Lecture 1 - Science and Communication

Question 1

What is Comte’s Law of Three Stages?

Answer 1

August Comte (1798-1857)

Described the shift from authority to reasons the first 2 of 3 stages in ways of knowing.

THEOLOGICAL
To explain anomalies & identify causes, the human mind points to interventions of supernatural agents.

METAPHYSICAL
To explain anomalies & identify causes, the human mind rejects supernatural agents & instead points to abstract entities.

POSITIVE
The human mind rejects speculation & limits itself to that which can be confirmed - the laws governing phenomena

Question 2

What is positivism?

Who criticised this approach?

Answer 2

Positivism is the view that the only way to obtain knowledge of the world is by means of sense perception and introspection and the method of the empirical sciences.

CRITICISM
Karl Popper (1934/1959)

‘If my hypothesis is that all swans are white, and all of the swans I have seen are white, my hypothesis is confirmed.
Nonetheless, my hypothesis may be wrong.
There may be black swans that I have not seen.’

Data cannot prove that a hypothesis is true.

He suggested that scientists should try to falsify their hypotheses rather than to confirm them.

Question 3

What are the 3 ways of knowing?

Answer 3

AUTHORITY
- We accept the validity of information from a source that we judge to be an expert.

• Relying on the authority of others to establish our beliefs overlooks the fact that authorities can be wrong.
• Critical thinkers have the willingness to question authority.

REASON
- Arrive at conclusions by using logic or reason.

• The value of the logically drawn conclusion depends on the truth of the premises.
• It takes more than logic to determine whether the premises have merit.

EMPIRICISM
- The process of learning things through direct observation or experience, and reflection on those experiences.

• Our experiences are limited and our interpretations of them can be influenced by a number of what social psychologists refer to as “social cognition biases”.

(more in-depth descriptions on relevant google doc below slides)

Question 4

What is confirmation bias, and who came up with it?

Answer 4

Confirmation bias (Watson & Johnson-Laird, 1972):

A tendency to seek and pay special attention to information that supports one’s beliefs, while ignoring information that contradicts a belief.

• Strongly held prejudices include both belief perseverance and confirmation bias.

Question 5

What is belief perseverance and who came up with it?

Answer 5

Belief perseverance (Lepper, Ross & Lau, 1986):

A tendency to hold on doggedly to a belief, even if in the face of evidence that would convince most people that the belief is false.

• Strongly held prejudices include both belief perseverance and confirmation bias.

Question 6

What is the availability heuristic and who came up with it?

Answer 6

Availability heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1973):

Occurs when we experience unusual or very memorable events and then overestimate how often such events typically occur.

Question 7

What is the ‘first instinct’ fallacy and who came up with it?

Describe the experiment that supports this.

Answer 7

The “first instinct” fallacy (Kruger, Wirtz and Miller, 2005):

Asked students (n= 1,561) to estimate the % of the various outcomes of answer changing on a multiple choice test.

RESULTS:
Changed from wrong to right -> 33%
Changed from right to wrong -> 42%
Changed from wrong to wrong -> 24%

ACTUAL %:
Changed from wrong to right - > 51%
Changed from right to wrong -> 25%
Changed from wrong to wrong -> 23%

Shows a huge difference - students were holding onto a strong belief (“don’t change answers - go with your first instinct!”).
A belief based solely on direct experience, yet the belief was completely false.

Question 8

How did Charles Pierce describe what being objective was?

Answer 8

Charles Pierce -

To be objective means to avoid completely any human bias or preconception.

Question 9

Define determinism.

Answer 9

Determinism -

Events, including psychological ones, have causes.

Question 10

Define discoverability.

Answer 10

Discoverability -

By using agreed-upon scientific methods, these cause can be discovered with some degree of confidence.

Question 11

Define statistical determinism.

Answer 11

Statistical determinism -

Argues that events can be predicted, but only with a probability greater than chance.

Question 12

What are empirical questions?

Answer 12

Empirical questions -

Those that can be answered through the systematic observations and techniques that characterise scientific methodology. Questions that are precise enough to allow specific predictions to be made.

Question 13

Define hypothesis.

Answer 13

Hypothesis -

A prediction about the study’s outcome.

Question 14

Describe a classic study that falsify phrenologists.

Answer 14

CLASSIC STUDY - Flourens
Falsifying Phrenology

Flourens did not wait for brain damaged patients, he performed ablations (removed specific sections of the brain)

To phrenologists, the cerebellum controlled sexual behaviour and was the center of the faculty of “amativeness”.

Flourens removed portions of the cerebellum.

• He proved that it was the centre of motor coordination.
  Pigeons deprived of the organ were unable to coordinate wing movements in order to fly
• Dogs were unable to walk properly, observed staggering, falling down and bumping into objects they could normally avoid.

Sexual motivation was unaffected.

He proved phrenologists wrong.