PSYA01H3 Chapter Notes -Dogma, Falsifiability, External Validity
Document Summary
Methods of psychology are meant to answer 2 basic questions- what do people do and why do they do it. Answer first by observing and measuring, second by looking for relationships between the things they measure. Dogmatism to describe the tendency for people to cling to their assumptions. 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 phenomenon (ideas about why things work the way they do) The rule of parsimony (when developing a theory they start with the simplest ones) William ockham (plurality should only be posited when necessary) Ockham wasn"t arguing that nature is simple or that complex theories are wrong, suggesting that it makes sense to start with the simplest theory possible and then make the theory more complicated only if we must. Hypothesis: a falsifiable prediction made by a theory (should statement)
