PSYC 3980 Study Guide - Testability, Determinism, Empiricism
Document Summary
How is knowledge acquired: authority: acceptance of an idea because a respected source says it. Authority may be misrepresenting facts: deduction: acceptance of an idea through the use of logical reasoning and current knowledge. Use deduction to make inferences based on previous experiences, assumptions. If original assumption is wrong or experiences are limited, reach the wrong conclusions. Four common unscientific approaches: observation: acquiring knowledge by using your own experiences and perceptions. People engage in errors in thinking, perception, and judgment. Limits knowledge to only things we"ve directly observed: science. The most widely accepted way of gaining knowledge. Attempts to answer questions through careful observation and collection of data. Requires a systematic method of collection and understanding data. Assumption that phenomena have identifiable causes: parsimony: Assumption that the simplest explanation is the best: testability: Assumption that explanations can be tested and falsified through observation: replication: Assumption that using similar methods will result in similar outcomes if explanations are correct.
