Chapter 1: The Science of Psychology PDF

Chapter 1: The Science of Psychology Greek letter Psi What is a science? What is a science? A field that has a unique approach to studying the natural world. Features of a science: 1.Systematic empiricism: What is a science? 2. Empirical Questions: Proposing a problem to be inves...

Chapter 1: The Science of Psychology Greek letter Psi What is a science? What is a science? A field that has a unique approach to studying the natural world. Features of a science: 1.Systematic empiricism: What is a science? 2. Empirical Questions: Proposing a problem to be investigated about an actual occurrence in the world Examples of empirical questions: Examples of non-empirical questions:  What is a science? 3. Dissemination of knowledge (create public knowledge): -placing research question into context of what is already known from previous research -describe method -present results -derive conclusions Open access sources What is a science? Reasons to disseminate: 1. Enables collaboration 2. Allows science to be self-correcting e.g. vaccines and autism Is Psychology a Science? Psychology: the scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes  Science versus Pseudoscience Pseudo-: Quasi-: Pseudoscience: activities and beliefs that claim to be scientific, but are not; lacks one or more of the 3 features of a science Example: Homeopathy. “Like cures like”  National Post, February 7, 2018. He said it’s unethical for an academic institution to teach students a program based on scientifically implausible principles and worries the public could ultimately be harmed by leading people to assume homeopathy is a valid form of medicine. “This will likely result in patients delaying or even failing to seek effective health care for their ailments,” Giorshev wrote. Science versus Pseudoscience Example: Phrenology Science versus Pseudoscience A science must be falsifiable: allow itself to be disproven A scientific statement is one that could possibly be proven wrong A theory which is not refutable by any conceivable event is non-scientific. Irrefutability is not a virtue of a theory (as people often think) but a vice. K. Popper, Conjectures and Refutations In most cases a falsifiable statement just needs one observation to disprove it. A Statement that is not falsifiable usually needs some sort of exhaustive search of all possibilities to disprove it. Science versus Pseudoscience Falsifiable or non-falsifiable? In-class activity Science versus Pseudoscience The problem of generalizability and falsifiability? Are we over-relying on the falsifiability criterion? Raven’s Paradox (Carl Hempel): Inductive statement: “All ravens are black” Logically equivalent contraposition: “All non- black things are non-ravens” Problem?: Rare albino raven sighting on Vancouver Isla Raven’s Paradox Cont’d Consider the observation: “The yellow banana is not black, and it is not a raven.” Is this evidence in favour of initial inductive hypothesis? When a proposition X provides evidence in favour of proposition Y, then X also provides evidence in favour of any proposition that is logically equivalent to Y. Scientific Research in Psychology Example of research originating outside an established knowledge base: CCSVI and MS See phase I/II of pan- Canadian CCSVI clinical trial Cycle of the research process  Purposes of scientific research in Psychology sic Research: conducted to expand our knowledge of human behavi h no immediate objective of solving a practical problem amples: plied Research: conducted to address some practical problem amples: However, basic research may have practical implications: xamples Science and Common Sense Is the scientific process necessary? Can we rely on common sense or intuition (i.e. folk psychology)? Our intuitive thinking can often be wrong because: 1. Reliance on heuristics: What is a heuristic? Examples of heuristics: Science and Common Sense (cont’d) Our intuitive thinking can often be wrong because (cont’d): 2. Confirmation bias: 3. Tendency to hold on to incorrect belief. Why? Science and Common Sense Cultivating an attitude of skepticism: pausing to consider alternatives and to search for empirical evidence, especially where this enough at stake Develop a tolerance for uncertainty: