The Need for Scientific Methodology The Characteristics of Modern Science The Objectives of Psychological Science The Tools of Psychological Science Scientific Explanation in Psychological Science The Organization of the Text

Psychology Psychology is the science of behavior. Psychologists take a scientific approach to studying behavior. We use the scientific method when we conduct psychological research.

How are science, methodology, and data interrelated? Science connotes content (what we know) and process (the systematic way knowledge was obtained). It is the process that we will be learning about this semester. Methodology consists of the scientific techniques we use to collect and evaluate data. There are different processes, techniques, or methodologies that can be used to gain knowledge. Data are the facts and figures we gather, or collect, using scientific methods. The Need for Scientific Methodology

What is commonsense psychology? Heider called nonscientific data gathering commonsense psychology. This approach uses nonscientific sources (opinions of friends, family, attractive people) of data and nonscientific inference. We are more likely to be persuaded to do something by an attractive person than by an unattractive person, but we are not aware that their physical beauty swayed us. The Need for Scientific Methodology

Commonsense psychology Opposites attract. Getting drunk again will not help us remember things we did when we were drunk yesterday. Rewarding a child to play the piano will create a life long appreciation of playing. The full moon causes people to act strangely. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Explain nonscientific inference. Nonscientific inference is the nonscientific use of information to explain or predict behavior. The gambler’s fallacy, overuse of trait explanations, stereotyping, and overconfidence bias illustrate this problem. The Need for Scientific Methodology

What is the gambler’s fallacy? In the gambler’s fallacy, people misuse data to estimate the probability of an event, like when a slot machine will pay off. The Need for Scientific Methodology

Why is the overuse of trait explanations a problem? When we overuse trait explanations to explain others' behavior, we often make unwarranted dispositional attributions and underuse situational information. This bias can reduce the accuracy of our explanations and predictions. We think someone is a criminal because they wear a hoodie. The Need for Scientific Methodology

How can stereotyping mislead us? In stereotyping, we falsely assume that specific behaviors cluster together in certain kinds of people. For example, since Imei is a Chinese-American student, she must study 10 hours a day and excel at math. In reality, she failed calculus. Stereotypes ignore individual differences. The Need for Scientific Methodology

Why is overconfidence bias a problem? In overconfidence bias, we feel more confident about our conclusions than is warranted by available data. For instance, people think they are smarter and have better information than they actually do. This form of nonscientific inference can result in erroneous conclusions when we don’t recognize the limitations of supporting data. We may believe we are better drivers than we actually are and therefore can handle the effects of marijuana while driving. The Need for Scientific Methodology

Why is the scientific mentality important? Alfred North Whitehead’s scientific mentality assumes that behavior follows a natural order and can be predicted. This assumption is essential to science. There is no point to using the scientific method to gather and analyze data if there is no implicit order. The Characteristics of Modern Science

What makes data empirical? Data are empirical when observed or experienced. The Characteristics of Modern Science

The Characteristics of Modern Science What is a law? A law consists of statements created from exhaustive empirical support. The law can be applied in all situations. Laws, like the Laws of Thermodynamics, are useful in the physical sciences. However, in psychology, laws are less useful as we cannot predict all behavior all the time. The Characteristics of Modern Science

The Characteristics of Modern Science What is a theory? A theory is scientific explanation of an observed phenomenon and a way we attempt to explain behavior. It is a well documented, well supported, well substantiated explanation for our observations. It is never 100% proven, but it is close. Theories integrate diverse data, explain behavior, and predict new instances of behavior. The Characteristics of Modern Science

Example of a theory Classical conditioning Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development Freud’s theory of psychosexual development

What is good thinking and why is it important? Good thinking is critical to the scientific method. We engage in good thinking when data collection and interpretation are systematic, objective, and rational. Must be open to new ideas even if they contradict previous ones. Must follow the data, even if you don’t like where it is going. The Characteristics of Modern Science

The Characteristics of Modern Science What is parsimony? The principle of parsimony (also called Occam’s razor) is that we prefer the simplest useful explanation. For example, Crandall (1988), with sorority data, showed that a social contagion model of bulimia was more parsimonious than competing explanations. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3193348 The Characteristics of Modern Science

How did Sir Karl Popper believe that science advances? Sir Karl Popper proposed that science advances by revising theories based on the “weight of evidence.” Science is self-correcting as scientific explanations and theories are challenged, and revised or replaced. Example is Freud’s Psychosexual theory being used to explain homosexuality has been abandoned. The Characteristics of Modern Science

What role does the principle of modus tollens play in science? The principle of modus tollens allows us to disprove statements using a single, contrary observation. We can never prove a statement because a contradictory observation might be found later. The Characteristics of Modern Science

How does replication advance science? Replication is an exact or systematic repetition of a study. We should be able to repeat our procedures and get the same results again if we have collected data objectively and if we followed good thinking. Replication increases our confidence in experimental results by adding to the weight of supporting evidence. The Characteristics of Modern Science

Objectives There are many scientific research methods that can be used to acquire knowledge. Each is a little different, but all of them contribute to one or more objective of psychological science.

