How is psychology a science?
Science demands careful observation and testing to separate sense from nonsense.
How does critical thinking feed a scientific attitude and smarter thinking for everyday life?
Critical thinking is key to scientific thinking. It involves questioning, relying on evidence, being open to being wrong and testing conclusions.
What are the key elements of the scientific attitude, and how do they support scientific inquiry?
- Curiosity triggers new ideas. When put to the test, can an idea’s predictions be confirmed?
- Skepticism encourages attention to the facts, revealing which claim best matches the facts.
- Humility helps us discard predictions that cannot be verified by research. Be willing to be surprised and follow new ideas.
What are case studies?
Study one person or group in depth, in the hope of revealing things true to us all
Naturalistic Observations
Examine behavior in naturally occurring situations without changing or controlling the situation
Surveys
Study people in less depth, using random sampling to fairly represent the population being studied so that findings can be generalized
Correlations
tell us how one thing predicts another but not whether one thing caused the other, or whether some third factor was involved.
Positive Correlation
Both things increase or decrease together
Negative correlation
One thing increases as the other decreases
Why do correlations enable prediction but not cause-and-effect explanation?
Correlations suggest the relationship between two things, but cannot prove causation or the direction of the influence, as a third variable may also play a role..
nature is to nure as
biology is to experience
