PSYC 220 Lecture Notes - Geocentric Model, Scientific Method, Operational Definition
Document Summary
Science as an alternative: an alternative to hindsight for understanding behaviour is to rely on the scientific method, this method places a great emphasis on prediction, control, and theory building. The scientific method: principles, curiosity (why does something happen?, skepticism (what is the evidence for a claim?, open-mindedness (are there other explanations?) It could be argued that psychology has been historically slow to adopt the scientific method, which may in part related to the intangible nature of mental processes: eg. It is much less clear how to measure something like intelligence, as compared to how fast a ball is thrown. Theory building: general characteristics of theories, broader than any one single prediction, dynamic (new knowledge/ theories are constantly replacing older ones, change is generally incremental but paradigm shifts do occur, eg. Believing the earth revolves around the sun, and not the other way around (heliocentric vs. geocentric model, discovery of dna, etc. : general characteristics of good theories:
