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PSYC 403 > Lecture 10 > Flashcards

Lecture 10 Flashcards

1
Q

What is one key idea that Kant and Comte have in common?

A

that psychology can’t be a science!!

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2
Q

(T/F) Today, it is universally agreed upon that psychology is a science.

A

FALSE (still ppl who argue that it doesn’t count)

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3
Q

Science goes beyond ______. It creates models or laws aimed at _______.

A

observations; explaining observations

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4
Q

What is the main idea of Quine’s Holistic theory of meaning? Another name for this theory is:

A
  • main idea is that everything is connected (all aspects of a theory and associated observations)
  • also called “web of belief”
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5
Q

What was the problem with Quine’s holistic theory of meaning when it came to developing a model of earth/planets? What Was Galileo’s solution?

A
  • equally supported geocentric and heliocentric models
  • Galileo had to come up a way to test these theories!
  • would come up w potential observations that would only be consistent w one model or the other and tested them!
  • ex determining what the phases of venus would look like if the geocentric vs heliocentric model was true; then observing venus to see which is right
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6
Q

What was the example given in class of an argument against the idea that the earth spins on its axis? How did Galileo refute this?

A
  • if earth is moving, when we throw a cannonball off the mast of a ship it shouldn’t land directly below
  • BUT when we observe this it does land directly below so the earth can’t possibly be moving!
  • Galileo’s explanation was that the cannonball and mast are moving at the same speed and in same direction (Newton’s law of inertia)
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7
Q

What was the point Dr. Roy wanted to make in bringing up the problems that Galileo disproving the geocentric model caused for the church?

A
  • heliocentric model conflicted with idea that God created universe with humans at the center of it which upset the church
  • shows how interconnected everything is
  • changing one part of the web can have deep repercussions
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8
Q

In what way is the holistic theory of meaning more complex than the diagrams shown in class?

A
  • testing and instrumentation are also based on knowledge
  • so there is essentially a web within each connection in the web…
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9
Q

Dr. Roy believes that the process of science is similar to _____

A

detective work!

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10
Q

Who were the Vienna circle? What was their goal?

A
  • first group of logical positivists
  • wanted to explain how science is grounded in logic
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11
Q

According to logical positivists, science has to be grounded in ______

A

inductive reasoning (spoiler alert, this did not work)

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12
Q

The raven’s problem asks how we can prove generalizations by _________

A

observations of their instances
(it is a paradox that shows some of the issues that logical positivism runs into)

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13
Q

In the raven’s problem, what is the logical equivalent to the hypothesis that all ravens are black?

A

All non-black things are non-ravens
- in this context, seeing a white shoe had the same value in proving that all ravens are black as observing a black raven

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14
Q

Which of the following would be useful to evaluate the theory that all ravens are black? Why or why not?
- Observing a raven to see what colour it is
- Observing a black thing to see what it is
- Observing a white thing to see what it is
- Observing a shoe to see what colour it is

A
  • Observing a raven to see what colour it is: USEFUL (if it is white it will refute theory, if it is black it confirms it)
  • Observing a black thing to see what it is: NOT USEFUL (if it is black and not a raven it tells us nothing ab theory, if it is a raven this doesn’t tell us anything either)
  • Observing a white thing to see what it is: USEFUL (if it’s a raven it refutes hypothesis, if it is not a raven it confirms the hypothesis bc it is the logical equivalent)
  • Observing a shoe to see what colour it is: NO (if it is black it doesn’t refute the hypothesis, a white non-raven object has no value either)
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15
Q

According to logical positivism, the principle or definition of science is that the test of all knowledge is ______. ______ is the sole judge of scientific “truth”.

A

EMPERIMENT

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16
Q

What is Popper’s problem of demarcation?

A

how do we distinguish science from pseudo-science?

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17
Q

What is Popper’s “falsificationism”?

A

a hypothesis is scientific only if it has the potential to be refuted by a potential observation

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18
Q

How did Popper see falsification vs confirmation?

A
  • logical superiority of falsification over confirmation
  • a single observation can prove a theory wrong but no observation can prove a theory right
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19
Q

Popper believed Freud’s work (was/wasn’t) scientific. What are 2 examples given in class?

A

WASN’T scientific!!
- ex presence of a repressed memory is confirmed by patient’s capacity or incapacity to recall it (can’t be falsified)
- ex Freud’s idea that hysteria was caused by real or unconsciously wished sexual abuse can’t be falsified!

20
Q

According to Popper, the only thing you can do with theories is ______

A

to try to disprove them

21
Q

What does holism add to Popper’s model of Conjecture –> Refutation

A
  • Popper says we can either completely reject theory or modify it
  • holism: there is a decision to accept or reject the refutation (bc everything is related, we can say that what is really refuted is some other assumption associated w the test of the theory and not the theory itself)
22
Q

Popper:
“I think that we shall have to get accustomed to the idea that we must not look upon science as “a body of knowledge”, but rather as ________”

A

a system of hypotheses (that can’t be justified but with which we work as long as they stand the test; we can’t say they are true or more/less probable)

23
Q

What was the example of the holy grail given in class? What did this illustrate?

A
  • all grails glow, but only the holy grail will glow forever
  • you can only carry and look at one at a time
  • how can you know which is the right one?
  • no way of knowing until it stops glowing; even if one glows for a long time it could stop glowing at any second
24
Q

Which bridge building technique would Popper say we should use?
- one tried in the past and the bridge didn’t collapse
- one tried in the past and the bridge did collapse

A
  • one tried in the past and the bridge DIDN’T collapse
25
Q

Which bridge building technique would Popper say we should use?
- one tried in the past and the bridge didn’t collapse
- one never tried in the past

A
  • would say we can’t know which to pick
26
Q

What should we retain from Popper’s work?

