Part 1:
What Psychologists do
● Take a scientific approach to understanding behavior
● Knowledge about psychological processes is based on scientific evidence from
research
● Rely on scientific methods in conducting research
Scientific Method
1. Specify conditions under which we make observations
o Come up with hypothesis
o Rationalize why the study should be conducted
o Identify what variables and population should be studied
o Take a look at the methodology
2. Observe in a systematic/ orderly way
a. Based on the methodology
3. Accept/Reject the explanations on the basis of what was observed
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Involves taking steps to gather and verify information
To answer questions
Explain relationships
Communicate the information to others
Reliance on Scientific Research Methods
1. Perception Research
Data collection in laboratory experiments
2. Attitude Research
Controlled laboratory conditions or surveys or observed in natural settings
3. Human Development Research
Observe participants under different conditions in the laboratory
4. Clinical Psychology Research
Data is collected through psychological tests or through observing personality
functioning during sessions
Efficacious: first level of establishing empirical evidence for particular interventions
Commonsense Psychology
● Everyday, nonscientific data gathering
● Shapes our expectations and beliefs
● Directs our behavior towards others
Commonsense Psychologists
Rely on non-scientific data which may not be reliable
May have inferential strategies that are flawed
o Coming up with conclusions/reasoning may be flawed
Quality of Data Based on Commonsense Psychology
● Data collected is based on own experience and what are learned from others
● Conclusions based on data are subject to a number of inherent tendencies or
biases which limits accuracy and usefulness
● Source of beliefs about behavior are unreliable. Explanations are likely to be
imperfect.
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Nonscientific Sources of Data
1. Friends and Relatives
2. People in Authority
3. People we admire
4. Reports from the Media
5. Books we have read (except if scientific)
What is wrong with relying on data from nonscientific resources?
● We rarely, if ever, test them
● We tend to overlook instances that might disconfirm our beliefs
● We seek instead, confirmatory instances of behavior (confirmatory biases)
Who are we most likely to believe?
● When it comes to particular individuals
1. Popular
2. Attractive
3. High in status
4. Seemingly expert
5. Appear highly confident
Where do we get our information from?
● Our own observations and interactions with others
● We then learn to predict consequences and direct our behavior toward desired
goals
● We use our beliefs and feelings about how things operate to explain behavior
Nonscientific Inference
● Data we collect about others comes in the form of traits we assign to them
● There might be a strong bias to overlook situational data in favor of data the
substantiate trait explanations
● Judging others based on their behavior
Problems:
● They can lead to overestimations of the likelihood that they will act in
trait-consistent ways across a wide variety of situations
● Bias is hard to overcome
● Are traits or situations better predictors of behavior?
o Traits are more useful for predicting how someone will behave over long
term because traits are enduring and is true in all instances
o Situations might be better predictors of momentary behaviors
Gambler’s Fallacy
People are not very good at estimating true probabilities of events
Overconfidence Bias
● Our predictions, guesses, and explanations tend to feel more correct than they
really are
● The more data we have, the more confidence we have in our judgements of
behavior
Part 2
Characteristics of Modern Science
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The scientific Mentality
Gathering Empirical Data
Seeking General Principles
Good thinking
Self-correction
Publicizing Results
Replication
1. The Scientific Mentality
● Alfred Whitehead
o Philosopher who traced the development of science
● Faith in an organized universe, and that faith is essential to science. We have to
believe that there is a way of organizing information in the universe so that we
can make sense of it.
● There are specifiable causes for the way people behave
● Determinism: these causes can be discovered through research
2. Gathering Empirical Data
● Empirical Data is data that are observable and experienced
● It does not guarantee that correct conclusions will be reached
Aristotle
Galileo
Systematic
observation
and careful
classification of
naturally
occurring
events
If we set up
proper testing
conditions,
lights objects
will fall as fast
as heavy ones
3.
