Unit 0 - Scientific Foundations of Psychology

Module 0.1: The Scientific Attitude, Critical Thinking, and Developing Arguments

Learning Targets:

0.1-1 Explain how psychology is a science

0.1-2 Describe the three key elements of the scientific attitude and how they support scientific inquiry

0.1-3 Explain how critical thinking feeds a scientific attitude, and smarter thinking for everyday life

Psychology is a Science

Module 0.3: Research Methods: Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

The Scientific Method

• Psychologists use the scientific method to support their scientific attitude. It is a self-correcting process using observation and analysis to evaluate ideas. Peer review is also critical to allow experts to evaluate the study. (More eyes on the problem)

How Does a Theory Advance Science?

• Theory: an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

  • Example: if we observe over and over that a classmate who gets plenty of sleep is usually the one with the right answer, we form a principle that sleep must improve memory

How Does a Hypothesis Advance Science

• Hypothesis: a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

  • Example: to test our theory of sleep’s effects on memory, our hypothesis might be that when sleep deprived, people will remember less from the day before