PSY 105 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Francis Bacon, Karl Popper, Deductive Reasoning

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 105
• Professor: William Huggon

Document Summary

All sciences share 2 characteristics similar principles about how best to understand the world, and the reliance on the scientific method to discover the world. The universe operates according to certain natural laws. Relies on processes of logical reasoning derived from philosophy. Hypothetico-deductive reasoning: process of modern science where scientists begin with an educated guess, perhaps based on previous research, about how the world works, and then set about designing small controlled observations to support or invalidate that hypothesis. Karl popper noted that psychologists needed to research the arguments that oppose the theory: hypothesis: a general statement about the way variables relate that is objectively falsifiable. Scientific approach: make observations, develop hypotheses, test hypotheses, build a theory. While physical sciences try to isolate and describe the smallest events (which are part of the whole), psychology looks at the elements of behavior/mental processes through understanding the factors which affect it.