What are the four main objectives of science? The four main objectives of research conducted in psychology are: description prediction explanation control The Objectives of Psychological Science

What are the four main objectives of science? Description is a systematic and unbiased account of observed characteristics of behaviors. A description of grief may include sadness, depression, crying. There are many different methods of descriptive research, some include case studies and field studies. Prediction is the capability of knowing in advance when certain behaviors would be expected to occur, because we have identified other conditions that are linked with them. We can predict that the death of a loved one is associated with grief, so therefore, we can predict that such a death will produce grief. Correlational and quasi-experimental designs are used to predict behaviors. . The Objectives of Psychological Science

What are the four main objectives of science? Explanation is knowledge of the conditions that reliably produce the occurrence of a behavior. When we have explained a behavior, we also understand what causes it to occur. Experiments explain behavior. Control is the use of scientific knowledge to influence behavior. Once a behavior has been explained through experimentation, it may be possible to use that knowledge to create change or improve behavior. If we do an experiment to study cognitive behavioral therapy and find that it helps reduce grief than other therapies, we will know to use it in the future to reduce grief levels. The Objectives of Psychological Science

How does applied research differ from basic research? Applied research addresses real-world problems like how to improve student graduation rates. Basic research tests theories and explains psychological phenomena like helping behavior. The Objectives of Psychological Science

What are the main tools of psychological science? The main tools of psychological science are: observation measurement experimentation The Tools of Psychological Science

What are the main tools of psychological science? Observation is the systematic noting and recording of events. Systematic means that the procedures are consistently applied to each observation. Only events that are observable can be studied scientifically. Observations must be objective so that there can be strong agreement among raters. The Tools of Psychological Science

What are the main tools of psychological science? Measurement assigns numbers to objects, events, or their characteristics. This is an inherent feature of quantitative research. Baron and colleagues (1985) measured anger and depression using numerical scales. http://www.wwnorton.com/college/psych/psychsci/media/rosenberg.htm The Tools of Psychological Science

What are the main tools of psychological science? Experimentation is the process we use to test the predictions we call hypotheses and establish cause-and-effect relationships. When we experiment, we systematically manipulate aspects of a setting to verify our predictions about observable behavior under certain specific conditions. Experimentation is not always possible because our predictions must be testable. The Tools of Psychological Science

What are the requirements for an experiment? Three minimum requirements must be met. We must have procedures for manipulating the setting. The predicted outcome must be observable We must be able to measure the outcome. We must be able to manipulate the independent variable and measure its effect on the dependent variable. Ethical concerns or technological limitations may prevent experimentation. We would not test whether ingesting certain chemicals during pregnancy cause birth defects. The Tools of Psychological Science

What are the requirements for an experiment? An experiment requires specifying antecedent conditions, the circumstances that come before the event of behavior that we want to explain. In psychology, antecedent conditions are called treatments because it is something we are giving the person to see if it causes an effect. Research question: Does reading Cosmopolitan cause self esteem to go lower? Treatment = ? Scientific Explanation

Experiment An experiment requires that we create at least two treatment conditions and randomly assign subjects to these conditions. This allows us to compare people in the two groups to one another. The placement of people or subjects into these two groups is controlled by random assignment. In psychology experiments, we control extraneous variables so we that we can measure “what we intend to measure.” We want the people who receive one type of treatment to be equivalent to people who receive the other treatment.

How does an experiment establish cause and effect? An experiment attempts to establish a cause- and-effect relationship between the antecedent conditions or treatment, or independent variable (IV) and subject’s behavior or the dependent variable (DV). Experiments establish a temporal relationship, because causes must precede effects. We look for differences in behavior after subjects were exposed to the treatment, not before. However, not all prior events are causes. Scientific Explanation

What are pseudosciences? A pseudoscience is any field of study that gives the appearance of being scientific, but has no true scientific basis and has not been confirmed using the scientific method. Modern pseudosciences include past life regression (using hypnosis to uncover past life), reparenting (therapist acting like the parent of the patient, while regressing them to a child-like state to give them the parenting they lacked), and rebirthing (child is forcibly restrained until enraged then when crying parent can bond with child, used for adopted children). Scientific Explanation