Psychology 2800E Study Guide - Final Guide: Validity, Criterion Validity, Inductive Reasoning

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2800E
• Professor: Anthony Skelton

Document Summary

Psychology is a science, it is vital for psychologists to be able to understand and evaluate research evidence. The main goal of science is developing a theory to explain facts and laws. Another goal is the description and discover of regularities. Two methods to learn about behaviour (ways of knowing): empirical: based on evidence- include intuition and science, non-empirical- include authority and logic. We may believe something because someone respected told us it"s true. Ex. believing obama is born in hawaii because your faith in the credibility of the government, news media and books acted as authorities and told you so. Major limitations as a way of knowing: authorities are often wrong. Crucial in drawing conclusions about the world. Limitations: can tell you that a statement is false because it draws an improper conclusion, a statement could be logically valid but still not be true bcuz it assumes something to be the case that is not.