PSYC 4032 Study Guide - Final Guide: Confounding, Dependent And Independent Variables, Contiguity
Document Summary
Describe the assumptions, characteristics, and goals of science. Realism: objects and events exist outside of our perception of them. Regularity: phenomena exist in recurring patterns that conform with universal laws. Empirical: based upon experience or observation as opposed to logic, authority, or intuition. Objective: focus on events that can be observed by at least 2 people. Tentative: no theory claims to have the whole truth. Self-correcting: beliefs and opinions can be changed based upon new data. Parsimonious: a theory will not be adopted until all simpler explanations have been ruled out. Progressive: a cumulative increase in the quantity and quality of knowledge. Description: describing the characteristic features of an event. Prediction: specifying the occurrence of some event based upon past experience with a similar event. Control: arranging the conditions responsible for some event, being able to turn a phenomenon on and off. Define and identify examples of independent, dependent, and confounding variables.
