Psychology
the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes AND the application of scientific research to “help people, organizations, and communities function better”
Science
the systematic use of the scientific method, involving systematic empiricism, empirical questions, and public knowledge
systematic empiricism
the scientific principle of acquiring accurate knowledge through carefully planning, making, recording, and analyzing observations
empirical questions
questions about the way the world actually IS and, therefore, can be answered by systematically observing it
questions that are NOT empirically testable
questions about values—whether things are good or bad, just or unjust, or beautiful or ugly, and how the world ought to be
public knowledge
After asking empirical questions, making systematic observations, and drawing conclusions, scientists publish their work. This usually means writing an article for publication in a professional journal.
Why is publication essential in science?
1) science is a social process—a large-scale collaboration among many researchers distributed across both time and space
2) publication allows scients to be self-correcting so that, over time, scientific knowledge increasingly reflects the way the world actually is
Pseudoscience
activities and beliefs that are claimed to be scientific by their proponents—and may appear to be scientific at first glance—but are not
Pseydoscientific if (1) its adherents claim or imply that it is scientific but (2) it lacks one or more of the three features of science
Falsibiable
any scientific claim must be expressed in such a way that there are observations that would—if they were made—count as evidence against the claim
Why should we care about pseudoscience
1) to clarify the importance of science
2) to identify and evaluate it when we see it
3) to distinguish the psychology field from it
Who conducts scientific research?
Usually PhDs and master’s degrees
Basic research
research conducted primarily for the sake of achieving a more detailed and accurate understanding of human behavior, without necessarily trying to address any particular practical problem
Applied reserach
conducted primarily to address some practical problem
Folk psychology
intuitive beliefs about people’s behavior thoughts and feelings and these beliefs are collectively referred to as folk psychology
Confirmation bias
we tend to focus on cases that confirm our intuitive beliefs and not on cases that disconfirm them
Skepticism
pausing to consider alternatives and search for evidence—espeically systematically collected empirical evidence—when there is enough at stake to justify doing so
Tolerence for uncertainty
because there is often not enough evidence to fully evaluate a belief or claim, scientists accept that there are many things that they simply do not know
Clinical practice of psychology
the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and related problems
Clinical practice
the activities of clinical and counseling psychologists, school psychologists, marriage and family therapists, licensed clinical social workers, and others who work with people individually or in small groups to identify and solve their psychological problems
Empirically supported treatments
a treatment that is shown by systematic observation to be more effective than no treatment or some alternative treatment
