EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

AND THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

I N S T R U C T O R : M R . O M A R T. B U A L A N
OBJECTIVES

• Understand why we rely on scientific method rather than common sense to

explain behaviour
• Learn the principles of the scientific method
• Learn the basic tools of Psychological research
• Understand how “cause and effect” is established by experimentation
What is PSYCHOLOGY?

- SCIENCE OF HUMAN
BEHAVIOR AND MENTAL
PROCESSES

scientia
“Knowledge” Content &
Process
ALL AREAS IN PSYCHOLOGY RELY ON
SCIENTIFIC METHOD.
 PSYCHOLOGY uses
scientific method?
- A STEP BY STEP PROCESS OF
INVESTIGATION.

1. OB SER V A T IO N
2. A S K A QU ES TI ON
3. D O B A CK G R OU ND R ES EA R CH
4. C ONS TR U CT A HY P O TH ESI S
5. T EST H Y P OT H ESI S TH R O UGH
EX P ER IM ENT
6. A N A L YZ E TH E R ESUL T S
7. D R A W A C ONC L USI ON
8. C OM M U NIC A T E T H E R ESUL T S
9. A P P L Y TH E R ESU L TS
THE NEED FOR
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
• Commonsense Psychology – non-scientific data
gathering that shapes our expectations
• WE ARE ALL COMMONSENSE
PSYCHOLOGISTS
• Our ability to gather data in a “systematic and
impartial” way is constrained by two very important
factors: SOURCES OF PSCHOLOGICAL
INFORMATION & INFERENTIAL STRATEGIES
NONSCIENTIFIC
SOURCES OF DATA
• SEEM CREDIBLE AND TRUSTWORTHY
– friends, family, peers, books, news but not always very
good.
• Once we believe we know something, we tend to
overlook instances that might disconfirm our beliefs, and
we seek, instead, confirmatory instances of behavior –
CONFIRMATION BIAS
– E.g. Horoscope, Friday the 13th and Full moon.
WHO DO WE BELIEVE?
• Popular (“Naniniwala na ako sa forever”)
• Attractive (“Pogi”)
• High in status (“My God, I hate drugs”)
• Seemingly expert (“trust me I’m psychology!”)
• Those who appear confident
• Note: we gather a lot of information about
behaviour from our own observations and
interactions
• Note 2.0: We are unaware of factors that
influence our attitudes and behavior
NONSCIENTIFIC INFERENCE
• All commonsense psychologists are trait theorists
• We are generally more accurate when we know someone well than we judge a
stranger
• TRAIT VS. SITUATION
• STEREOTYPIC EXPECTATIONS can lead us to seek confirmatory
instances of behaviour
• GAMBLER’S FALLACY
• OVERCONFIDENCE BIAS (more data, more confident we are in our judgements)
 CHARACTERISTICS OF MODERN
SCIENCE
THE SCIENTIFIC MENTALITY
SELF-CORRECTION
GATHERING EMPIRICAL DATA
PUBLICIZING RESULTS
SEEKING GENERAL
PRINCIPLES
REPLICATION
GOOD THINKING
 OBJECTIVES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
SCIENCE
DESCRIPTION PREDICTION EXPLANATION CONTROL

Systematic and Capacity for Knowledge of the

knowing in conditions that Application of
unbiased account
advance when reliability what has been
of the observed
certain behaviors reproduce to learned about
characteristics of would be expected occurrence of a
behavior. behavior.
to occur. behavior.
IN GENERAL……

• Applied research – research that is designed to solve real-world problems.

– Helping patient to deal with grief
– Dealing with a child having autism or ODD

• Basic research – research designed to test theories or to explain psychological

phenomenon in human and animals.
– Research on reward and punishment
– Test the theory of Albert Bandura (Cognitive Learning Theory)
THE SCIENTIFIC MENTHOD: TOOLS OF
PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

OBSERVATION
Systematic noting MEASUREMENT
and recording of
events Assigning numerical EXPERIMENTATION
values to objects or
events or Undertaken to test a hypothesis
characteristics - Predictions must be testable
according to - Predicted outcomes must be
conventional rules observable
- Must be able to measure outcome
SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Identifying
Antecedent Set of antecedent conditions ► behavior
Conditions

Comparing In Psychology experiment, we create specific sets of

Treatment antecedent condtions we call “treatments”, then
compare with each other.
Conditions
 SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

The Psychology A psychology experiment is a controlled procedure

Experiment in which at least 2 different treatment conditions

Between-subjects
Within-subjects Design
Design
SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

CONTROL
Random assignment

Presenting a treatment condition in an

identical manner to all subjects

Keeping the environment, procedures, and the

measuring instruments constant
SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Establishing If XYZ leads to a particular behaviour, whereas others

cause and do not, then XYZ causes the behaviour; cause and
effect through experiments is called temporal
effect relationship.

Necessary vs.
Sufficient 1. Losing weight
Conditions 2. Experimentation
HISTORY OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
(FROM PSEUDOSCIENCE TO PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE)
FROM PSEUDOSCIENCE TO PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

POP PSYCHOLOGY

WILHELM WUNDT

G. STANLEY HALL
Mental Philosophy - Europe
 FROM PSEUDOSCIENCE TO PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

Psychology as an experimental science did not emerge

until late 1800s....

• PHILOSOPHY (NOT A HELPING PROFESSION)

• PSEUDOSCIENCE
Phrenology - Franz Joseph Gall
Physiognomy
Mesmerism/Animal Magnetism - Franz Anton
Mesmer (also known today as hypnosis)
• He use magnet or his hands to mesmerize
• Jean Martin Charcoat continue this.
• Until it was introduced to Josef Breuer and
Sigmund Freud.
 FROM PSEUDOSCIENCE TO PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE
• Wilhelm Wundt
 Established the first experimental psychology laboratory in
Leipzig, Germany in 1879.
 Schools of thought: Structuralism
 Elements of consciousness: sensation, Images and affections

• G. Stanley Hall (Granville)

 Established first psychological laboratory in United States.
 Hall was a major force in organizing the field focusing on
scientific approaches in 1883.
 First president of American Psychological Association (APA)
 Psychology today is heavily relying on DATA, FACTS,
NUMBERS, EXPERIMENTATION
 STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT, OBEDIENCE TO
AUTHORITY, TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY
ANY QUESTION?