PSY1022 Final: Scientific method

• School: Monash University
• Department: Health Sciences - Psychology
• Course: PSY1022
• Professor: Various

Document Summary

Acquiring knowledge based on: subjective feelings. Interpreting random events as non-random: believing in supernatural or magical events or causes. Acquiring knowledge without being consciously aware of its source. Acquiring knowledge from those considered to be authority figures. Accepting information that comes from these sources as fact without question. Eliabilit(cid:455) and (cid:448)alidit(cid:455) depends on the authorit(cid:455) figure(cid:859)s kno(cid:449)ledge and e(cid:454)pertise- should be questioned. Acquiring knowledge from repeated ideas that are clung to stubbornly despite evidence to the contrary. Can occur from being repeatedly presented with information e. g. by politicians, it starts to be believed. Can be accurate, but depends on the content and truthfulness of the premises. Acquiring knowledge through objective observations of events and organisms in the world. Acquiring knowledge through a combination of empiricism and rationalism. Data is collected to make empirical observations, then hypotheses are assessed using rationalism. Must be open to the principle of falsifiability: must be possible to refute or disconfirm a theory.