PSYA01H3 Study Guide - Final Guide: Scientific Method, Humanistic Psychology, Naturalistic Observation
Document Summary
Is a vast discipline; considered to be a collection of disciplines, composed of many overlapping fields of study. Involves study of behaviour; includes perceptions, thoughts, emotions. Psychology: the scientific study of behaviour, thought, and experience. Anthropomorphism: treating objects or animals like people. Whether a field of study is considered a science or a specific type of research is scientific is based not on the subject, but on the use of the scientific method. Scientific method: a way of learning about the world through collecting observations, proposing explanations for the observations, developing theories to explain them, and using the theories to make predictions. Theory hypothesis test hypothesis reject or confirm repeat. Hypothesis: a testable prediction about processes that can be observed or measured. A testable hypothesis is one that can be confirmed or rejected; a scientific hypothesis must be testable. Rules are frequently broken by people claiming to be scientific e. g. astrologers and psychics.