Experimental Psychology and the Scientific Method Flashcards
a method of studying psychological phenomena and processes. It attempts to account for the activities of animals (including humans) and the functional organization of mental processes by manipulating variables that may give rise to behavior
Experimental psychology
science of behavior
Psychology
The word science comes from the Latin word s_ _ _ _ _ _ a, which means knowledge.
scientia
Two meanings of knowledge:
Content & Process
refers to what we know
content
An activity that includes the systematic ways in which we go about gathering data, noting relationships and offering explanations
Process
Nonscientific data gathering that shapes our expectation and beliefs and directs our behavior toward others
Commonsense psychology
Beliefs tend to become stable because we rarely, if ever, test them. Once we believe we know something, we tend to overlook instances that might disconfirm our beliefs, and we seek, instead, confirmatory instances of behavior.
Confirmation bias
All commonsense psychologists are trait theorist at least when it comes to explaining the behavior of others. When we understand other people’s behavior, there is a strong bias to overlook situational data in favor of data that substantiate trait explanations (Gilbert, 1995; Ross & Nisbett, 1991). Our ability to make accurate predictions about someone’s trait increases with the length of acquaintanceship. We are generally more accurate when we know someone well than when we judge a stranger (Colvin & Funder, 1991).
Nonscientific inference
The psychologist’s goal of prediction rests on a simple, but important, assumption: Behavior must follow a natural order; therefore, it can be predicted. Faith in an organized universe is essential to science. If no inherent order existed, there would be no point in looking for one and no need to develop methods for doing so.
Scientific mentality
He postulated the scientific mentality
Alfred North Whitehead
Research psychologist share the belief that there are specifiable causes for the way people behave and that these cause can be discovered through research.
Determinism
data that are observable or experienced.
empirical data
Modern scientists go beyond cataloging observations to proposing general principles laws or theories that will explain them. When these principles have the generality to apply to all situations
Laws
pull together, or unify, diverse sets of scientific facts into an organizing scheme, such as a general principle or set of rules, that can be used to predict new examples of behavior
Theory
A central feature of the scientific method; The approach to the collection and interpretation of data should be systematic, objective, and rational. It avoids letting private beliefs or attitudes. It includes being open to new ideas even when they contradict our prior beliefs or attitudes.
Good thinking
Another important aspect of good thinking is the principle of parsimony, When two explanations are equally defensible, the simplest explanation is preferred until it is ruled out by conflicting data
Occam’s razor
The content of science changes as we acquire new scientific information, and old information is reevaluated in light of new facts. Changes in scientific explanations and theories are an extremely important part of scientific progress.
Self correction
Because of its dynamic nature, modern science has become a highly public activity. Scientists meet frequently through professional and special interest groups and attend professional conferences to exchange information about their current work. This continuous exchange of information is vital to the scientific process. It would do little good for scientists to work in isolation.
Publicizing results
another important part of the scientific approach. We should be able to repeat our procedures and get the same results again if we have gathered data objectively and if we have followed good thinking. Finding that are obtainable by only one researcher have very limited scientific value.
Replication
four major objectives of research conducted in psychology;
- Description
- Prediction
- Explanation
- Control
the initial step toward understanding any phenomenon, referring to a systematic and unbiased account of the observed characteristics of behaviors.
Description
refers to the capacity for knowing in advance when certain behaviors would be expected to occur to be able to predict them ahead of time because we have identified other conditions with which behaviors are linked or associated
Prediction
includes knowledge of the conditions that reliably reproduce the occurrence of a behavior.
Explanation
The application of what has been learned about behavior. Once a behavior has been explained through experimentation, it may be possible to use that knowledge to affect change or improve behavior.
Control
