PSYCH 111 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Stanford Prison Experiment, Descriptive Statistics, Psychological Testing
Document Summary
The methods psychologist use to answer these questions are empirical methods. The scientific approach assumes that events are governed by some lawful order (weiten, 40) Goals of scientific enterprise: measurement and description: develop measurement techniques that make it possible to describe behavior clearly and precisely, understanding and prediction: scientists make and test predictions by hypotheses. A hypothesis is a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables. Variables are any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviors that are controlled or observed in a study: application and control: understand a phenomenon and exert more control over it. Psychologists build toward a better understanding of behavior by constructing theories. A theory is a system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations. By integrating apparently unrelated facts and principles into a coherent whole, theories permit psychologists to make the leap from the description of behavior to the understanding of behavior.
