Science and history of science - Unit 1

Question 1

Zeitgeist

Answer 1

The general mood or quality of a particular period of history. Shown by the beliefs common at the time-
the spirit of time

Question 2

science

Answer 2

Is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence

Question 3

empirical observatios

Answer 3

direct observations of nature

Question 4

two components of science

Answer 4

• empirical observation
• theory

Question 5

rationalism

Answer 5

mental operations or principles must be employed before knowledgee can be attained

Question 6

empiricism

Answer 6

empiricist maintains that the source of all knowledge is sensory observations

Question 7

scientific theories

Answer 7

science is the result of the combination of rationalism and empiricism

Question 8

functions of scientific theories

Answer 8

• organizes empirical observations
• acts a sa guid for future observations

Question 9

scientific law

Answer 9

consistently observed relationship betweem two or more classes of empirical events (when x occurs, y also tends to occur)

Question 10

correlational laws

Answer 10

describe how classes of events vary together in some systematic way

Question 11

causal laws

Answer 11

specify how events are causally related

Question 12

assumptions of determinism

Answer 12

what is being studied can be understood in terms of causal laws is called determinism

Question 13

Karl popper

Answer 13

disagreed that scientific activity starts with empirical observations

Question 14

principles of falsifiability

Answer 14

a scientific theory must be refutable

Question 15

falsiafiability test

Answer 15

for the hypothesis to be scientific, there must be a way tot est it and potentially demonstrate that its false (ex. earth is flat?)

Question 16

Thomas Kunn

Answer 16

he believed that the scientific method guaranteed objecitivity = paradigms (pattern or model, highly subjective)
+ forces scientists to investigate some part of nature in a detail and depth
- blind scientisitcs to other phenomena

Question 17

3 stages of scientific development

Answer 17

1. preparadigmatic stage [still developing different point of view exists regarding subject matter]
2. paradigmatic stage [discipline becomes a science, paradigm]
3. revolutionary stage [existing paradigm is displaced by another paradigm]

Question 18

normal science

Answer 18

when a paradigm is accepted the activities of those accpeting become matter of exploring implications

Question 19

3 ways to understand scientific activity

Answer 19

• problems
• theories
• criticism

Question 20

multiparadigmatic disciplice

Answer 20

coexisting paradigms in psychology (ex. behavioristics, cognitive, psychobiological, psychoanalytic, developmental, humanistic)

Question 21

determinism

Answer 21

The assumption that behavior is caused by heredity and environment

Question 22

biological determinism

Answer 22

emphasizes the importance of physiological conditions or genetic predispostions in the explanation of behavior

Question 23

environemntal determism

Answer 23

stresses importance of environemntal stimuli

Question 24

sociocultural determism

Answer 24

emphasizes cultural or societal rules, regulations, customs, and beliefs that govern human behavior

Question 25

indetermism

Answer 25

human behavior is determined but the causes of behavior cannot be accuretely measured

Question 26

non determism

Answer 26

reject science as a way of studying humans, individual freely chooses courses of action, he or she alone is responsible for them

Question 27

monists

Answer 27

attempt to explain everything in terms of one type of reality - materialists - idealists

Question 28

dualist

Answer 28

physical and mental events

Question 29

navists

Answer 29

emphesizes the role of inheritance in his or her explantion of the origins of various human attributes

Question 30

empiricist

Answer 30

emphasize role of experience