PSYC 305L Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Naturalistic Observation, Scientific Method, Cognitive Psychology
Week 1
Psychology the scientific study of the mind and behavior
Behaviorism: considered study of the mind fruitless. Scientifically speaking can only empirically
study behavior
Cognitive psychology
• Perception
• memory
• Attention
• Language
• Development
What is the scientific method?
Principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge
Predictability and repeatability
• Valid and reliable
Where there is doubt there is freedom
Hypothesis and theory
Conjecture- a guess
Hypothesis- more systematic a good hypothesis should have explanatory value, and it should be
testable, verifiable
Theory – basically a theory is a series of comprehensive explanation of phenomena, like gravity
or aerodynamics
Design and method
Naturalistic observation
-non-interfering
- look for patterns
- look at big picture
- simple description. Asks rather than answers question
know
Between subjects and within subjects
Document Summary
Psychology the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge. Hypothesis- more systematic a good hypothesis should have explanatory value, and it should be testable, verifiable. Theory basically a theory is a series of comprehensive explanation of phenomena, like gravity or aerodynamics. Alpha, type 1 there is an effect but it is missed. Beta error type 2 there is not effect but there is. One of the most widely studied used methods. Examples of three stimuli and colors used for each of the activities of the original stroop article. Cognitive interference measured to identify the time it takes a subject to identify correct color choice. Theory regarding attention, executive function, decision making and choice processing. Theory regarding sensory stimulus processing (bottom up/ sensory processing) Deals with conflicting info, response selection and attention. Connected to other important structures: **the man who mistook his wife for a hat.
