1. THE HOOPS YOU MUST JUMP THROUGH A VERY SHORT JUSTIFICATION OF EMPIRICAL PROTOCOLS

2. (taken from Myers, Psychology (2004): 4) STRUCTURALISM Introspection is the preferred methodology for exploring the elemental structure of the mind Associated with the early work of Wilhelm Wundt FUNCTIONALISM Focus on function-how do mental processes enable the organism to adapt Associated with the work of William James EMPIRICISM Knowledge comes from experience through the senses Science flourishes through observation and experiment Associated with the writings of David Hume

3. Why experiments? The experimental method is the truth-test of empiricism: The experiment designs a reality in which processes and/or behaviors can be observed, controlled, and measured; The protocols of an experiment (the hoops!) guarantee that the data obtained are capable of establishing a cause-effect relationship; i.e. if IV A is manipulated, the effect(s) of that manipulation can be measured in the changes in DV B

4. What Control Means The Importance of Control So that we can be sure that A B we must control other possible effects of other variables. If the setting of the experiment changes (different lighting, different temperature, different instructions), these changes may influence the changes in our DV. Hence, the absolute necessity of controlled variables.

5. The Limits of Control We cannot control everything, nor do we want to. If total control were possible, the relationship established by the experiment would hold in only one case – that in which all variables were set at exactly the same levels. In that case, no generalizations could be justified. (see David W. Martin, Doing Psychology Experiments (1991):7)

6. Why Bother? Experimental Method Creates controlled reality Makes cause-effect relationships possible to identify Empirical evidence Experimental data are observable through the senses or their technological extensions Experimental data are measurable, and thus susceptible to statistical analysis Truth The demands of experimental protocol have as their results something that we can call TRUTH If those demands are not met (if the hoops are not negotiated), TRUTH has been displaced by assertion

7. The TOK Connection Like all claims to true knowledge, empiricism rests on foundation assumptions that themselves cannot be tested What are those assumptions that lie behind the experimental method? If we reject those assumptions, must we reject the truth claims of experimental science?