PSYCH 213W: Chapter 1 Psychology and Science
What is psychology?
- The scientific study of the mind and behavior
Goals of Psychological Research?
• Think like a scientist about behavior
• Better understand how to conduct research
• Testing hypotheses
• Solving practical problems
• Better understand how to evaluate research
• Critical thinking
• Critique in support or criticism of a theory or hypothesis
Ways of Finding out about Behavior
• Non-Empirical
o Indirect
• Empirical
o Based on Experience
Authority
• We believe it because someone we respect or is respected states it is so
– God’s will
– Government rules
– Professor teaches it
– Policeman told me to follow him
• Has its ups and downs and of course authority figures may be incorrect, dishonest or
closed-minded
• People have been fighting the dogma of authority for quite some time (e.g. Galileo)
Logic
• Important way of helping us know about behavior
• Example:
• All American Indians are from tribes
• I am
American Indian
• Therefore, I must belong to a tribe
• Problem with logic is the first two notions must be true for the statements that follow to
be true as well
• May be valid but NOT true
, • Logic alone cannot tell you what ACTUALLY exists
Empirical Ways of Finding Out about Behavior
• Intuition (instincts based on vibe/aura)
– Spontaneous perception or judgment not based on reasoned mental steps
– Weighed along with what you know (hence empirical)
– Common sense (type of intuition)
• practical intelligence shared by a large group of people
- Limitations
o changes from time to time and place to place
o it is pragmatic, basing truth on whether common sense practice works or not
o Cannot predict new knowledge
- Science
o A way of obtaining knowledge by means of objective observations
o Rests on a certain kind of common sense (of the scientific community)
o Sometimes counterintuitive (e.g., Bystander effect)
o Is theoretical and can predict new knowledge
Answering Questions Truthfully Can Be Quite Difficult and Requires a Great Deal of Forethought
• Experimental psychology allows for researchers to use the scientific method to help
control biases or incorrect information from being published and influential…of course
there are good and bad everywhere and, in each field,
• Statistics helps us to organize and summarize the findings or conclusions from studies
done in many subfields
What Questions Would You Like to Answer About the World and Those In It?
• How are some spared memory loss in Epilepsy?
• Why do some children suffer abuse and trauma and still overcome it so much more
resiliently, while others suffer with personality disorders or mental illness?
• Are there really gender differences in Depression?
Why Do We Want to Study The World And The Beings and Things In It?
• To Know……………………
• Describe…………….
• Predict…………….
• Change………….
• Encourage….
• To gain control
What is psychology?
- The scientific study of the mind and behavior
Goals of Psychological Research?
• Think like a scientist about behavior
• Better understand how to conduct research
• Testing hypotheses
• Solving practical problems
• Better understand how to evaluate research
• Critical thinking
• Critique in support or criticism of a theory or hypothesis
Ways of Finding out about Behavior
• Non-Empirical
o Indirect
• Empirical
o Based on Experience
Authority
• We believe it because someone we respect or is respected states it is so
– God’s will
– Government rules
– Professor teaches it
– Policeman told me to follow him
• Has its ups and downs and of course authority figures may be incorrect, dishonest or
closed-minded
• People have been fighting the dogma of authority for quite some time (e.g. Galileo)
Logic
• Important way of helping us know about behavior
• Example:
• All American Indians are from tribes
• I am
American Indian
• Therefore, I must belong to a tribe
• Problem with logic is the first two notions must be true for the statements that follow to
be true as well
• May be valid but NOT true
, • Logic alone cannot tell you what ACTUALLY exists
Empirical Ways of Finding Out about Behavior
• Intuition (instincts based on vibe/aura)
– Spontaneous perception or judgment not based on reasoned mental steps
– Weighed along with what you know (hence empirical)
– Common sense (type of intuition)
• practical intelligence shared by a large group of people
- Limitations
o changes from time to time and place to place
o it is pragmatic, basing truth on whether common sense practice works or not
o Cannot predict new knowledge
- Science
o A way of obtaining knowledge by means of objective observations
o Rests on a certain kind of common sense (of the scientific community)
o Sometimes counterintuitive (e.g., Bystander effect)
o Is theoretical and can predict new knowledge
Answering Questions Truthfully Can Be Quite Difficult and Requires a Great Deal of Forethought
• Experimental psychology allows for researchers to use the scientific method to help
control biases or incorrect information from being published and influential…of course
there are good and bad everywhere and, in each field,
• Statistics helps us to organize and summarize the findings or conclusions from studies
done in many subfields
What Questions Would You Like to Answer About the World and Those In It?
• How are some spared memory loss in Epilepsy?
• Why do some children suffer abuse and trauma and still overcome it so much more
resiliently, while others suffer with personality disorders or mental illness?
• Are there really gender differences in Depression?
Why Do We Want to Study The World And The Beings and Things In It?
• To Know……………………
• Describe…………….
• Predict…………….
• Change………….
• Encourage….
• To gain control
