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Science Extension > Mod 1: The Development of Modern Science > Flashcards

Mod 1: The Development of Modern Science Flashcards

IQ: How have philosophical arguments influenced the development of modern scientific research?

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1
Q

What is epistemology?

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A
  • Branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of knowledge
  • Theory of knowledge
  • How do we know what we know?
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2
Q

What does the epistemology of science generally explore?

(3 aspects of of knowledge construction)

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A
  1. The nature of scientific knowledge – what distinguishes science from non-science?
  2. The scope of scientific knowledge – what are the limits of science? Are there things that are beyond the scope of scientific investigation?
  3. Production of scientific knowledge – how do scientists conduct their inquiries? What are the processes of science? How is data and information converted into scientific knowledge?
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3
Q

What are the qualities of scientific knowledge?

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A
  • Attempts to explain natural phenomena
  • Represented as laws and theories. explanations of natural phenomena.
  • While durable, has a tentative character (subject to revision).
  • People from all cultures contribute to science, as science is part of the social and cultural traditions of many human societies.
  • Affected by the social and historical setting.
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4
Q

What are the limitations of scientific knowledge?

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A
  • Does not make moral judgments (for example - should euthanasia be permitted?)
  • Does not make aesthetic judgments (for example - is Mozart’s music more beautiful than Bach’s?)
  • Does not prescribe how to use scientific knowledge (for example - should genetic engineering be used to develop disease-resistant crops?).
  • Does not explore supernatural and paranormal phenomena (for example, religious ideas and ghosts.)
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5
Q

How is scientific knowledge generated?

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A
  • Relies on observations, experimental evidence, rational arguments and skepticism.
  • Advances through slow, incremental steps (evolutionary progression), as well as through giant leaps of understanding (paradigm shifts)
  • Observations are theory dependent, which influences how scientists obtain and interpret evidence (see Falsifiability).
  • There is no universal step-by-step scientific method. Scientific knowledge is acquired through a variety of different methods. Two main lines of reasoning that influence modern science are inductive (generalisations) and deductive processes (deriving).
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6
Q

What is a scientific theory?

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

Theories are concise, coherent, systematic, predictive, and broadly applicable, often integrating and generalizing many hypotheses

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7
Q

What is a scientific hypothesis?

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

A hypothesis predicts the nature and direction of the relationship between two or more variables.
Hypotheses are based on prior experience, scientific background knowledge, preliminary observations, and logic

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8
Q

What is a scientific model?

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

Physical, mathematical or computer simulation representations of scientific ideas.
Models are both explanatory and predictive.

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9
Q

What is a scientific law?

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

Laws refer to a generalization about data and is a compact way of describing what we’d expect to happen in a particular situation.
Often represented as mathematical equations.

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10
Q

List some alternate ways of knowing

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A
  1. Emotion
  2. Faith/belief
  3. Imagination
  4. Intuition
  5. Language
  6. Memory
  7. Reason
  8. Sense Perception
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11
Q

Questions about emotions being a form of knowing.

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

Can/should we control our emotions? Are emotions the enemy of, or necessary for, good reasoning?

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12
Q

Questions about faith/belief being a form of knowing

Syllabus: explore epistemology and** alternative ways of knowing**, for example the development of navigation

A

Can theistic beliefs be considered knowledge because they are produced by a special cognitive faculty or “divine sense”? Does faith meet a psychological need?

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13
Q

Questions about imagination being a form of knowing.

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

What is the role of imagination in producing knowledge about a real world? Can imagination reveal truths that reality hides?

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14
Q

Questions about intuition being a form of knowing

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

Are there certain things that you have to know before being able to learn anything at all? Should you trust your intuition?

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15
Q

Questions about language being a form of knowing

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

How does language shape knowledge? Is the importance of language cultural?

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16
Q

Questions about memory being a form of knowing

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

Can we know things which are beyond our personal present experience? Can our beliefs contaminate our memory?

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17
Q

Questions about reason being a form of knowedge

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

What is the difference between reason and logic? How reliable is inductive reasoning?

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18
Q

Questions about sense perception being a form of knowledge

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing, for example the development of navigation

A

How can we know if our senses are reliable? What is the role of expectation or theory in sense perception?

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19
Q

How was sense perception used in early navigation?

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing for example the development of navigation

A

Early travellers relied on their senses (sense perception) to observe landforms, wind speed and direction, tides and measures of distance to navigate (observational knowledge). Celestial navigation using the positions of stars, constellations and the sun also served as navigational aids. In those times, travel was restricted to short distances, or to coastal areas.

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20
Q

How did memory, language and reasoning contribute to the development of navigation?

