Explaining Behavior - Methods and Logic Behavior Research | PSYC 330, Study notes of Psychology

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Chapter 1

Explaining Behavior

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What is Science?

A set of methods used to



Collect information about phenomena in an

area



Build a reliable base of information in an area



Develop theories to explain phenomena

Information acquired via research



Identifying a problem to study



Developing hypotheses



Conducting research and analyzing results



Disseminating results

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How Do Scientists Do Science?

Scientists use many techniques to do science



Measure two or more variables and look for a

relationship among them



Conduct controlled experiments to look for causal

connections among variables

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Basic and Applied Research

Basic research



Conducted to evaluate theories or empirical

positions



Goal is to acquire information about a

phenomenon



Little emphasis on application to real-world

problems

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Exploring the Causes of

Behavior

Science of psychology has two goals



Build knowledge about behavior



Develop valid, reliable explanations for behavior

Hunting trip analogy (Cialdini, 1994)



Scouting



Make systematic observations of naturally occurring

behavior



Trapping



Identify factors that might affect behavior scouted



Develop a study to evaluate the factors believed to

affect behavior

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Science and Pseudoscience

A true science employs rigorous scientific

methods

Pseudoscience is a set of ideas presented

as science, but are not really science



Phrenology



Eye movement desensitization and

reprocessing therapy (EMDR)



Astrology

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6. Avoidance of the peer review process that would scientifically scrutinize ideas and claims
7. A failure to build on an existing base of scientific knowledge
8. Excessive use of impressive sounding jargon that lends false credibility to ideas and claims
9. Failure to specify conditions under which ideas or claims would not hold true Source: Lillenfeld (2005)

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Science Pseudoscience Findings published in peer reviewed publications using standards for honesty and accuracy aimed at scientists. Findings disseminated to general public via sources that are not peer reviewed. No prepublication review for precision or accuracy. Experiments must be precisely described and be reproducible. Reliable results are demanded. Studies, if any, are vaguely defined and cannot be reproduced easily. Results cannot be reproduced Scientific failures are carefully scrutinized and studied for reasons for failure. Failures are ignored, minimized, explained away, rationalized or hidden. Over time and continued research more and more is learned about scientific phenomena. No underlying mechanisms are identified and no new research is done. No progress is made and nothing concrete is learned. Distinguishing Science from Pseudoscience

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Characteristics of Scientific

Explanations



Scientific explanations are EMPIRICAL

 They are based on objective, systematic observations



Scientific explanations are RATIONAL



They follow the rules of logic and are consistent with

known facts



Scientific explanations are TESTABLE



They are verifiable through observation and can be

disproved

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Scientific explanations are PARSIMONIOUS



They provide the simplest explanation using the fewest

possible assumptions



Scientific explanations are GENERAL



They apply beyond the original observations on which

they are based



Scientific explanations are TENTATIVE



They are never accepted as absolutely correct



Scientific explanations are RIGOROUSLY

EVALUATED



They are constantly evaluated for consistency with

evidence, generality, and parsimony

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Why Scientific Explanations

Fail



Faulty inference

 Scientific explanations involve inference process

 If inference is wrong, explanation fails



Pseudoexplanation



Alternative label for behavior masks as an explanation



Must have independent measures of behavior and

explanatory concept to avoid this trap

© 2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., All Rights Aggressive Behavior Aggressive Instinct Causes Proves the Existence of

A Circular Explanation

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Rational Method

 Pioneered by Descartes

 Steps involved

 (^) Willingness to doubt the truth of anything  (^) Search for “self-evident” truths  (^) Deduce a new truth from the self-evident truths

 Power of the method lies in logical deduction of truths from

self-evident truths

 (^) Unfortunately, few self-evident truths exist

 The rational method is not used to develop scientific

explanations



The method is used to develop testable hypotheses

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The Scientific Method

 The goal of science is to develop general laws

 Only the scientific method can lead to general laws

 The scientific method consists of four steps

 (^) Observing a phenomenon  (^) Formulating testable explanations (hypotheses)  (^) Further observing and experimenting  (^) Refining and retesting explanations 

The scientific method can be tedious and time-consuming

 (^) But the results are worth the effort