Transcript Scientific methods in psychology Why we have confidence in the principles of contemporary psychology.

Scientific methods
in psychology
Why we have confidence in the
principles of contemporary
psychology
It all
starts with:
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A problem,
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Or a question, or
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Maybe just an observation.
gathering and
evaluating evidence
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Universally accepted format
Hypothesis - a testable prediction
Will exposure to violent video cause children
to be more aggressive?
Will phonics training help young children read
better?
Will watching Sportscenter with your
boyfriend lead him to watch the Notebook with
you?
Testing or Methods
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Watch ? – Naturalistic Observation
Ask questions? – Survey
Look for relationships? – Correlations
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Uncover causation – Experiments
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Draw Conclusions
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What did you find?
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How do you interpret it?
peer review &
replication
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If other researchers follow your method to
investigate your hypothesis, will they get
the same results?
If they do, the hypothesis has been
replicated – confirmed, leading to more
confidence in it.
If they don’t, confidence in the hypothesis
is diminished.