How do we know things? The Scientific Method

1. How do we know things?The Scientific Method Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology ~10 min video: Rapid fire Basic Research Methods in Psychology

2. Why is this page upside down? • Does the course webpage show up in ReggieNet? • Quiz 1 is due Friday Jan 15 @ midnight • Anybody try quiz 1 yet? Does it work okay? Announcements

3. Are elephants afraid of mice? long (~8 min) • Accept the myth or Test the myth • Testable hypotheses – is the phenomenon something that can be observed and tested • Method – what is best way to make the observations to be tested? • Control groups – comparisons are key • Replication – are you more likely to believe something that happens once, or happens multiple times The Science of Mythbusting

4. Write down two things that you “know”. • Write down HOW you “know” those things. “Greatest football team ever” • Joe Montana & Jerry Rice • Coach Bill Walsh • 5 Superbowls 1981 1984 1988 1989 1994 Exercise: How do we know?

5. Type of knowledge Objective Subjective Our focus having existence outside of a person’s mind (“real”) existing in a person’s mind Analysis Rationalism Scientific Method Empiricism Ways of knowing Deduction Observation Persuasion Tenacity Faith Intuition Authority Instruction Regulation (rules & laws) Acceptance Reality is not this clear cut: Psychology uses objective techniques to examine what are often subjective things, so there are often some underlying assumptions that you need to keep in mind (later in the course: indirect measures, operational definitions) Methods of Inquiry Jonathan Drori Talk: “What we think we know” ~13 mins David Deutsch Talk: “A new way to explain explanation” ~16 mins

6. The Scientific Method • A method used to test and analyze claims about behavior • Uses systematic observation and experimentation • 4 Cannons of the Scientific method: • Empiricism, Determinism, Parsimony, Testability • A 6 step process (your book breaks it into 7 slightly different steps, Figure 2.1) Methods of Inquiry Stuart Firestein Talk “The Pursuit of Ignorance” ~19 mins Kary Mullis Talk “Play! Experiment! Discover ” ~30 mins Laura Snyder Talk “Philosophical Breakfast Club” ~13 mins

7. Step 1: Observation (Empiricism) • Pay attention to the world around you, look for generalizations write down two generalizations that you have observed about people’s behavior • Two classes of generalizations • Descriptive generalizations – just describe how it is/what was seen, how frequent, without making predictions • Cause and effect generalizations – makes predictions about the observed relationship between two (or more) things. • (Determinism: phenomenon have identifiable causes) Scientific Method Adam Savage Talk “How simple ideas lead to scientific ideas” ~8 mins

8. Variables • The characteristics of the behavior and the surrounding context • Step 2: Develop a theory or hypothesis • Identify the variables associated with your observations • An explanation for the observed behavior(s) • How are the variables related to one another? • May be based on past research, common sense, intuition, logic, etc. Scientific Method

9. Step 3: Generate a testable prediction • Testability: Need to specify how your hypothesis can be tested through observation. • The relevant variables must be defined and observable. • Falsification is at the heart of the scientific method • Scientists don’t try to prove a theory, but rather set out to refute (“disprove”) theories • Refutable hypotheses - must be stated in a way that allows the potential for it to be wrong Karl Popper wiki Scientific Method

10. Step 4: Make systematic observations • Observational and experimental methods • Which variables will we examine? • How do we measure these variables? • Which variables can we systematically manipulate? • What variables need to be controlled? • Were (from whom) will we collect the observations? Scientific Method

11. Step 5: Evaluate your evidence • Refutes theory • Supports theory (not “proves the theory”) • Leads to the revision of the theory • Consider alternative theories • There are always alternative explanations • Parsimony: Simple explanations are preferred over more complex ones Scientific Method

12. new hypotheses systematic observations predictions new hypotheses systematic observations predictions hypotheses • Step 6: Repeat observations Scientific Method

13. Psychology as a science • Developing your research ideas • Reviewing the literature • Moving from ideas to hypotheses • Chapter 2 Next time