EXPERIMENTAL

PSYCHOLOGY AND THE

SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Prepared by:
Jhunar John M. Tauy, RPm
 Understand why we rely on scientific
methods rather than commonsense to
explain behavior

Learn the principles of the scientific

Chapter method

Objectives Learn the basic tools of psychological

research

Understand how “cause-and-effect” is

established by experimentation
 PSYCHOLOGY
scientific study of human behavior
and mental processes

Gross, R. (2015). Psychology: The science of human behavior (7th ed..). Hodder Education
Psychological
Science
◦ process of conducting
psychological research
through the use of the
scientific method

Hall P.A. (2013). Psychological Science. In: Gellman M.D., Turner

J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New
York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1175
 Science
◦ originated from the Latin word scientia
which means “knowledge”1
◦ knowledge about the natural world that
is based on facts learned through
experiments and observation2

CONTENT and PROCESS1

1 Myers, A. & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental Psychology (7th ed.). Cengage Learning
2Science (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary. http://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/science
 THE NEED
FOR
SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
Why should we rely on scientific method?
Example:
A psychologists observed that during the pandemic
period, teachers and students are adjusting to the new
mode of learning. Teachers employ various techniques
in educating their students such as using different
learning platforms and utilizing different learning
delivery modalities (e.g. modular distance learning,
online distance learning, blended learning).
Example:
The psychologist theorized that these various
modalities of delivery are different in terms of its
impact on the students’ academic performance. Further,
the psychologist hypothesized that blended learning is
more effective than the other modes of delivery. To test
this hypothesis, the psychologist conducted an
experiment.
Example:
In the experiment, the psychologist collaborated with the
teachers and assigned them to utilize the different modes of
learning delivery. A total of (3) three groups were formed
and the psychologist instructed the teachers to employ the
different modes of learning delivery to their students. At the
end of the semester, the psychologist gathered the final
grades of the students and subjected it to data analysis.
 THE
BASIC
STEPS OF
SCIENTIFIC
METHOD
The Need for Scientific
Methodology

“In our daily lives, we all collect

and use psychological data to
understand the behavior of others
and to guide our own behavior.”

Myers, A. & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental Psychology

(7th ed.). Cengage Learning
Commonsense
Psychology
◦ the kind of everyday, nonscientific data
gathering that shapes our expectations
and beliefs and directs our behavior
toward others, also referred to as “folk
psychology”
◦ intuitive beliefs about people’s behavior,
thoughts, and feelings

Myers, A. & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental

Psychology (7th ed.). Cengage Learning
Some Great Myths of
Popular Psychology
◦ “we use only 10% of our brain”
◦ “there’s safety in numbers”
◦ “opposites attract”
◦ “anger can be relieved by “letting it
out”
Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Ruscio, J. & Beyerstein, B. L. (2010). 50
great myths of popular psychology. Malden, MA Wiley Blackwell
Anger can be relieved
by “letting it out”
◦ Scientific research shown that this
approach tends to leave people
feeling angrier, not less (Bushman,
2002).

Bushman, B. J. (2002). Does venting anger feed or extinguish the flame? Catharsis, rumination,
distraction, anger, and aggressive responding. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28, 724–
731.
Lilienfeld, S. O., Lynn, S. J., Ruscio, J. & Beyerstein, B. L. (2010). 50 great myths of popular
psychology. Malden, MA Wiley Blackwell
Why should we rely on scientific
method rather than commonsense to
explain behavior?
◦ commonsense beliefs about behavior can be
unreliable and their predictions are likely to be
imperfect
◦ commonsense beliefs came from sources that
seem credible and trustworthy but are not
always valid

Myers, A. & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental Psychology (7th ed.).

Cengage Learning
 Nonscientific Sources of Data

Data we gather from sources that seem

credible and trustworthy but may not always
be valid.

Family, friends, relatives, people in authority,

people we admire, reports from media, book
we read
 Confirmation Bias
◦ the tendency to gather evidence that confirms
preexisting expectations, typically by
emphasizing or pursuing supporting evidence
while dismissing or failing to seek contradictory
evidence.
◦ Do you believe in horoscope?
◦ Do you believe that when you knock on wood, it
avoids bad luck?
◦ Do you feel a bit anxious on Friday the 13th?
Confirmation Bias (n.d.). In the APA Dictionary of Psychology.
https://dictionary.apa.org/confirmation-bias
Friday the 13th as
unlucky day?
◦ According to a study conducted in West
Sussex in Great Britain and reported in
the British Medical Journal, it was
discovered that Friday the 13th did appear
to be an unlucky day for drivers. Since
1989, the number of emergency room
visits from automobile accidents is
higher (about 52%) during Friday the
13th.

Myers, A. & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental

Psychology (7th ed.). Cengage Learning
Friday the 13th: The
Power of Negative
Thinking
◦ The increased accident rate for
Friday the 13th was probably
caused by a feeling of fear or
agitation about something that
may happen which leads to
anxiety. Anxiety can cause
reduced attention to driving, thus,
more accidents occurred.
Myers, A. & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental
Psychology (7th ed.). Cengage Learning
 Why should we rely on scientific
method rather than commonsense
to explain behavior?
◦ commonsense psychologist uses nonscientific
inference or the nonscientific use of
information to explain or predict behavior
“All commonsense psychologists are trait
theorist---at least when it comes to explaining the
behavior of others.”
TRAIT > CONTEXT

Myers, A. & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental Psychology (7th ed.).

Cengage Learning
Nonscientific
Inference
Stereotypes
◦ generalized beliefs about the
characteristics that are
associated with the members of
a social group

McLeod, S. A. (2015, October 24). Stereotypes. Simply

Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/katz-braly.html
Nonscientific Inference
Gambler’s Fallacy
◦ when one believes that random happenings are
more or less likely to occur because of the
frequency with which they have occurred in the
past (also known as Monte Carlo Fallacy)

Myers, A. & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental Psychology (7th ed.).

Cengage Learning
Nonscientific
Inference
Overconfidence Bias
◦ our predictions, guesses, and explanations
tend to feel much more correct than they
actually are, and the more data we have
available (accurate or not), the more
confidence we have in our judgments about
behavior.

Myers, A. & Hansen, C. (2012). Experimental Psychology

(7th ed.). Cengage Learning
 Remember:
These (commonsense beliefs) are all shortcuts ,
and most of the time, they allow us to function
well-enough, but they are not always accurate.

If we want to rely on our conclusions and use

them as general principles to explain and
predict behavior, we need to proceed more
systematically and objectively.
 Scientific Method
◦ principles and procedures for the systematic
pursuit of knowledge involving the
recognition and formulation of a problem, the
collection of data through observation and
experiment, and the formulation and testing of
hypotheses

Scientific Method (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s collegiate

dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scientific
%20method
 PLEASE SEE
ASSIGNMENTS IN THE
NEO-LMS