PSYC 2F23 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Flat Earth, Cognitive Psychology, Dependent And Independent Variables
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We consider something true, because of tradition or because someone of distinction tells us it is true: theory of evolution; smoking causes cancer; the existence of electrons; gravity. However, what an authority tells us may turn out to be false: (cid:862)flat earth(cid:863); geo(cid:272)e(cid:374)tri(cid:272) (cid:373)odel (cid:894)earth is the (cid:272)e(cid:374)ter of the u(cid:374)i(cid:448)erse(cid:895) Start with a premise that we assume to be true. Then, we apply the rules of logic to reasoning. Conclusion: mr. x must be an interesting person. This is a common occurrence for many people. Steps in scientific method: observations (you notice something, theory co(cid:374)stru(cid:272)tio(cid:374) (cid:894)i thi(cid:374)k that (cid:895) a(cid:374)d the(cid:374) for(cid:373)ulate testable hypotheses (if what i think is true, this should happen if i do that) Note: to be testable, a hypothesis must also be falsifiable (it can be disproven: empirical testing of hypotheses (this will yield data, evaluation of empirical results (statistical analysis, report your results, peer review and replication, re-evaluate theory.
