Theory in Psych

Laboratory experiments

These experiments:

1. Use analytic controls/contrasts to assess alternative explanations

2. Can study variables in isolation

3. A closed system, no other variables present except those intended

4. Use intervention (manipulation) to infer cause and effect

5. Ability to make abstractions about general principles

6. Create situations which may not occur naturally

Scientific method

A systematic, empirical approach to research that involves observation, experimentation, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses to draw conclusions about phenomena.

Relevant facts

Relevant because they inform us about our abstractions.

Irrelevant facts

Irrelevant because:

1. Inadequate protection against interference

2. Inadequate methods

3. Came from outdated or ineffective experiments

4. Discredited in some way

5. No impact on our abstractions

Qualities of experimental results

• Fallible

• Reversible

Also true for all knowledge based upon it.

Abstract concept

Intangible ideas, qualities, or relationships that exist in mental representations. General and may not relate to physical reality.

Concrete concept

Tangible experiences which can be perceived with the senses. Specific and directly relate to physical realities.

Aim of science

To produce and extend reliabke knowledge of events and objects in the world.

• Explain

• Understand

• Predict

• Control

Logic of science

There is a real world → the real world is observable → therefore observational statements are truthful about the real world.

The same is true for other knowledge systems (e.g. common sense, religion, art).

Norms of scientific conduct

• Universalism

• Communalism

• Disinterestedness

• Organised skepticism

Universalism

The acceptance or rejection of claims entering science does not depend on the personal or social attributes of the person stating them.

A norm of scientific conduct.

Communalism

The substantive findings of science are a product of social collaboration and are assigned to the community.

A norm of scientific conduct.

Disinterestedness

Findings are scrutinised, and accepted or rejected without personal or organisational prejudice.

A norm of scientific conduct.

Organised skepticism

Judgement is suspended until the facts are made available.

A norm of scientific conduct.

Assumptions of science

1. There are knowable uniformities in the world.

2. Uniformiies can be explained through causes and effects.

3. Knowledge is obtained via inferences:

   1. From general to particular (deduction).

   2. From particular to general (induction).

4. Experiments are the hallmark of this field.

5. Cumulative progress.

6. Occurs independently from the rest of the world.

7. The best avenue to reliable and objective knowledge.

Caveats about assumptions

• Be aware of what is taken for granted.

• Be aware of what goes unsaid.

• Some assumptions may be difficult/impossible to demonstrate or defend.

Characteristics of scientific knowledge

• Abstract and general - applies across time, place, and people

• Deals with facts but goes beyond them

• Analytic - decomposes things into parts

• Verifiable

• Communicable

• Lawful

Induction

The process of generating laws and principles from a finite set of observables.

Movement from fact to theory.

How to justify an inductive inference

Three conditions must be met:

1. Must be a large number of observations forming the basis of the generalisation.

2. Observations must be repeated under a wide variety of conditions.

3. No accepted observation statement should conflict with the derived law.

Scientific progress

The accumulation of increasingly more inductively-generated laws.

Deduction

Once a law has been generated, it can be assumed that all future cases can be subsumed under them - a conclusion is true if the premises are true.

Movement from theory to fact - therefore important the theory is correct.

Empirical difficulties with induction

• Constant conjunction can be accidental or caused by a third factor

• Causal mechanisms can be inferred, but rarely show their effects

Logical difficulties with induction

• Other hypotheses often account for data equally well

• Constant conjunction necessary but not sufficient to establish causality

• Proving validity and reliability by showing it works is simply proof by induction itself (circular argument)

Difference between facts and theories

Can’t be distinguished!

• What is defined as a fact is itself theory-based

• How we interpret our observations is a function of the concepts available

• Observers cannot record their environment without an initial framework within which they interpret information

Theory

Statements of how the world works. Some are common sense.

Theory-laden observations

The idea that all observations are interpreted through pre-existing theories before they influence new theories, and thus the two cannot be separated.

Working within scientific assumptions is working within a theoretical framework, so it is impossible for our observations to be free of bias even when personal biases are minimised.

The impossibility of discovering the nature of the world without preconceptions determined by experience, context, and/or values.

Theoretical framework

The scaffold of ideas and concepts within which assumptions and inferences can be made about facts and data.

A problem in psychology is that many people fail to use or make explicit these in their work, which inhibits critical evaluation of their work.

• There is an assumption that not using these increases objectivity.

• In reality, it just hinders comparison and robs the work of an easy-to-find foundation of knowledge.

Values

Prescriptive (“should”) statements about behaviour in terms of good or bad, ethical and unethical, moral and immoral.

Enter into science in numerous ways:

• Choice of problem to be investigated

• Planning studies to answer questions

• Collection and analysis of data

• Interpreting findings

• Making decisions about results

Theories

Sets of assumptions about the nature of things to be explained and understood; descriptions of reality through a lens.

Value-laden research

Theory-laden research in which the theories are chosen as a function of an individual researcher’s values, can be to any degree. In this way, accepting the assumptions of science is an expression of a set of values.

Consensual agreement in science

At any time, there is agreement about:

• The nature of the pursuit of knowledge

• This being subject to subject to historical and political fluctuations

• People pursue an understanding of a shared vision of reality

Observational-clarifying role of theories

Role of theories in which theories:

• Allow us to make sense of our sensory observations

• Provide links and connections between disparate observations

• Allow us to interpret and understand results from separate experiments