Development of navigation part 1.

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing for example the development of navigation

A

With advances in measuring techniques (and geometry), accurate maps were created. Such calculations indicated that the Earth was a sphere. The altitude of the North Star provided latitudinal information. These are examples of knowledge constructed through memory, language (communication through oral stories, written accounts and maps) and reasoning.

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21
Q

How did reasoning, imagination, intuition and language further contribute to the development of navigation.

Development of navigation part 2.

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing for example the development of navigation

A

The compass was an important tool to orientate travellers to the magnetic north (works at night as well). Other instruments, such as the astrolabe, Sextant, chronometer and Chip Log were designed to identify locations in 3-dimensional space. The information from these instruments was used to produce highly refined maps.

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22
Q

Memory and the development of navigation in polynesian communities.

Syllabus: explore epistemology and alternative ways of knowing for example the development of navigation

A

Polynesians used natural navigation aids such as the stars, ocean currents, and wind patterns. They used non-physical devices such as songs and stories for memorizing the properties of stars, islands, and navigational routes

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23
Q

What is empiricism?

Syllabus: describe the influence of empiricism on scientific inquiry

A

The theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses.

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24
Q

What are the implications of empiricism for science?

Syllabus: describe the influence of empiricism on scientific inquiry

A
  • Conclusions are empirically based on evidence of the senses (including instruments)
  • Evidence, obtained from observations and experiments
  • All hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations of the natural world.

Empiricism was crucial for separation of natural philosophy from the other branches of philosophy. It came to define modern science. Most scientific knowledge is empirical. Empiricism demands that all scientific information be based on evidence and tested through observations or experimentation.

25
Q

What is induction?

Syllabus: compare induction and deduction with reference to scientific inquiry

A

Induction is the process of generalisation. After collecting information about specific events, generalisations are drawn. They describe the broad applications of the conclusions. In science, inductive reasoning allows explanations of related phenomena to be constructed.

Specific –> general, observation before theory.

26
Q

What is deduction?

Syllabus: compare induction and deduction with reference to scientific inquiry

A

Deduction is the process of deriving specific knowledge from broad ideas. Therefore, deductive reasoning is often used to make predictions

General –> specific, theory before observation

27
Q

(2 examples)

Inductive reasoning examples

Syllabus: compare induction and deduction with reference to scientific inquiry

A

Evolution:
1. Darwin makes several discrete observations about how individuals in a population are adapted to their environments (for example the beaks of different populations of finches show different shapes).
2. Based on the five observations shown on the slide, Darwin makes two inferences
3. After many such inferences, Darwin develops a new big idea, which generalises how populations change over time. This is known as the Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection.

Scientific laws
Scientific Laws describe the relationships between the variables of a system. They are usually expressed in the form of mathematical equations.

28
Q

(2 examples)

Deductive reasoning example

Syllabus: compare induction and deduction with reference to scientific inquiry

A

Discovery of the electron
Theory: All matter is made up of indivisible particles called atoms
Observation 1: Cathode rays are a stream of negatively-charged particles
Observation 2: The mass of the cathode ray particles are 1/1000 of the mass of hydrogen atoms
Conclusion: Atoms are not indivisible - they are composed of negative particles and positive particles
Modified theory: Plum pudding
Vaccines cause autism 🤡
Historically, some vaccines contained a mercury-based preservative called thimerosal.
Mercury poisoning is associated with symptoms that are similar to autism-spectrum disorder.
Conclusion: Vaccines cause autism

29
Q

What is Occam’s razor?

Syllabus: assess parsimony/Occam’s razor and its influence on the development of science

A

The proposition that where multiple conclusions are found to be equally possible, the simplest is the true conclusion.

30
Q

What is parsimony?

Syllabus: assess parsimony/Occam’s razor and its influence on the development of science

A

Adoption of the simplest assumption in the formulation of a theory or in the interpretation of data, especially in accordance with the rule of Occam’s razor.

31
Q

Explain heliocentric vs geocentric models of the solar system in terms of parsimony.

Syllabus: assess parsimony/Occam’s razor and its influence on the development of science

A

Heliocentric: Sun at centre of the solar system
Geocentric: Earth at centre of solar system.
Geocentric could not explain the retrograde motion of Venus and Mercury so Ptolemy introduced the idea of epicycles (“circles within circles”) which severly complicated everything and there were still errors so it wasnt the most parsimonisest (?? is that a word) explanation.

32
Q

Do scientists exclusively use Occam’s razor when accepting scientific theories? Explain why/why not.

