PHIL 1F91 Lecture : Behaviorism and Positivism

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champagnellama798

12 Mar 2012

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Only thing we can really observe about humans is behavior. Cannot read minds, can engage in introspection about our own minds we cannot be sure this is typical of most humans. Focus solely on observing human behavior and try to infer the causes, conditions, circumstances, etc. account for or explain their behavior and thus enable us to predict and control it as we can in natural science. Only real knowledge comes from application of the scientific method. Consists in combination of rigorously deductive mathematical logic and carefully controlled experiments or observations to test out theories. If and only if a theory, belief, opinion, conjecture or alleged factual statement is not either empirically provable/ disprovable or logically provable/ disprovable it does not constitute valid knowledge. Social science should follow methods of natural science if wish to contribute to genuine knowledge. Behaviorism, positivism are two most prominent types of scientism.

Related Questions

Could you please proofread and correct scientifically andgrammatically my work, thanks ^_^

Here itis:

The percentage error was found to be 0.186% and 6.66%respectively.

This implies that the predicted value of the freefall accelerationis fairly accurate while the predicated value of deceleration isnot as much. The encountered errors were due to severalexperimental and human limitation was that the experiment involved.The experimental limitation was due to the uncertainty of theclinometer which was Â± 0.5o.

I.e. In our calculation, a difference of 0.5o can lead to adifference of 40 - 80 cm in height as shown below:

The human limitations was due to the human eye being unable todetect the exact point on the track at which the gondoladecelerates. This is because the braking happened very quickly.This adds an uncertainty to the location of deceleration when theangels are being measured.

In addition, the human ability cannot decide on the exact period oftime at which the gondola freefalls or decelerates. This is due tothe human reaction speed being unable to exactly determine thestart time of the momentary freefall and deceleration. The timetaken for humans to react cannot be measured thus it cannot besubtracted from the findings to get an accurate timing.

All of these limitations that have affected the accuracy of theresults could be avoided to some extent by marking the exact zonesrequired on the track of the giant drop as well as using anelectronic angle measurer to measure the angles . Additionally, theusage of an electronic timer to measure periods of the freefall anddeceleration is also suggested.

During the analysis, finding an average to the deceleration in theaccelerometer reading (using Logger Pro) was only estimated usingthe human naked eye. This is because an average could not be takenelectronically. Thus, there is also some uncertainty involved inthe theoretical value.

NOTE:

The value for freefall acceleration obtained from thevideo-analysis technique was 9.754 Â± 0.3237 m/s2. 9.754 m/s2 has apercentage error of :
0.469%

This value indicates it is fairly accurate and can be used as aconforming result to the theoretical value. The error involved isdue to the fact that the video was shaking, thus plotting thevelocity/ time graph of the gondola at different times wasnegatively affected; although the axes was roughly re-set at everyframe.

This problem explores the behavior of charge on groundedconductors. We take as an example a long conducting rod suspendedby conducting wires that are connected to ground. Assume that therod is initially electrically neutral. For convenience, we willrefer to the left end of the rod as end A, and the right end of therod as end B . In the answer options for this problem, "stronglyattracted/repelled" means "attracted/repelled with a force ofmagnitude similar to that which would exist between two chargedballs."

A small metal ball is given a negative charge, then brought near(i.e., within about 1/10 the length of the rod) to end A of therod. What happens to end A of the rod when the ball approaches itclosely this first time?

strongly repelled
strongly attracted
weakly attracted
weakly repelled
neither attracted nor repelled

Now consider what happens when the small metal ball is repeatedlygiven a negative charge and then brought into contact with end A ofthe rod.

After a great many contacts with the charged ball, how is anycharge on the rod arranged (when the charged ball is faraway)?

positive charge on end B and negative charge on end A
negative charge spread evenly on both
negative charge on end A with end B remaining neutral
both ends neutral
positive charge spread evenly on both

How does end A of the rod react when the (re)charged ballapproaches it after a great many previous contacts with endA?

strongly repelled
strongly attracted
weakly attracted
weakly repelled
neither attracted nor repelled

How does end B of the rod react when the charged ball approaches itafter a great many previous contacts with end A?

strongly repelled
strongly attracted
weakly attracted
weakly repelled
neither attracted nor repelled

This geometry task may be helpful for devising amathematicalprocedure for the next lab.

A right triangle has legs ofknown lengths 2L and h. Find thelength of the line segment x whichis parallel to side h. Explainyour reasoning. Image in weblinkbelow:

http://paer.rutgers.edu/194/Downloads/194LAB07.pdfRY4bB71082bfFuqzISDrWGDOWfNgGl208qJNQTAhpzWjb_ahDlhGHPLz19S1Eq95&q=cache%3AnpyQu9LlzykJ%3Apaer.rutgers.edu%2F194%2FDownloads%2F194LAB07.pdf%20this%20geometry%20task%20may%20be%20helpful%20for%20devising%20a%20mathematical%20procedure%20for%20the%20next%20lab.%20A%20right%20triangle&docid=5c8a26db354186a31ce6383

POSTSCRIPT: EFFECTS OFASSUMPTIONS

The marbled murrelet is asmall bird that lives in the PacificNorthwest where old-growthforests are close to the sea. It nests inthe forests and feedsoffshore. It is now highly endangeredthroughout its range, whichextends from Northern California toAlaska.

These birds are extremelyvulnerable to loss of their habitat,because they nest exclusivelyin the same old-growth coniferoustrees that are prime targets forlogging. Considerable efforts havebeen made to protect the speciesby restricting timber operations inthe areas in which they areknown to nest. Scientists predicted thatthe population should growback. However until recently naturalistswere puzzledand

dismayed because thepopulation of marbled murrelets did notseem to be recovering oreven stabilizing.

A recent study suggests thereason why this testing experimentin conservation did not confirmthe prediction. The scientistsoverlooked an important assumption:murrelets can also be threatenedby man's activity at sea.Overfishing has severely reduced thepopulation of small,energy-rich fish that murrelets rely upon formost of theircalories.

Climate change of uncertainorigin may have also disrupted thefood chain, and El Nino currentsmay have changed the distributionof the phytoplankton that formsthe base of all marine life.

Further efforts to preservethe marbled murrelet must be basedon accurate assumptions aboutthe origin of their difficulties.

Could naturalists have betterconsidered their originalassumptions years ago? What would yousay?

PHIL 1F91 Lecture : Behaviorism and Positivism

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