PSY 1000 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Dependent And Independent Variables, Falsifiability, Frequency Distribution
30 Jan 2017
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Document Summary
Study of the human mind and behavior. 7 levels of analysis: genetic, neurochemical, brain system, behavioral, perceptual and cognitive. The goal of science is to discover truth (what corresponds with reality) Intuition: metaphysics (religion, mythology, logic (basic assumptions, science (based on evidence) Truth evolves over time as we learn more. Insights should be viewed as testable hypotheses instead of facts. Some theories and studies come up with different findings. What (cid:449)e kno(cid:449) and don"t kno(cid:449: science is about using information to develop theories. Theories must be testable some are harder to test than others (evolutionary psychology) The research process: use existing data to create a hypothesis, design a study. Operational definitions: quantified, measurable definitions of abstract conditions. Independent variable: factor you expect to influence outcomes. Dependent variable: the outcome(s: there are some drawbacks to operationalizing variables, collect data, analyze data using appropriate statistical techniques, disseminate the results. Retrospecti(cid:448)e: looking at people"s pasts and histories.
