Summary Research Methods 1/Methodologie 1 VU psychology

Research Methods 1
exam 25 oktober 2017

What is science?
Division of scientific disciplines
- Arts (history/literature/law) – Bachelor of Arts, BA
- Sciences (natural/social/formal) – Bachelor of Sciences, BSc
Sources of knowledge
1. Tenacity – based on uncorrectable beliefs }
2. Intuition – based on “gut feeling” } 1, 2 & 3 are not scientifically acceptable
3. Authority – based on respected source }
4. Rationalism – by correct reasoning } 4 & 5 essential for science
5. Empiricism – by observation }
★ Science – a way of thinking characterized by a continuous interplay between rational thinking
processes and empirical observation

Short history of science
Golden Age of Athens
- Plato – observation must be mistrusted, theory of ideas. Knowledge from reasoning.
Strong rationalism, no empiricism
- Aristotle – knowledge from reasoning but also some from observations. Deduction & induction.
Strong rationalism, some empiricism
Hellenism
- Alexander the Great
o Spread of Greek culture (= Hellenism)
Golden Age of Alexandria
- Focus on astronomy & geography
o Ptolemy introduced epicycli
- Knowledge from observations, not explanations
Strong empiricism, little rationalism
Islamic civilization
- New positional numeral system; flourishing Algebra
European Middle Ages
★ Scholasticism: knowledge based on authority
Scientific Revolution
- Strong revaluation of natural philosophy
- Importance of observation + mathematization of reality
- Supported by inventions: telescope/microscope/printing
o Copernicus – heliocentric solar system
o Galileo Galilei – systematic manipulation, accurate observations, mathematization.
Shattered Aristotle’s way of thinking
o Johannes Kepler – orbits of planets is elliptical
o Newton – Principia (1687): describes a formal theory which fits all observations (Copernicus,
Kepler, Galilei) à concludes revolution.
Science her goals
1. Describing new phenomena
2. Predicting (determining relationships between phenomena)
3. Determining causal relationships
4. Explaining phenomena (theory)
5. Applying gained knowledge

,Short history of psychology
19th century = start
à studying behavior by applying scientific method
à assumption of phylogenetic continuity (similarities across animal species (Darwin))
★ Psychophysics – studies relationship between physical & psychological
o If a tree falls, without someone to hear it, there is no sound
o Example: Weber-Fechner law [‘The sensation is proportional to the logarithm of the stimulus
★ Structuralism – studies the structure of consciousness
o Introspection à look inside yourself
o Wilhelm Wundt
★ Behaviorism – studies learning and behavioral changes influenced by experience
o Conditioning (Pavlov & Skinner)
o Stimulus – Response theories (SR theories)
o John Watson, 1913. The Behaviorist Manifesto
• Psychodynamics
o Behavior = largely driven by unconscious motives
o Psychological diseases result from these unconscious motives
o Freud
• Cognitive psychology (after WWII)
o Mental states are no longer taboo
o Focus remains on observable behavior
o Stimulus à Organism à Response (S-O-R) theories
• Cognitive Neuroscience
o Cognitive science + neuroscience
o “The mind is what the brain does”
o driven by technology (fMRI)


Philosophy of Science
★ Philosophy of science – studies the foundations, methods and implications of science
★ Assumption – a statement accepted without proof
o Fundamental assumptions:
§ The existence of a true material reality
§ Reality is ordered
§ The order of reality can be discovered
§ The discovered order is never final
Reality & Design
Inference;
Reality induction Design
Observable Not observable
• Data (facts, phenomena) • Constructs
• Results section of article • Introduction/discussion section of article
- “we found”/”observed” - “we conclude”/”postulate”

★ Reification – tendency to treat constructs as if they are part of reality
★ Hypothesis – a testable idea, but not directly observable
- To test hypothesis, prediction must be derived from it
★ Prediction – observable consequence of a hypothesis à tied to a specific situation

, Schema (data > hypothesis > data) next page


Reality Design


DATA 1
Hypothesis


DATA 2




★ Theory – system of logically coherent constructs Reality Design
and statements about a certain area of reality.
o May have no contradictions DATA 1
among statements H
o From a theory, (partial) hypotheses can DATA 2
de deduced
o Must be falsifiable and parsimonious
★ Falsifiable – if it’s incorrect, you have to be able to show that it’s false
★ Parsimonious – most simple theory is always preferred (Ockham’s razor)

Model
- A model represents aspects of reality but does not duplicate them
- Simulates reality (computer simulation > neural network)
Logical Arguments
1. Proposition
2. Proposition we KNOW they are true
… etc .
n+1 proposition deduced propositions
n+2 proposition
n+m proposition conclusion

Conditional arguments example
1 IF Q THEN R 1 IF rain THEN wet streets RIGHT
2Q . 2 rain . Modus Ponens (MP)
3R 3 wet streets Confirmation of Antecedent (Q)

1 IF Q THEN R 1 IF rain THEN wet streets WRONG
2R . 2 wet streets . Confirmation of Consequent (R)
3Q 3 rain

1 IF Q THEN R 1 IF rain THEN wet streets WRONG
2~Q . 2 no rain . Denial of Antecedent (Q)
3~R 3 no wet streets

1 IF Q THEN R 1 IF rain THEN wet streets RIGHT
2~R . 2 no wet streets . Modus Tollens (MT)
3~Q 3 no rain Denial of the consequence