A
  • this is what happens if we abandon induction (all you can do is prove theories wrong; kinda a dead end)
  • scientific theories must take risks and expose themselves to potentially disconfirming observations (BUT falsification is NOT a clear demarcation criterion)
27
Q

What example was given to show that falsification is not as clear a demarcation criterion for science as Popper thought?

A
  • evolution can be handled scientifically or non-scientifically
  • can come up with theories that could be falsifiable so it can be a science despite what Popper thought
  • eg observing a Precambrian rabbit would prove current evolution theory wrong
28
Q

What are the 4 steps of the Hypothetico-deductive method? What other theory is this similar to?

A
  • similar problems to Popper (but not directly related)
  1. Observations
  2. Hypothesis accounting for observations
  3. Deduce predictions from hypothesis (NOT FROM OBSERVATIONS)
  4. See if predictions are true (if true, go back to 3; if false, go back to 2)
29
Q

Essentially, in the hypothetico-deductive method, you deduce a ____ from your ____ that isn’t _____.

A

deduce a PREDICTION from your HYPOTHESIS that isn’t in the original observations.

30
Q

Which of the following people presented in class does NOT have a background in philosophy?
- Popper
- Khun
- Quine

A

Khun (he was a science historian)

31
Q

Some aspects of Khun’s work focussed more on (descriptive/normative) aspects of science rather than (descriptive/normative) aspects.

A

DESCRIPTIVE (how science is being conducted) rather than NORMATIVE (how it should be)

32
Q

Khun: science is characterized by a succession of ______

A

paradigms

33
Q

Khun: a paradigm is a package of _____ about the world, ______ for gathering and analyzing data, and ______ of scientific thought and action

A

package of CLAIMS about the world, METHODS for gathering and analyzing data, and HABITS of scientific thought and action

34
Q

How does Khun define a paradigm? How does he define a paradigm in the narrower sense?

A
  • package of CLAIMS about the world, METHODS for gathering and analyzing data, and HABITS of scientific thought and action
  • narrow definition: a particular experiment that is emblematic of the paradigm (eg Little Albert, Skinner box)
35
Q

What are the 4 steps in Khun’s theory of scientific progress?

A
  1. Pre-science
  2. Normal science
  3. Crisis
  4. Revolution (leads to new normal science; cycle restarts)
36
Q

Explain the pre-science step in Khun’s theory of scientific progress. What 2 metaphors were shown to explain this stage?

A
  • research discipline starts w unorganized amalgam of facts, observations and models to explain small-scale phenomena
  • researchers try to understand isolated facts
  • explanation of one fact often incompatible w explanation of another fact
  • ex metaphor of picture with only a few lines so we have some info but can’t tell what the picture is
  • ex of metaphor where a bunch of blind guys touch different parts of elephant and have diff ideas of what it is (ie rope, wall, tree trunk, spear); facts are fragmented and we don’t have a clear picture of overall image!
37
Q

Explain the normal science step in Khun’s theory of scientific progress.

A
  • once researchers settle on one paradigm
  • phase of puzzle solving; researchers work on solving small puzzles within paradigm
  • researchers are not expected to question fundamental properties of paradigm
  • modify theory as needed
  • scientific progress requires cooperation and consensus!
38
Q

According to Dr. Roy, we could say that _____ was the first real paradigm adopted by psychology.

A

behaviourism! (helped psychology enter phase of “normal science”)

39
Q

What example was given in class of “normal science” in psychology?

A
  • Skinner box which could be used to solve many different puzzles about learning and behaviour
40
Q

Explain the crisis step of Khun’s theory of scientific progress.

A
  • inevitably, results come up that can’t be accounted for by the theory (anomalies)
  • anomalies are initially dismissed, or theory slightly modified
  • eventually, paradigm is in CRISIS bc these modifications to framework make it less and less coherent
41
Q

Explain the revolution step of Khun’s theory of scientific progress.

A
  • during crisis, discipline is more open to bold, alternative conjectures that question the core of the paradigm
  • paradigm shift where degenerative research programme is replaced by a more progressive one
  • can’t really know that new paradigm is better bc they are so different that we can’t compare, have to take a leap of faith
  • this isn’t super scientific… but for Khun the “disorder” that characterized revolutions is what makes science progress
42
Q

How does Khun define degenerative vs progressive research programmes?

A
  • degenerative: paradigm that does not allow researchers to make new predictions and that requires an increasing # of ad hoc modifications
  • progressive: paradigm that allows researchers to make new, unexpected predictions that can be tested empirically
43
Q

What does Khun mean when he says a new paradigm and an old one are “incommensurable”?

A
  • can’t compare them bc they’re so different!!
  • like ppl on both sides of divide are speaking different languages
  • eg Titchener and Skinner could not talk about psychology together bc their theories are so radically different
44
Q

The main contribution of Khun’s theory is that is proposes that science should find the right balance btw _____ and ____

A

throwing off a paradigm too quickly and holding on to that paradigm for too long

45
Q

Khun’s work on scientific revolutions also brought attention to the ______ of science

A

social structure!

46
Q

What is the danger in Khun’s line of thinking?

A
  • danger of slipping into relativism
  • how can we know that science is really progressing rather than randomly moving from a paradigm to another?
  • this thinking is dangerous bc if you don’t think we’ve made progress you can use this kind of thinking to deny things like climate change
47
Q

Science has (clear/fuzzy) boundaries

A

FUZZY

PSYC 403 (10 decks)

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