_01_Behavioral Science Flashcards
Week 2
Science
A systematic process for generating knowledge about the world
4 Goals of Science
- Description
- Understanding
- Prediction
- Control of behavior
Description
- DEFINE the phenomena to be studied
- clearly DIFFERENTIATE among closely related phenomena
- RECORD events that might be useful or interesting to study
- describe the RELATIOSHIP among phenomena
Understanding
Attempts to determine why a phenomenon occurs
- propose a set of HYPOTHESIS
- looks for relationships among the answers to “WHY” questions
John Stuart Mill’s 3 conditions, for causality
- Covariation: Cause must be correlated with the effect
- Time precedence: Cause must come before the effect
- No alternative explanation: Cause must be the only possible cause present during the test of the hypothesis
Prediction
- forecasting of events
- Derivation of research hypotheses from theories
- checks the validity of the theory
Control
use knowledge to influence phenomena
Limitation to control
- There is NO SINGLE theory that can explain human behavior
- to accurately predict an INDIVIDUAL is more limited than on average
Key Values of Science
- Empiricism
- Skepticism
- Tentativeness
- Publicness
Empiricism
based on objective evidence rather than intuition, ideology, or abstract logic
- when objective evidence and ideology conflict, evidence should prevail
Skepticism
be questioning the QUALITY of the knowledge they have on a topic
- to ensure that the theories that describe knowledge are as complete and correct as possible
Tentativeness
can change as new research findings become available
Publicness
- make public what they find in their research
- make public how they conduct their research
Epistemology
A set of beliefs about the nature of science (and of knowledge in general)
- Scientific Approaches to Knowledge
Logical Positivism
- Knowledge can best be generated through EMPIRICAL observation
- tightly CONTROLLED experiments
- LOGICAL analysis of data
Humanism
- knowledge that SERVES people
- studied in their NATURAL environments
- comes through EMPATHY and intuition
Theory
A set of statements about relationships between variables
3 Components of Theories
- Assumptions: beliefs that are taken as given and are usually not subject to empirical testing
- Definitions: hypothetical constructs, which ensures that the people who use the theory completely understand the concepts involved
- Variable: any thing or concept that can take on more than one value
Theorists make assumptions for two reasons
- Cannot be subject to testing
- The present state of research technology does not allow something to be tested
General scientific assumptions
Deal with the nature of reality
- For example, we assume that everyone experiences the same reality as we do and that most events in our lives have causes we can discover, understand, and perhaps control
Paradigms assumptions
General ways of CONCEPTUALIZING and studying the SUBJECT MATTER of a particular field
- For example, behaviorism assumes human nature is inherently neither good nor bad and that all behavior is shaped by environmental influences
Domain assumptions
SPECIFIC to the subject of a theory, such as psychopathology, memory, or work behavior.
- For example, the effects performance goals have on the quality of work performance, based on the general proposition that more difficult goals lead to better performance
Hypothetical Constructs
Variables that cannot be directly observed (and may or may not really exist), but are useful because we can attribute observable behaviors to them
Pitfalls of using hypothetical constructs
- REITIFICATION: treating a hypothetical construct as something real
- Hypothetical constructs might not really exist, they cannot be used as explanations for behavior