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Seeking General Principles
Modern scientists propose general principles based on observations
Laws: principles that have the generality to apply to all situations
Theory:
o Interim/ temporary explanation
o Pull together diverse sets of scientific facts into an organizing scheme
Hypothesis: testable prediction
Sir Karl Popper
● Modern philosopher of science
● Science progresses only through progressively better theories
● Old theories replaced by new ones that can explain phenomena better
4. Good Thinking
● The idea of being systematic, objective, and rational
● Principle of Parsimony: Occam’s Razor
o Whatever is the simplest explanation is the one that we follow
5. Self-Correction
● Conclusions can be uncertain
● The content of science changes as we acquire new scientific information
o Old information is reevaluated in light of new facts
● Changes in scientific theories and explanations are important parts of
scientific progress
6. Publicizing Results
● Modern science as a highly public activity
● Many publications are made in scientific journals
● Continuous exchange of information is important in the scientific process
7. Replication
● Ability to repeat our procedures and get the same results again if we
gathered data objectively and followed good thinking
● Bobo doll experiment
(1) The Need for Scientific Methodology
(2) The Characteristics of Modern Science
(3) The Objectives of Psychological Science
(4) The Scientific Method: Tools of Psychological Science
(5) Scientific Explanation in Psychological Science
(6) From Pseudoscience to Psychological Science
(pt. 3)
OBJECTIVES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE:
-Description
-Prediction
-Explanation
-Control
DESCRIPTION :
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Initial step toward understanding any phenomenom;
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Systematic and unbiased account of the observed characteristics of behaviors;
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Provide us with information about what the behavior will be like;
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Case Studies or Field Studies;
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Surveys and Interviews.
e.g., QUALITATIVE STUDIES
EXPLANATION :
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Includes knowledge of the conditions that reliably reproduce the occurrence of
a behavior ex: Death>Grief;
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Experimental research design;
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Nonexperimental/Quasi-Experimental are preferred
PREDICTION :
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Capacity for knowing in advance when certain behaviors are expected to
occur because we have identified other conditions with which the behaviors are
linked or associated;
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Correlational or Quasi-Experimental designs.
*Correlational studies will not tell you about causation rather how two variables are
associated w/ each
other.
CONTROL :
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Application of what has been learned about behavior;
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Knowledge from research can effect change or improved behavior;
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Therapeutic orientations for specific disorders
2 types of Research
1. Applied Research
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Designed to solve real-world problems.
Ex. Helping people deal w/ anxiety during the pandemic
2. Basic Research
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Research designed to test theories to explain psychological phenomena in
humans and animals.
Ex. The effects of sugar on hyperactivity
(pt. 4)
THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD: Tools of Psychological Science
OBSERVATION
MEASUREMENT
EXPERIMENTATION
OBSERVATION :
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Systematic noting and recording of events;
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Only events that are observable can be studied scientifically;
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Studying internal processes (thinking and feeling): defining them as events that
can be observed;
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use of self-report measures
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Use of mood questionnaires
MEASUREMENT :
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Assigning numerical values to objects or events or characteristics according to
conventional rules;
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Use standardized units, agreed-upon conventions that define measures, ex.
Scales;
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Intelligence
EXPERIMENTATION :
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Process undertaken to test a hypothesis that particular behavioral events will
occur reliably in certain, specifiable conditions;
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Systematically manipulate aspects of a setting to verify our predictions about
observable behavior under specific conditions;
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Must be objective;
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Ethical considerations
Minimum requirements for TESTABILITY
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We must have procedures for manipulating the settings;
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The predictable outcome must be observable;
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We must be able to measure the outcome
(pt. 5)
Scientific Explanation in Psychological Science
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Identifying antecedent conditions;
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Comparing treatment conditions;
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Psychology experiment;
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Establishing cause and effect;
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Necessary vs. Sufficient conditions
Identifying ANTECEDENT conditions
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Antecedents conditions: circumstances that come before the event or behavior
we want to explain;
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When XYZ is the set of antecedent conditions, the outcome is a particular
behavior;
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When XYZ set of antecedents occurs again, we expect the same outcome.
Comparing Treatment Conditions
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Treatments: specific sets of antecedent condition ins;
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We are treating subjects differently when we expose them to different sets of
antecedents.
The Psychology Experiment
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Controlled procedure in which at least two different treatment conditions are
applied to subjects
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Subjects' behaviors are then measured and compared to test a hypothesis
about the effects of those treatments on behavior;
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Procedures are carefully controlled so that we can be sure we are measuring
what we intent to measure;
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Random assignment of subjects to different conditions;
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People who receive one kind of treatment are equivalent to subjects receiving
another treatment condition;
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Between-subjects design vs. Within Subjects Design
HOW control is achieved in an Experiment
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Random assignment of subjects to different treatment conditions (within-subjects
design)
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Presenting a treatment condition in an identical manner to all subjects;
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Keeping the environment, the procedures, and measuring instruments constant
for all subjects so that treatment conditions are the only things allow
Establishing Cause and Effects
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Only a true experiment allows us to make causal statement;
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Temporal relationship: type of cause and effect relationship we establish through
experiments;
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build into experiments (after the experiment is conducted)
Necessary Conditions vs. Sufficient Conditions
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We identify sufficient conditions and distinguish them from necessary conditions.
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(pt. 6)
FROM PSEUDOSCIENCE TO PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
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From the time Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology laboratory in
Germany (1879) to now, many developments have happened that have made
psychology what it is today.
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