What is Science? Ways of Thiinkiing about the Worlld Why is this Important? From a Club to the Cosmos Science How did we move from stone axes to satellites? IItt wass tthrrough tthee Scciieenttiiffiicc Reevolluttiion.. What is Science? Scciieenccee iiss a way off obttaiiniing knowlleedgee by meeanss off objjeeccttiivee eevalluattiionss.. What are the goals of Science? Thee diissccoveerry and deessccrriipttiion off rreegullarriittiieess iin tthee uniiveerrssee,, tthee worrlld,, and iin lliiviing orrganiissmss.. Thee deeveellopmeentt off ttheeorriieess tto eexpllaiin ttheessee rreegullarriittiieess.. What are the goals of Psychological Science? Leett''ss do tthee abovee iin a beehaviiorrall ccontteextt.. Ways of Knowing and Thinking about the World Science is different from some other ways of thinking about the world. IT IIS NOT BASED SOLELY ON AUTHORIITY OR LOGIIC. If we listened to the "Authorities", we might still think the
Sun goes around the Earth. You must know that Galileo defied "Authority" for Science and was forced to recant under threat of death. Scciieenccee usseess eempiirriiccall meetthodss as it is based on experience. Scciieenccee iiss objjeeccttiivee.. If other people were looking over the shoulder of the scientist - they would all report the same thing. Scciieenccee iiss sseellff--ccorrrreeccttiing.. If you put forward an incorrect thesis - someone will test it and "OOPS" - you will be proven incorrect. Scciieenccee iiss prrogrreessssiivee and tteenttattiivee.. We don't stand still - there is also something new to discover - we are never sure that we have the whole truth. This quite different from Authority based knowledge systems that think that there is nothing new to learned or discovered. These systems have the "truth" and that's it. Disagree and face the Inquisition. I tthiink beiing a sciienttiistt woulld be diiffffiiculltt iin an "Autthoriitty" based sociietty.. Scciieenccee iiss parrssiimoniiouss.. We don't try to have overly complex models. The ones that predict the results with the fewest factors are best. We like to yield Occam's Razor (from William of Occam, a 14 th century philosophy) in order to slice away unnecessary theoretical baggage. What Are Important Factors in the Ways Scientists Work?
The Assumptions of Science Realliity of the worlld -- we exiistt ((tthatt''s a good tthiing!!)) Ratiionalliity -- ((tthe worlld iis understtandablle)) Regullariity -- ((tthere are reoccurriing patttterns iin tthe worlld)) Diiscoverabiilliity -- we can diiscover tthe solluttiions tto tthe probllems we sttudy Causalliity -- eventts happen because off precediing causes The Goals of Science Diiscover Regullariitiies Deessccrriibee tthee Beehaviiorr Diissccoveerr Lawss Seearrcch fforr Causseess The Devellopment of Theoriies ((Leett''ss havee an eexpllanattiion fforr ttheessee llawss tthatt wee diissccoveerreed..)) How Does Sciience Progress and by the Way,, What''s a Paradiigm Shiift? One thing that many consider important to understanding Science and Psychology is the nature of progress in our field. One seminal figure is Thomas Kuhn who emphasizes the role of scientific revolutions and the concept of the scientific paradigm. The Key Take Away Poiintts::
Scientific progress isn't always smooth. It is punctuated by Scientific Revolutions where old ideas and theories are overthrown by exciting new ones proposed by brash newcomers. That's a paradigm shift according to some. Paradigms represent the pervasive way of thinking about particular field or subfield. During a period of normal science - everyone goes along. Paradigm shifts shake up this comfortable feeling. A good example of a paradigm shift was the Copernican Revolution where the Sun became the center of the Solar system! For extra credit - which picture below is correct? If you get it wrong - you may be burned at the stake. It is argued that Psychology has gone through many competing paradigms such as the Instrospectionists, Humanist, Behaviorists, Cognitivists and more. The only reason that no psychologist has been burned at the stake is that there are laws.
Bottom Line Science has developed as it has today because of its success. We have a philosophical outlet and practical methodologies that let us explore the world. We have procedures that can discover and test the lawful nature of many things - especially in Psychology. We are no longer tyrannized by appeals to authority. We form hypotheses and we TEST them. Our decisions are based on the results. In fact, rather than fearing change, we await the next scientific revolution with anticipation as who knows what progress it may bring us.