Psychology is a young science often at odds with folk wisdom and "common sense".
Compare the sayings
"Look before you leap." and "He who hesitates is lost."
And if "Haste makes waste", why does "Time wait for no man"?
I like to say "Two heads are better than one", while my wife often says "Too many cooks spoil the broth."
Can you think of a few?
Thursday, September 4, 2008
3 Important Interrelated features that define Science
1. The use of systematic empiricism
-The empirical attitude in science can be summarized by the phrase "Let's Take A Look."
You may recall that rather than looking in Galileo's telescope, the scholars of the day appealed to authority and denied knowledge that wasn't derived for pure thought and argument.
- Scientific observation is systematic because it is structured so that the results of the observations reveal new insights and information about the world.
Write down every observation you make from the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed on a given day. When you finish, you have a great number of facts, but you will not have a greater understanding of the world.
- Scientific observations are usually theory-driven. They are structured so that, depending on the outcome, some theories are supported and others are rejected.
2. Publicly verifiable knowledge
a. replication - a finding must be presented to the scientific community in a way that enables other scientists to attempt the same experiment and obtain the same results.
b. peer review - a procedure in which each paper submitted to a journal is critiqued by several scientists who then submit their criticisms to an editor, who decides whether the wieght of opinion warrants publication of the paper, publication after further experimentation and statistical analysis, or rejection because the research is flawed or trivial.
When a lack of evidence (i.e. not published in a journal) is accompanied by a media campaign to publicize the claim, it is a sure sign that the idea, or therapy is bogus.
Link to APA divisions
3. Empirically solvable problems
- the types of questions that scientists address are potentially answerable by currently available empirical thechniques.
For example, "Will 3-year-old chldren given structured language stimulation during daycare be ready for reading instruction at an earlier age than children not given such extra stimulation?"
- Science advances by positing theories to account for particular phenomenon in the world, by deriving predictions from these theories, by testing the predictions empirically, and by modifying the theories based on the tests. (theory>prediction>test>modification)
-The empirical attitude in science can be summarized by the phrase "Let's Take A Look."
You may recall that rather than looking in Galileo's telescope, the scholars of the day appealed to authority and denied knowledge that wasn't derived for pure thought and argument.
- Scientific observation is systematic because it is structured so that the results of the observations reveal new insights and information about the world.
Write down every observation you make from the time you get up in the morning to the time you go to bed on a given day. When you finish, you have a great number of facts, but you will not have a greater understanding of the world.
- Scientific observations are usually theory-driven. They are structured so that, depending on the outcome, some theories are supported and others are rejected.
2. Publicly verifiable knowledge
a. replication - a finding must be presented to the scientific community in a way that enables other scientists to attempt the same experiment and obtain the same results.
b. peer review - a procedure in which each paper submitted to a journal is critiqued by several scientists who then submit their criticisms to an editor, who decides whether the wieght of opinion warrants publication of the paper, publication after further experimentation and statistical analysis, or rejection because the research is flawed or trivial.
When a lack of evidence (i.e. not published in a journal) is accompanied by a media campaign to publicize the claim, it is a sure sign that the idea, or therapy is bogus.
Link to APA divisions
3. Empirically solvable problems
- the types of questions that scientists address are potentially answerable by currently available empirical thechniques.
For example, "Will 3-year-old chldren given structured language stimulation during daycare be ready for reading instruction at an earlier age than children not given such extra stimulation?"
- Science advances by positing theories to account for particular phenomenon in the world, by deriving predictions from these theories, by testing the predictions empirically, and by modifying the theories based on the tests. (theory>prediction>test>modification)
Applying Career Development Theory to Counseling
The current text for Graduate Course at Lindenwood.
Richard S. SharfApplying Career Development Theory to Counseling 4th Edition ©2006ISBN: 0534272452ISBN13: 9780534272456
Richard S. SharfApplying Career Development Theory to Counseling 4th Edition ©2006ISBN: 0534272452ISBN13: 9780534272456
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