Task 1

Question 1

What is Science?

Answer 1

A set of methods to collect information about a phenomena

Question 2

Scientific knowledge is acquired through …

Answer 2

RESEARCH
Which involves:
A. Identifying a phenomenon to study
B. Developing hypotheses
C. Conducting a study to collect data
D. Analyzing data
E. Publishing the results

Question 3

Basic research

Answer 3

Conducted to investigate issues relevant to the (dis-)confirmation of theoretical or empirical positions;
Major goal: acquiring general information about a phenomenon, with little emphasis placed on applications to real-world examples of the phenomenon

Question 4

Applied research

Answer 4

Main focus: generating information that can be applied directly to a real-world problem

Question 5

Protoscience

Answer 5

Science at the edges of current scientific understanding (also called FRINGE SCIENCE)

Often uses scientific method to test ideas; has potential to develop into true science if the phenomena being studied receive legitimate scientific support
Can also descend into pseudoscience if claims made can not be empirically verified (e.g. Astrology)

Question 6

Nonscience

Answer 6

Can be a legitimate academic discipline (e.g. philosophy) that applies systematic techniques to the acquisition of information, however a nonscience lacks empirical testing

Question 7

Pseudoscience

Answer 7

“False science”
Science and Pseudoscience share many characteristics, (both may attempt to provide support for an idea), however the methods of pseudoscience do not have the same standards required of a true science

Question 8

Scientific explanation

Answer 8

An explanation based on the application of accepted scientific methods rather than on common sense or faith

Question 9

Empirical

Answer 9

Based on objective and systematic observation; the observable events and conditions referred to in the explanation must be capable of verification by others

Question 10

Rational

Answer 10

Explanations must follow the rules of logic and are consistent with known facts

Question 11

Testable

Answer 11

Explanations should be either verifiable through direct observation or lead to specific predictions

Question 12

Parsimonious

Answer 12

When there is more than one explanation, scientists prefer the parsimonious explanation, the one that explains behavior with the fewest number of assumptions

Question 13

General

Answer 13

Explanations that have broad explanatory power are preferred to those that work only within a limited set of circumstances

Question 14

Tentative

Answer 14

It is acknowledged that there is a possibility that the explanation is faulty

Question 15

Rigorously evaluated

Answer 15

Explanation is constantly evaluated for consistency with the evidence and with known principles, for parsimony and for generality

Question 16

Commonsense explanation

Answer 16

Based on our own sense of what is true about the world around us

Question 17

Belief-based explanation

Answer 17

Arise from individuals or groups who have accepted faith as the truth of their beliefs.

Question 18

Method of Authority

Answer 18

Using expert sources (books or people) to obtain information

Useful for familiarizing you with the problem, the available evidence and the proposed explanations

Question 19

Self-evident truths

Answer 19

Statements that must be true because to assume otherwise would contradict logic

Question 20

Rational method

Answer 20

Based on deductive logic (coming to conclusions from assumptions)

Question 21

The scientific method (steps)

Answer 21

1. Observing a phenomenon
2. Formulating tentative explanations or statements of cause and effect (Hypothesis)
3. Further observing and / or experimenting to rule out alternative explanations
4. Refining and retesting explanations

Question 22

Steps of the research process in psychology

Answer 22

1. Developing a research idea and hypothesis
2. Choosing a research design
3. Choosing subjects
4. Deciding on what to observe and appropriate measures
5. Conducting the study
6. Analyzing the results
7. Reporting the results
8. Starting the whole process over again

Question 23

Theory

Answer 23

a plausible or scientifically acceptable, well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world; an organized system of accepted knowledge that applies in a variety of circumstances to explain a specific set of phenomena and predict the characteristics of as yet unobserved phenomena.

Question 24

Well substantiated

Answer 24

When a theory successfully accounts for for known phenomena and has correctly predicted the outcomes of new observations

Question 25

Heuristic value

Answer 25

The ability of a theory to provide ideas for new research

Question 26

Characteristics of a good theory

Answer 26

1. Ability to account for data
2. Explanatory relevance
3. Testability
4. Prediction of novel events
5. Parsimony

Question 27

Ockham’s Razor

Answer 27

A problem should be stated in the simplest possible terms and explained with the fewest postulates possible
(Also known as law of parsimony)