PSYCH 202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Jane Goodall, Empiricism, Demand Characteristics
15 Sep 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Knowledge is a moving target, it constantly changes. Ideas and theories are put to the test to see if they hold up, when they hold up, how they hold up. Empiricism: the belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation. Scientific method: a set of principles about the appropriate relationship between ideas and evidence. Theory: a hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomena. Hypothesis: a falsifiable prediction made by a theory. What is the scientific method: four main goals, description (what happens, prediction (when it happens, causal control (what causes it to happen, explanation (why it happens) Rarely done in one study- the scientific process is constantly evolving. Begins with a theory, a hypothesis data is collected (typically through experimentation) is developed, scientific. Types of studies/data collection methods in psychological research: Careful description based on repeated observations: freud, sacks, clinical studies. Sacks: studied neuropsychological patterns (signs of brain injury, etc. )
