Lecture 1

Question 1

Psychology

Answer 1

Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes

Question 2

Greek Philosophers

Answer 2

Aristotle
Plato
- Nature and origin of knowledge
- Memory and though

Question 3

Historical Mind And Body Dualism

Answer 3

Mind and body dualism represents the metaphysical stance that mind and body are two distinct substances, each with a different essential nature
- Continuing debate through the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries

Question 4

Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 4

Structuralism – mental events can be broken down into their components

Question 5

The Scientific Method

Answer 5

The scientific method consists of certain assumptions, goals and procedures for creating and answering questions

Question 6

The Four Goals Of Science

Answer 6

Description
Explanation
Prediction
Control

Question 7

Description

Answer 7

What happened

Psychology: describe a behavior and the conditions under which it occurred

Question 8

Explanation

Answer 8

Why it happened

Psychology: finding out the causes of behavior

Question 9

Prediction

Answer 9

What will happen next

Psychology: our ability to predict behavior will only be as good as our ability to explain

Question 10

Control

Answer 10

How to make it happen

Psychology: if explanation is accurate then manipulating the causes should produce changes in behavior

Question 11

Approaches To Understanding

Answer 11

Authority approach
Analogy approach
Rule approach
Empirical approach

Question 12

Authority Approach

Answer 12

Seeking knowledge from sources thought to be reliable and valid

Advantages – allows us to assimilate existing knowledge
Caution – don’t follow blindly, there is a need to evaluate critically

Question 13

Analogy Approach

Answer 13

Analogy between some new event and a more familiar understandable event

Disadvantages – open to a number of interpretations

Question 14

Rule Approach

Answer 14

Try to establish laws or rules that cover a variety of different observations

Advantages – can save time and effort
Disadvantages – if followed blindly, can also threaten advancement of understanding

• Theories, models and hypotheses are tied to the rule approach
• In science, rules do not stand alone but are used with observation to gain further understanding

Question 15

Empirical

Answer 15

Testing ideas against actual events

Psychology: observing behavior and drawing conclusions

Question 16

Hypothesis

Answer 16

An idea or tentative guess

Psychology: formally states expectation about a behavior

Question 17

A Hypothesis Must Be

Answer 17

Testable
- Can devise a test of a hypothesis
Falsifiable
- Test can show the hypothesis is incorrect

• Rather than providing ideas to be true, we have to prove them to be false
• Ideas (hypotheses) are always on probation and subject to constant testing

Question 18

What Happens When A Hypothesis Is Not Shown To Be False?

Answer 18

We say the theory giving rise to the hypothesis is confirmed
- Doesn’t mean true, means still not falsified

Question 19

In Testing Hypotheses We Can

Answer 19

Strive to design experiments that produce that clearest and best evidence
- Become skilled at identifying design flaws and learn how to avoid them

Apply best procedures to assess our findings