Syllabus: assess parsimony/Occam’s razor and its influence on the development of science

A

No.
Other considerations such as:
* Are some ideas more testable than others?
* Are some ideas better at producing broader explanations?
* Are some ideas a better fit with existing ideas?
* Are some ideas better at generating new areas for investigation?

33
Q

What is falsifiability?

Syllabus: analyse the importance of falsifiability in scientific research

A

The idea that a theory, hypothesis or statement must be able to be tested and shown to be incorrect, if it is to be considered scientific.

34
Q

Is falsifiability derived from inductive or deductive reasoning?

Syllabus: analyse the importance of falsifiability in scientific research

A

Deductive

35
Q

Scientific ideas vs. pseudo science

Syllabus: analyse the importance of falsifiability in scientific research

A

Scientific ideas: hypotheses, and theories that have the potential to be disproved
Pseudo-Science: hypotheses and theories that cannot be disproved

36
Q

What is the scientific hypothesis? And what does it need to be?

Syllabus: analyse the importance of falsifiability in scientific research

A

Expected result
1. testable (in experiments or verifiable through observations).
2. predictive (for example - they predict particular outcomes if some conditions are met).
3. explanatory (for example - they are based on sound scientific concepts).
4. It may not be falsifiable! - This might be a problem for your scientific analysis - are your experiments scientific if they are testing an unfalsifiable hypothesis

37
Q

Explain the purpose of a null hypothesis.

Syllabus: analyse the importance of falsifiability in scientific research

A

This is created from your H1/HA to be specifically falsifiable
The null hypothesis is the hypothesis which you can envisage data which could show to be false.
The null hypothesis is always assumed to be true and subjected to statistical tests (p=0.05 indicates low probability of the null hypothesis being true) unless falsified by experiment
If your data falsifies your null hypothesis, then it increases the likelihood that your original hypothesis is correct!

38
Q

What is a one-tailed hypothesis?

Syllabus: analyse the importance of falsifiability in scientific research

A

Refers to a change in a specific direction

39
Q

What is a two-tailed hypothesis?

Syllabus: analyse the importance of falsifiability in scientific research

A

Refers to a change in either direction.

40
Q

What is confirmation bias?

Syllabus: evaluate the significance of confirmation bias, including theory-dependence of observation

A

The tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions

41
Q

What are theory-dependent observations?

Syllabus: evaluate the significance of confirmation bias, including theory-dependence of observation

A

How previous experiences, beliefs and assumptions affect the inferences drawn from observations

42
Q

What is an example of how theory dependent occurs?

Syllabus: evaluate the significance of confirmation bias, including theory-dependence of observation

A

Optical illusions provide clues about how we ‘interpret’ what we observe.

43
Q

What is a positive impact of theory dependent observations?

Syllabus: evaluate the significance of confirmation bias, including theory-dependence of observation

A

Provide an “expert eye”
e.g. a radiologist diagnosing disease conditions or injuries from an X-ray

44
Q

What is a negative impact of theory dependent observations?

Syllabus: evaluate the significance of confirmation bias, including theory-dependence of observation

A

Interfere with objective observations

45
Q

4 examples of times confirmation bias can occur

Syllabus: evaluate the significance of confirmation bias, including theory-dependence of observation

A
  1. When experiments are poorly designed or when data is not critically-analysed
  2. When experiments are designed to prove not disprove
  3. When the research is not confirmatory
  4. Correlation interpreted as causation
46
Q

(Mainly used in medicine)

Example of how confirmation bias can be reduced

Syllabus: evaluate the significance of confirmation bias, including theory-dependence of observation

A

Blind, double blind, triple blind test

47
Q

What are the 3 stages of paradigm shifts?

Syllabus: select one example from the following list to analyse the paradigm shift and how evidence is used to support new theories to explain phenomena and their consequences: Einstein and general relativity

A
  1. Normal Science – widely accepted theories. Newtownian Physics
  2. Crisis – observations that cannot be explained by current theories
  3. Revolution– paradigm shift. Einstein and general relativity

NOTE: the gravitational waves are NOT what caused the paradigm shift, this happened earlier (published 1916 and accepted very quickly).

48
Q

What is a paradigm?

Syllabus: select one example from the following list to analyse the paradigm shift and how evidence is used to support new theories to explain phenomena and their consequences: Einstein and general relativity

A

A pattern/framework of concepts (a theory or group of theories) which have other explanations (theories) fitting inside

49
Q

What is a paradigm shift?

Syllabus: select one example from the following list to analyse the paradigm shift and how evidence is used to support new theories to explain phenomena and their consequences: Einstein and general relativity

A

Sometimes it is hard to explain a result within a present paradigm, scientists usually either distrust the results or try to modify the paradigm to fit with the new data.

