PSYC 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Naturalistic Observation, Deductive Reasoning, Inductive Reasoning
28 Jul 2016
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Document Summary
Two characteristics that all sciences share are similar principles or beliefs, about how best to understand the world, and the reliance on the scientific method as a way to discovering and sharpening knowledge. Science is built on a foundation of core beliefs about the world. The universe operates according to certain natural laws: scientists believe that things happen in and around us in some kind of orderly fashion that can be described using rules or laws. The natural law of cause and effect, for example, suggests that when something is set in motion, it has effect on other things. Psychologist look for the laws that describe mental processes or behaviour: such laws are discoverable and testable. By carefully observing what happens in the natural world, we can figure out the laws governing those events. In turn we can use these laws to make predictions about what may happen, and we can then experiment to see whether those predictions come true.
