PSYC 1200 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Abusive Power And Control, Standard Deviation, Central Tendency

• School: University of Manitoba
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1200
• Professor: Jason Leboe- Mcgowan

Document Summary

The scientific approach assumes that there are laws of behaviour that can be discovered through empirical research. The goals of science of psychology include: the measurement and description of behaviour, the understanding and prediction of behaviour, the application of this knowledge to the task of controlling behaviour. A scientific investigation follows a systematic pattern that includes five steps: formulate a testable hypothesis, select the research method and design the study, collect the data, analyze the data and draw conclusions, report the findings. The two major advantages of the scientific approach are its clarity in communication and its relative intolerance of error. By integrating apparently unrelated facts into a coherent whole, theories permit psychologists to make the leap from the description of behaviour to understanding behaviour. Experimental research involves the manipulation of an independent variable to ascertain its effects on a dependent variable: done by comparing experimental and control groups, must be alike in regards to important extraneous variables.