PSC 41 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Inductive Reasoning, Operational Definition, Falsifiability
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PSC 41 Full Course Notes
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Three envelopes example: switching is better because initially you have 2/3 chance of losing, and 1/3 winning. Eliminating one losing envelope means you still have 2/3 chance of losing, so you should switch. Good theory: parsimonious (simple; occam"s razor; ex: behaviorism) and falsifiable (able to be disproven; ex: psychodynamic theory); theories don"t prove anything (children who play violent video games are more aggressive than those who don"t) In order to establish causal association, independent variable must have been. Inductive reasoning: from specific to general; probably true; deductive: from general to specific; guaranteed true if premises are true (if p, then q) Construct = conceptual variable (ex: happiness); operational definition = how to make that variable measureable/manipulated (ex: # of times person smiled in a day) Independent variables: manipulated, under experimenter"s control, participants are assigned a level or value. More on causal claims: correlation does not imply causation; to conclude causation, must isolate the effect of one variable.
