Page 1: Fundamental Scientific Principles in Psychology
The first page introduces the core scientific principles underlying psychological research. The text outlines how psychology has developed from philosophical roots into an independent scientific discipline.
Definition: Psychology is a scientific discipline that aims to understand individuals and groups through establishing general principles and researching specific cases.
The foundation rests on several key approaches:
Highlight: The scientific method forms the backbone of psychological research, involving hypothesis formation, empirical observation, and theory development.
Example: When studying human behavior, researchers might form a hypothesis about how social media affects mental health, collect data through controlled experiments, and develop theories based on their findings.
Vocabulary:
- Falsifiability: The requirement that scientific theories must make testable predictions
- Parsimony: The principle of selecting the simplest explanation that adequately explains observations