INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Damon Burton & Andy Gillham University of Idaho

What are the 2 sport psychologies?

What does Martens think about orthodox science? Why?

What is objectivity? Why does Kuhn and Polyani think this doctrine is false?

How does science evolve?

What is the difference between the leap and the creep approaches?

What is reductionism? Is it a good paradigm?

What is DK Theory?

What is the difference between idiographic and nomothetic methods?

What other types of experiential knowledge could be used more in sport psychology?

What are the roles of basic” and “applied” research? What balance should there be between these 2 types of research?

DK THEORY Damn Konfident Scientific Method (Using the Heuristic Paradigm) Systematic Observation Single Case Study Shared (Public) Experience Introspection Intuition Don’t Know

KINESIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY Kinesiology – study of human movement Kinesiological psychology -- psychological study and ramifications of human movement Motor Learning Motor Development Kinesiological Psychology Social Psych of Physical Activity Sport Psychology

KINESIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY Motor Learning -- study of motor behavior from a learning psychology perspective. Motor Development -- study of motor behavior from a developmental psychology perspective. Social Psychology of Physical Activity -- study of how social psychological variables influence motor behavior and new movement patterns and visa versa. Sport Psychology -- study of human motor behavior in a sport context.

FUNDAMENTAL AXIOMS OF SCIENCE reality of space reality of time reality of matter quantifiability of matter belief that space is real belief that time is real belief that matter is real what exists, exists in some amount what exists, and even relationships between existing phenomena, are amenable to observation and measurement

FUNDAMENTAL AXIOMS OF SCIENCE consistency in the universe The universe is organized in an orderly manner There is regularity, constancy, consistency, and uniformity in the operation of the universe

FUNDAMENTAL AXIOMS OF SCIENCE Intelligibility of the Universe Determinism Empiricism Science holds that we can observe, know, and understand the universe in which we live. All events are determined or caused. Knowing is the result of first-hand, direct original observation. Information derived from Lachman (1960)

POLANYI’S TRIAD OF KNOWLEDGE Focal Target (Problem) Subsidiary Awareness (Clues) Person (Links the 2 Together)

OPERATING CONCEPTIONS OF SCIENCE Scientists must remain impersonal, impartial, and detached in making observations and in interpreting data; the scientists must maintain a disinterested attitude Science is not moral or immoral; it is amoral Concept of Objectivity Concept of Amorality

OPERATING CONCEPTIONS OF SCIENCE Concept of Caution Concept of Skepticism Scientists must maintain meticulous caution and painstaking vigilance in their methods Scientists reject the notion of absolutism; refuse to acknowledge authoritarianism or dogmatism as a source of knowledge, even the data of science are viewed as tentative

OPERATING CONCEPTIONS OF SCIENCE Science strives to build and test theory Science should be conservative in stating the implications of its data; the data should be interpreted in the simplest, most succinct form possible Concept of Theory Construction and Utilization Concept of Parsimony

OPERATING CONCEPTIONS OF SCIENCE Science strives to reduce specific data to succinct statements of consistency Reductionism demands that generalizations be specified in terms of precise mathematical formulae Concept of Reductionism

HARLAN CLEVELAND (1985) Cleveland provides a complementary way of looking at knowledge. He says there are four key terms related to knowledge: data, information, knowledge, and wisdom. Data are undigested observations, unvarnished facts. Information is organized data. Knowledge is organized information, internalized by me, integrated with everything else I know from experience or study or intuition, and therefore useful in guiding my life. Wisdom

HARLAN CLEVELAND (1985) “Wisdom,” Cleveland states, “is integrated knowledge, information made super useful by theory, which relates bits and fields of knowledge to each other, which in turn enables me to use the knowledge to do something” (p. 23). This is what Polanyi calls the “tacit dimension.”