Chapter 2 - Where to Start Flashcards
Pseudoscience
A system of theories and methods that has some resemblance to a genuine science but that cannot be considered such
- Various criteria for distinguishing pseudosciences from true sciences have been proposed, one of the most influential being that of falsifiability
- On this basis, certain approaches to psychology and psychoanalysis have sometimes been criticized as pseudoscientific, as they involve theories or other constructs that cannot be directly or definitively tested by observation
Skepticism
The position that certainty in knowledge can never be achieved.
Scientific Skepticism
Not accepting something as true unthinkingly, but rather seeking out and evaluating the relevant evidence to shape our beliefs about what might be true.
Scientific Rationality
The qualities of reason and logic that characterize, or ought to characterize, scientific inquiry
- For many, science is the epitome of rationality because of its adherence to the rules of logic and evidence, its rejection of supernatural explanations, its devotion of objectivity, and its careful public testing of hypotheses
- A commitment to standards and procedures of this kind is usually taken to be the criterion by which a discipline, such as psychology, may be judged to be a science
Scientific Method
A set of procedures, guidelines, assumptions, and attitudes required for the organized and systematic collection, interpretation, and verification of data and the discovery of reproducible evidence, enabling laws and principles to be stated or modified.
Literature Reviews
Narrative summary of the past research conducted on a particular topic.
The methods and results of systematic reviews should be reported in sufficient detail to allow users to assess the trustworthiness and applicability of the review findings.
The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement was developed to facilitate transparent and complete reporting of systematic reviews.
Meta-Analyses
A quantitative technique for synthesizing the results of multiple studies of a phenomenon into a single result by combining the effect size estimates from each study into a single estimate of the combined effect size or into a distribution of effect sizes
Developing Hypotheses and Predictions
- Theories
- Hypotheses
- Predictions
Scientific Reasoning
A type of reasoning that involves the generation of hypotheses and the systematic testing of those hypotheses.
Theories
A principle or body of interrelated principles that purports to explain or predict a number of interrelated phenomena.
In the philosophy of science, a set of logically related explanatory hypotheses that are consistent with a body of empirical facts and that may suggest more empirical relationships.
Hypotheses
An empirically testable proposition about some fact, behaviour, relationship, or the like, usually based on theory, that states an expected outcome resulting from specific conditions or assumptions.
Hypotheses state conceptual relations between variables.
Predictions
Predictions: an attempt to foretell what will happen in a particular case, generally on the basis of past instances or accepted principles.
A theoretical prediction gives the expected results of an experiment or controlled observation in accordance with the logic of a particular theory.
Predictions state relations between variables that have been operationalized.
In science, the use of prediction and observation to test hypotheses is a cornerstone of the empirical method.
inductive vs. deductive reasoning
Inductive: Developing generalizations from specific observations
Deductive: Developing specific predictions from general principles
Law of Parsimony (Occam’s Razor)
The principle that the simplest explanation of an event or observation is the preferred explanation.
Parsimony
The scientific principle of parsimony dictates that the least complex theory is the most desirable, because it is the easiest to falsify
If the less parsimonious theory explains the data substantially better, then choose the less parsimonious theory