50
Q

Effects of new data on paradigm shifts.

Syllabus: select one example from the following list to analyse the paradigm shift and how evidence is used to support new theories to explain phenomena and their consequences: Einstein and general relativity

A
  1. New data may either support or refute an existing idea.
  2. In the case of gravitational waves, it was increasing evidence for the existing theory.
  3. If new data does not match an existing paradigm, it may lead to a paradigm shift (precession of mercury led to general relativity).

NOTE: the gravitational waves are NOT what caused the paradigm shift, this happened earlier (published 1916 and accepted very quickly).

51
Q

What was the old theory for Einstien and general relativity?

Syllabus: select one example from the following list to analyse the paradigm shift and how evidence is used to support new theories to explain phenomena and their consequences: Einstein and general relativity

A

Newtonian Physics (classical physics)
Classical mechanics describes the motion of macroscopic (large) objects, including those that are at rest. This movement is described in terms of the masses of objects, and the forces acting on it. Parameters such as distance, speed, time, space characterise the properties of a moving body. They were very successful because if we know some initial conditions of a moving body, then we can predict certain future outcomes, based on the principles of classical mechanics. For example, if the speed of a moving object is known, we can calculate the time taken for the object to travel a certain distance. Classical mechanics applied equally to everything, everyone and everywhere: for example, Newton’s 2nd Law of motion (F = ma) equally applicable on the moon as it is on the Earth. Many aspects of modern society are based on the principles of classical mechanics, for example, calculating travel times.

NOTE: the gravitational waves are NOT what caused the paradigm shift, this happened earlier (published 1916 and accepted very quickly).

52
Q

What was the crisis that led to the paradigm shift?

Syllabus: select one example from the following list to analyse the paradigm shift and how evidence is used to support new theories to explain phenomena and their consequences: Einstein and general relativity

A

Electromagnetic waves do not behave as predicted by Newtonian physics
Space and time are not ‘absolutes’.

NOTE: the gravitational waves are NOT what caused the paradigm shift, this happened earlier (published 1916 and accepted very quickly).

53
Q

What was the paradigm shift/what was the new theory due to the crisis?

Syllabus: select one example from the following list to analyse the paradigm shift and how evidence is used to support new theories to explain phenomena and their consequences: Einstein and general relativity

A

General relativity.
It describes how massive objects, like planets and stars, influence the fabric of space and time.

54
Q

Was Einstein and general relativity an example of theory modification or theory replacement?

Syllabus: select one example from the following list to analyse the paradigm shift and how evidence is used to support new theories to explain phenomena and their consequences: Einstein and general relativity

A

Theory modification

55
Q

What is cultural observational knowledge

Syllabus: use historical examples to evaluate the contribution of cultural observational knowledge and its relationship to science

A
  • All cultures have developed systems for constructing knowledge about the natural world
  • Also referred to as traditional knowledge
  • Knowledge construction has a strong cultural influence, including scientific knowledge
  • Commonality: Observations → Inferences
  • Little formalised experimental system
  • Cultural knowledge has added to scientific knowledge
56
Q

Example of observational knowledge and science in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture

Syllabus: evaluate the contribution of cultural observational knowledge and its relationship to science, post – 49000 BCE, exemplified by Aboriginal cultures

A

The process of preparing cycad fruit through removing toxins - soluble toxins in an open stream to remove cycasin. Aboriginal people tested the effectiveness of the treatment for making bread by feeding to the elders and varying method accordingly.

57
Q

Hint: chem

Example of observational knowledge in ancient Greek cultures

Syllabus: evaluate the contribution of cultural observational knowledge and its relationship to science, including:
pre – 1500 CE, exemplified by Greek and Egyptian cultures and those of the Asia region

A
  1. Aristotle’s contribution to the field of logic –he founded deductive reasoning
  2. Archimedes contributed numerous simple machines such as the Archimedes spir
58
Q

Example of observational knowledge in ancient Egyptian cultures

Syllabus: evaluate the contribution of cultural observational knowledge and its relationship to science, including:
pre – 1500 CE, exemplified by Greek and Egyptian cultures and those of the Asia region

A
  1. The development of a ship sale using principles of aerodynamics and later net force to determine a ship could be sailed with side wind
  2. The use of papyrus to record scientific observations and thoughts
59
Q

Example of observational knowledge in ancient Asian cultures

Syllabus: evaluate the contribution of cultural observational knowledge and its relationship to science, including:
pre – 1500 CE, exemplified by Greek and Egyptian cultures and those of the Asia region

A
  1. Han Dynasty rice paddy farms
  2. Han dynasty seismograph

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