PSY-2012 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Confounding, Eidetic Memory, Sigmund Freud
Document Summary
Pages 6-32 (chapter 1), 48-74 (chapter 2), and 290-296 (chapter 8) Define psychology and know what epistemology is used to study it. Psychology is the scientific study of the brain, mind, and behavior. The epistemology used to study it is science, as we use the scientific method to study the mind, brain and behavior. Be able to define and/or recognize examples of the following: Know and be able to recognize examples of the following. A scientific theory is a well-substantiated explanation of some aspect of the natural world that is acquired through the scientific method, and confirmed through observation and experimentation. A hypothesis is an unproved assumption or guess based on observation. Theories are never proven, but a hypothesis can be confirmed or disconfirmed. Every failure to disprove a theory increases the confidence people have in it. Metaphysical claims are not scientific claims because they cannot be tested.
