PSYC104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Folk Psychology, Statistical Hypothesis Testing, Deductive Reasoning
18 Jun 2018
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Psychology 104 Research Tasks
Introduction
Folk Psychology
Humans are social beings
Humans live in groups of different sizes
On average humans can be acquainted with about 150 people at most
However, they can adapt deeper relationships with about 20 others
If we live effectively in groups we need to learn rules of social exchange and
interaction (social rules of thumb)
In order to develop this we need to have a model of what motivates humans
This is ‘folk psychology’ - ways of conceptualising mind and the mental that
are implicit in ordinary, everyday attributions of mental states to oneself and
others
Humans are also self aware about our own thoughts and actions
The assumptions we have about how others, think, feel and why they act are
deeply ingrained in our thinking
People have an opinion about how and why people they know act and think
what they do (we all have a psyche)
This has a number of limitations:
It is based on our relatively small sample of people
It is limited to a short period of time
Academics has changed drastically
Academic psychology has had to go beyond the limits of folk psychology
It has become scientific psychology
Psychology as a science
Science comes from the Latin word ‘Scientia’
The scientist-practitioner model was an attempt to set psychology apart from
psychiatry, philosophy and psychoanalysis at Boulder USA 1949
Aimed to instil the method and findings of the fundamental researcher into the
practitioner of psychological services
Emphasis on thinking scientifically and apply scientific principles of
observation, hypothesis generation and hypothesis testing to the individual or
group
A data based scientific study is the defining feature
Science moves from opinion psychology
Science is a public process where assertions are independently verified
Science is amoral but not immoral. Knowledge is gained to debate over its
moral implications
Design
Depends on the state of knowledge in the area; more developed knowledge
means a defined design
Must be rigorous and systematic as possible
Provides the structure for the research
Based on theory
Situationally appropriate
Feasible (implementable)
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Document Summary
Humans live in groups of different sizes. On average humans can be acquainted with about 150 people at most. However, they can adapt deeper relationships with about 20 others. If we live effectively in groups we need to learn rules of social exchange and interaction (social rules of thumb) In order to develop this we need to have a model of what motivates humans. This is folk psychology" - ways of conceptualising mind and the mental that are implicit in ordinary, everyday attributions of mental states to oneself and others. Humans are also self aware about our own thoughts and actions. The assumptions we have about how others, think, feel and why they act are deeply ingrained in our thinking. People have an opinion about how and why people they know act and think what they do (we all have a psyche) It is based on our relatively small sample of people.
