Scientific Thinking in Psychology
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 Galton2. 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 reasoningd. Predicting behavior
e. Changing dysfunctional behavior