Chapter 1 Notes Experimental Psych: Overview
Experimental Psychology
Chapter 1 - Overview of Science
Definitions:
(Content) Science is an accumulation of integrated knowledge
(Process) Science is an activity of discovering important variables in nature
(Content and process) Science is a systematically organized body of knowledge (systematized knowledge)
Scientific and Non-Scientific Discipline
Sciences use the Scientific Method (SM)
Metaphysics – an attempt to conceive of the world mystically in contrast to one which urges the study of science. A discipline that deals with what is supposedly beyond the physical or the empirical (Bertrand Russell)
Inner circle (IC) :
Sociology Astronomy
Biology Anthropology
Chemistry Psychology
Physics Others
Outer circle (OC) :
Art Music
Literature Language
Solvable and Unsolvable Problems
Solvable problem- one which poses a question that can be answered with the use of normal capacities (answers questions under the inner and outer circle)
Unsolvable problem – raises a question that is unanswerable. This concerns supernatural phenomena (falling under Metaphysical disciplines)
Science is Empirical (Observable)
Solvable problems are susceptible to empirical solution by studying observable events
Science Defined
1. Sciences apply the scientific method to solvable problems
2. Disciplines in the OC don’t use the SM but their problems are typically solvable
3. The disciplines outside the circles neither use the SM nor pose solvable problems
Science is the application of the SM to solvable problems.
Psychology as a Science
Psychology is Materialistic, Objective and Deterministic
If psychology is ever to become a science, it must follow the example of the physical sciences: it must be materialistic, mechanistic, deterministic, objective. –Watson
Materialism (Same as Physicalism) – observable responses, physical events
Objectivity – the principle of intersubjective reliability
Intersubjective- two or more people share the same
Chapter 1 - Overview of Science
Definitions:
(Content) Science is an accumulation of integrated knowledge
(Process) Science is an activity of discovering important variables in nature
(Content and process) Science is a systematically organized body of knowledge (systematized knowledge)
Scientific and Non-Scientific Discipline
Sciences use the Scientific Method (SM)
Metaphysics – an attempt to conceive of the world mystically in contrast to one which urges the study of science. A discipline that deals with what is supposedly beyond the physical or the empirical (Bertrand Russell)
Inner circle (IC) :
Sociology Astronomy
Biology Anthropology
Chemistry Psychology
Physics Others
Outer circle (OC) :
Art Music
Literature Language
Solvable and Unsolvable Problems
Solvable problem- one which poses a question that can be answered with the use of normal capacities (answers questions under the inner and outer circle)
Unsolvable problem – raises a question that is unanswerable. This concerns supernatural phenomena (falling under Metaphysical disciplines)
Science is Empirical (Observable)
Solvable problems are susceptible to empirical solution by studying observable events
Science Defined
1. Sciences apply the scientific method to solvable problems
2. Disciplines in the OC don’t use the SM but their problems are typically solvable
3. The disciplines outside the circles neither use the SM nor pose solvable problems
Science is the application of the SM to solvable problems.
Psychology as a Science
Psychology is Materialistic, Objective and Deterministic
If psychology is ever to become a science, it must follow the example of the physical sciences: it must be materialistic, mechanistic, deterministic, objective. –Watson
Materialism (Same as Physicalism) – observable responses, physical events
Objectivity – the principle of intersubjective reliability
Intersubjective- two or more people share the same