Science and Pseudoscience Flashcards
what is pseudoscience
any approach to knowledge that is claimed to be scientific but does not follow the methods of science
Pseudoscience starts with _______ whereas science starts with _________
Pseudoscience starts with conclusion (can never be falsified) whereas science starts with questions or problems and produces answers from evidence
e.g., traditional stories vs. (still developing) scientific explanations
Pseudoscience vs science: novel hypothesis?
Pseudoscience: does not generate any novel predictions (cant learn anything new)
science: makes specific, novel, testable hypotheses (can discover things we dont know)
e.g., religious creation stories versus explanations in predicting geology
Pseudoscience vs science: evidence?
Pseudoscience: uses anecdotal, testimonial evidence
Science: uses systematic evidence
e.g., stories about psychic abilities or about vaccine effect versus controlled experiments testing them
pseudoscience vs science: measurements and construct validity
Pseudoscience : generates vague, ambifious terms; not much measurement and no examination of construct validity
science: tries to specify constructs, measure them and examines construct validity
e.g., Freud’s developmental stages versus developmental psych constructs
Pseudoscience envokes …….. or ……. processes vs science aims at ……….. with known laws of ……..
Pseudoscience: envokes supernatural or unknowable processes
science: aims at integration with known laws of nature ( what’s the mechanism? How would it work?)
e.g., astrological signs vs. neurotransmitters causing personality variation
pseudoscience vs science: Who can observe the result?
pseudoscience: only believers can observe the result
science: anyone can observe the results by following the same methods
e.g., skepticism :interfering” with psychic abilities
pseudoscience vs science: what is an emphasis placed on?
pseudoscience: emphasis placed on group loyalty and obedience “us versus them”
science: emphasis on independent inquiry, focus on ideas
e.g., Frued’s followers vs. evolutionary biologists
Dahlstrom et al. (1996) findings on astrology:
found that scores on personality inventory were all unrelated to zodiac signs
Carlson (1985) findings on astrology:
Study 1: participants chose the personality description of their “sign” only at chance level
Study 2: astrologers with individual’s birth information matched their personality inventory only at chance level
What is extrasensory Perception (ESP)?
the idea that people can people can perceive things other than through their senses
e.g., communicating with others by thought, seeing the future etc.
ways that ESP supporters have interpreted contradicting findings versus there actual explanation:
1) below chance performance, interpreted as PSI missing (ESP opposite direction) Explanation: random variation (sometimes above chance, sometimes below)
2) performance that declines to chance level: interpreted as “decline effect” (diminishing ESP) Explanation: regression to the mean (after lucky fluke back to chance level)
3) Non-replication of ESP findings by other researchers, interpreted as “experimenter effect” Explanation: experimenter biases and design flaws have been removed
basic findings reported by Bem (2011)
- people guesses (above 50% accuracy) whether a picture would appear on the left or right side of a screen (only worked for erotic pictures)
- remembering more words (from a presented list) if they got to practice the words AFTER the test
Attempted replication of Bem’s findings
Galak & Ritchie found effect sizes were ZERO therefore no ESP
Bem’s results did not replicate
What are potential reasons Bem was able to find sig. results but no one else was?
-experimenter bias
- reporting only statistically sig. tests
- stopping data collection when sig results appeared
