Semester 1 Flashcards
Who first started trying to study human experience in ways similar to psychology?
Greek philosophers
In what way did Cambridge reject the emersion of psychological science in 1892?
They refused to set up a psychophysics lab, saying that it was against religion
What is Parsimony?
A key concept of psychology, it is the principle that we should not prefer simplicity over complexity and therefore explanations and causes should not include unnecessary factors.
What is Occam’s Razor
- Suggests we should test things with as few assumptions about different factors made as possible
- “Entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity”
How does Parsimony/Occam’s Razor relate to falsifiability?
simpler theories, that rely on simple answers, and therefore abide by parsimony, are more easily falsifiable
Parsimony is not a policy for creating psychological theory, however most do draw from Parsimony? How would you refer to it then?
It is an abductive heuristic, as it is not considered an irrefutable principle of logic or scientific result
What is systematic empiricism?
it is the structured and organised methods by which we gather data in order to answer questions about concepts and constructs (that which is not directly observable)
What are some of the benefits of the scientific method?
- Can evaluate competing explanations
- Can get collect systematic and empirical data
- If many systematic studies are carried out, you can get mass empirical data
- Can be used to build psychological theories and create psychological policies and practices
Draw an overview of the research process Clues Step 1= G.A.R.Q Step 2= C.T. Step 3= S.H. Step 4= C.E. Step 5= S.U.S. Step 6= C.D. Step 7= A.D and I.T.R
1) Generate A Research Question
2) Consult Theory
3) State Hypothesis
4) Consider Ethics
5) Set Up Study
6) Collect Data
7) Analyse Data and Interpret The Results
