1. EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
Alla Chavarga
Tuesdays 9:00-11:20am 2412J
or 6:10-8:30pm 2412J
LABS:
MW 6:10-9:45pm 3106J Kravitz  MW 6:10-9:45pm 4109J Ergun  TR 11:30-3:05pm 3106J Fein  TR 11:30-3:05pm 4109J Hazan

2. PSYC3450: EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY01
WRITE THIS DOWN: psychfiles.net 02
Syllabus Review
All course content including syllabus and lecture slides on website 03
Course Format
Lecture vs Lab 04
Required Textbook
OER :

3. Introduction to Scientific Thinking
CHAPTER 1
Introduction to Scientific Thinking
Lecture Outline
Why take this course?
How do we come to know things?
Science as a way of knowing
Psychological Science vs. Pseudoscience
Goals of Research

4. Learn how to do research in psychology
WHY TAKE THIS COURSE?
Process vs. Content
Learn how to do research in psychology
Informed & critical consumption of information
Responsibility as a clinician
How to get intro Grad School 101

5. HOW DO WE COME TO KNOW THINGS?
I KNOW THREE THINGS:
Empiricism
The process of learning things through direct observation or experience and reflecting on those experiences.
Authority
Correlation is not causation.
What are some problems with empiricism?
We can only know the things with which we’ve had direct experience.
Reason/Rationality
Socrates has ten fingers.
Experience / Empiricism
The sun will come up tomorrow.

6. Social Cognition Biases
Belief perseverance – the tendency to hold onto a belief, even in the face of contradictory evidence
Confirmation bias – tendency to seek out information only in support of belief, ignoring contradictory information
Availability heuristic – the tendency to overestimate the frequency with which unusual or memorable events occur

7. SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING
The scientific method is the most reliable method to develop a belief, independent of pre-existing bias and information.
THEORY
HYPOTHESIS
EXPERIMENT
CONCLUSION
All events have causes.
Statistical Determinism
Determinism
Through systematic observation, these causes can be found.
Discoverability

8. SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING01
Hypothesis
Theory – a set of statements that summarize what is known about some phenomenon and propose working explanations for those phenomena. 02 03
Falsification

9. 1 4 2 5 3 SCIENCE AS A WAY OF KNOWING
Scientific methods are characterized by objectivity. 1
Science produces tentative conclusions. 4
Scientific results need to be publicly verified and replicated. 2 5
Science asks answerable questions. 3
Scientists are data-driven.

10. PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE VS. PSEUDOSCIENCE
Pseudoscience - any field of inquiry that appears to be scientific but is based on inadequate scientific methods and typically produces false conclusions. 01
Anecdotal evidence 02
Effort justification 03
Sidesteps disproof

11. GOALS OF RESEARCH Description Prediction Explanation Application
Why do we do it? And what’s the result?