PSY100Y5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: The Control Group, Naturalistic Observation, Operational Definition
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PSY100Y5 Full Course Notes
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The first goal of psychology is to develop measurement techniques that make it possible to describe behaviour clearly and precisely (ex. Scientists believe that they understand events when they can explain the reasons for the occurrence of events. > a hypothesis is a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables. > variables are any measurable conditions, events, characteristics or behaviours that are controlled or observed in a study. Once people understand a phenomenon, they can often exert more control. Example: a psychologist might use what he or she knows about the roots and nature of violence in relationships to design a treatment program with the objective of lowering the probability of such violence in the future. To build toward a a better understanding of behaviour, they construct theories. > a theory is a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations.
