Features of a Science

• Replicability- the extent to which scientific procedures and findings can be repeated by other researchers
• Paradigm- a set of shared assumptions and agreed methods within a scientific discipline
• Falsifiability- a theory cannot be scientific unless it admits the possibility of being proved wrong
• Objectivity- when all sources of personal bias are minimised, so the process isn't distorted or influenced
• Empirical methods- scientific approaches that are based on the gathering of evidence through direct observation and experimentation
• Four goals of psychology:

  1. To describe a behaviour or cognition- eg creating general laws about behaviour
  2. To explain a behaviour or cognition- eg explaining why trends in behaviour occur
  3. To predict behaviour or cognition- eg predicting future behaviours
  4. To change or control a behaviour- eg providing treatments for behaviours