PSY 1101 - Chapter 02: Methods (Pt. 1)

Question 1

What is Psychology?

Answer 1

The scientific study of how we think, feel and behave
- The study of both mental and behavioural processes

Question 2

What is the Scope of Psychology?

Answer 2

Is extensive
- every single aspect to human life, without exception, is an interest to psychologists

Question 3

Why do we need Science?

Answer 3

Science helps avoid:
- Intuition
- Common Sense
- Overconfidence

Question 4

What is the issue with Intuition?

Answer 4

When it comes to understanding the natural world, more often than not, is misleading
- it leads us to error

Question 5

What is Common Sense?

Answer 5

• “Common sense is not so common”
• What is common sense for one person may not be the same for another
• Does not generate new knowledge, but rather the result of having acquired knowledge

Question 6

When do we tend to be Overconfident?

Answer 6

We tend to be overconfident when it comes to how accurate we believe our knowledge is

Question 7

What does Science tell us about Confidence and Accuracy?

Answer 7

Science is clear that we are much more confident than we are accurate

Question 8

What is Rationalism?

Answer 8

• Senses are deceiving and limited in their capacity to know and we cannot use them to learn about the natural world
• We must use pure logic, pure reasoning, pure critical thinking

Question 9

What is Empiiricism?

Answer 9

In order to know, we must use our senses, experiences, and systematic observations

Question 10

What did Kant say?

Answer 10

To truly know, we need both rationalism and empiricism so we can put things together in a coherent and meaningful way

Question 11

Why is Psychology considered a science?

Answer 11

Psychology is a science because it follows the scientific method.
Any field that follows the scientific method is considered a science

Question 12

What is the Scientific Method?

Answer 12

1. Identify
2. Gather Information
3. Develop a Hypothesis
4. Design and Conduct experiment (or other type of study)
5. Analyze the data and draw conclusions
6. Restart the process

Question 13

What is a Hypothesis?

Answer 13

A hypothesis must be put to the test using rigorous science
- A tentative statement, a tentative prediction
- A relationship between two or more variables
- Hypotheses are not a fact
- They must meet strict criteria

Question 14

What is the Criteria for a Hypothesis?

Answer 14

In order to be scientific, a hypothesis must be falsifiable / refutable
- Must be put to the test
- Must be able to prove it wrong
- One single observation that is contrary to it

Question 15

Why is Replication Important?

Answer 15

We must repeat our studies with different sets of subjects.
- If we see similar results, our confident in our results will grow
- If we get different results, it is an indication we must dig deeper and understand why, and our confidence will decrease

Question 16

What is Descriptive Research?

Answer 16

Reserach that is systematically and objectively observed and described what we observe.

Question 17

What does Descriptive Research allow and not allow?

Answer 17

Allows us to answer a number of different questions: (what, when, where, how)
- does not allow us to answer the question ‘why’
- we cannot draw a conclusion to cause and effects relationships

Question 18

What is Case Study?

Answer 18

Researchers study in depth either one single person or one single small group of people
- Attempts to collect every piece of information that could be of interest to them

Question 19

What are the Advantages to Case Studies?

Answer 19

1. Keep a record of very rare cases that could be lost otherwise
2. Is the first step in researching something that we either know nothing about, or is very complex
3. Are the most in-depth type of research you can do
4. Captures a glimpse of human nature

Question 20

What are the Disadvantages to Case Studies (reason 1)?

Answer 20

1. Researcher Bias: no matter how hard researchers try to be objective, they may end up interpreting the information via their theories, expectations, beliefs

researchers may hear what they want to hear and see what they want to see

Question 21

What are the Disadvantages to Case Studies (reason 2)?

Answer 21

2. Cannot draw conclusions, generalize our findings to the rest of the population because a single person / group we are studying may be atypical, may not be representative to the typical person