Video – the counter-intuitive research done by Dr. James Laird at Clark  University in Worcester.
 

1. Attributes of Scientific Thinking in Psychology

a. Determinism : STATISTICAL DETERMINISM
b. Objectivity
c. Data-driven approach: Sir Francis Galton

2. The major goals of scientific psychology

a. Describing behavior

b.  Explaining behavior: Causality is a complicated process  involving:
 

• co-variation
• a time sequence with cause preceding the effect
• a theoretical structure
• experimental control for ruling out alternative explanations

c.  The difference between the description and the explanation of behavior -- avoiding circular reasoning

d.  Predicting behavior

e. Changing dysfunctional behavior