Studying Behaviour Scientifically - Scientific Skepticism Flashcards
What is scientific skepticism?
Is the process of requiring compelling, supporting evidence before accepting claims about the world
Extravagant Claims
The more a claim contradicts established knowledge, the more persuasive the evidence needs to be before we assimilate the claim
Overtoun Bridge
Claim that dogs would commit suicide off of this bridge
Turns out it was dogs with large snouts that would
This was because there was a smelly creature that lived in the forest below
Falsifiablity
Is the concept that “if a statement were in fact wrong, there would be a way to demonstrate is incorrectness”.
Falsifiability is often referred to as TESTABILITY
The Scientific Method
Science is a field of inquiry that utilizes the scientific method as its primary means of furthering knowledge
Scientific method is a systematic means of TESTING CLAIMS by identifying supporting and contradictory evidence
The Hypothetic-Deductive Model
Is the main framework for inquiry within the scientific method
STEPS
- Form a hypothesis
- Deduce predictions from hypothesis
- Test predictions
- Evaluate hypothesis in light of tests
The Hypothetic-Deductive Model - Form a Hypothesis
Hypothesis is simply a statement of belief about the world that has not yet been proven or disproven
The Hypothetic-Deductive Model - Deduce predictions from hypothesis
Beliefs about the world will typically entail predictions about what would occur if you produced some sort of behaviour
Occams Razor
If two beliefs describe the same phenomenon equally well, we should generally prefer to work with the one that makes the fewest assumptions.
Operational Definition
An operational definition is a definition of a concept in terms of a concrete condition that can be measured.
