Scientific Status of Psychology Flashcards
What is a science?
Science refers to knowledge based on systematic and objective methods of data collection
How is scientific knowledge gathered?
Scientific knowledge is gathered via the scientific method which involves formulating a hypothesis, testing this hypothesis and either verifying or falsifying it
What is the mnemonic for the criteria needed to debate whether or not psychology is a science?
F R E N C H
What does each letter stand for in the mnemonic for the criteria needed to debate whether or not psychology is a science?
F - falsification R - reductionist, replicability, reliability E - empiricism N - nomothetic C - controls (validity), credibility H - hypothesis testing
What is falsification when debating whether or not psychology is a science?
The attempt to prove something wrong
Involves the use of the null hypothesis which we seek to reject within set bounds of certainty
A belief that can’t be falsified can never be scientifically tested
What is reductionism when debating whether or not psychology is a science?
Ultimate aim of science is to demonstrate casual relationships and the ideal way to do this is in a lab experiment where an IV can be manipulated to observe effect on DV
Involves reduction of complex behaviours to individual variables
Reductionism is the study of something by breaking it into parts
What is replicability when debating whether or not psychology is a science?
Repeating a set of procedures
If a research finding is true (valid) then we should obtain the same results/findings if the study is repeated
What is reliability when debating whether or not psychology is a science?
Ensuring that all procedures are standardised for every participant so that their performances are comparable
What is empiricism when debating whether or not psychology is a science?
The view that knowledge can only come through direct observation or experiment rather than reasoned argument or belief
What is nomothetic when debating whether or not psychology is a science?
Nomothetic comes from the greek word (nomos) meaning laws
Science is concerned with establishing general laws based on the study of large groups of people and the use of statistical techniques to analyse data
What is controls when debating whether or not psychology is a science?
Extent to which any variable is held constant or regulated by a researcher
Controls put in place to ensure only IV is having an effect upon the DV not confounding variables
Uncontrolled variables become confounding variables which reduce internal validity, thus must be controlled to obtain generalisable research findings
What is ecological validity?
Whether the results of a study can be generalised beyond the research setting to other people and situations
What is internal validity?
The extent to which a study is testing what was intended
What is credibility when debating whether or not psychology is a science?
Believability
In order to be believable it must also be valid, as well as having all other features expected in scientific research
Why is hypothesis testing when debating whether or not psychology is a science?
A hypothesis is a statement of what a researcher believes to be true
In order to test such a statement it must be clearly operationalised
To test a hypothesis it is the null hypothesis that is accepted or rejected
