PSYC 3450Experimental Psychology

Course Instructor: Alla ChavargaMonday 9:05-10:45am

Course Syllabus• Syllabus handout

• Attendance• Course Format: Lecture & Lab

• Your ONLY homework assignment!Email me: alla.chavarga@gmail.comSubject: Your Name PSYCH 3450 – Name of TA

• Required Textbook

CHAPTER 1Scientific Thinking in Psychology

Why take this course?How do we come to know things?Science as a way of knowing

Psychological Science vs. PseudoscienceGoals of Research

Why take this course?

• Learn how to do research in Psychology

• Informed and critical consumption of informationProcess vs. content

• Responsibility as a clinician

• How to Get into Grad School 101

How do we come to know things?

I know three things:Correlation does not prove causation.

Socrates has ten fingers.

The sun will come up tomorrow.

Authority

Reason(a priori)

Experience(a priori)Empiricism

How do we come to know things?

Empiricism – the process of learning things through direct observation or experience, and reflecting on those experiences. Sounds legit. What could be wrong about this method?Social Cognition Biases

Belief perseverance – the tendency to hold on to a belief, even in the face of contradictory evidence. Confirmation Bias – tendency to seek out information only in support of belief, ignoring contradictory information. Availability heuristic – tendency to overestimate the frequency with which unusual or memorable events occur

Science as a way of knowing

Scientific Method - the most reliable way to develop a belief; independent of pre-existing bias and opinion.

Hypothesis Experiment Conclusion

Assumptions• Determinism

• Discoverability

All events have causes.Statistical determinism.

Through systematic observation, these causes can be found.

Science as a way of knowing

Scientific methods are characterized by objectivity.Scientists need not be perfect; their results simply need

be publicly verified and replicated.• Specific, detailed descriptions of method.

Scientists are data-driven. Science produces tentative conclusions.Science asks answerable questions.Science develops theories that can be

disproven.

Science as a way of knowing

Some important concepts:

• Hypothesis• Theory – a set of statements that

summarize what is known about some phenomenon and propose working explanations for those phenomena.

• Falsification

Psychological Science vs. Pseudoscience

• Pseudoscience: any field of inquiry that appears to be scientific but is based on inadequate scientific methods and typically produces false conclusions.

• May seem convincing! Anecdotal evidence; effort justification

• Sidesteps disproof

The Goals of Research

• Description• Prediction• Explanation• Application

Lab Prep

• Typically, at the end of a lecture, we will do a mini-lecture consisting of the material to be presented in lab that very week.

• Often times, you will be responsible for writing up the experiment you will perform in lab, so please pay special attention to the definitions and concepts presented.