Matthews . . . were getting another one of those

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Psychology 7 Experimental Psychology
The Science of Psychology
Matthews . . . were getting another one of
those strange aw blah es span yol sounds.
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psychology, n, 1 the science of mind and
behavior.
science, n, 1a possession of knowledge as
distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding
b knowledge attained through systematic study or
practice.
The basic goal of scientific psychology is the
explanation of thought and behavior
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Scientific Thinking

• Science is
• Empirical Based on observations
• Objective Observations and conclusions are
  clearly defined in ways that allow others to get
  the same results (i.e., ideas are testable,
  verifiable)
• Systematic Observations are organized in such a
  way that allows causal inferences
• Often based on theory

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Science based on observations vs. authority
1610, Galileo constructs 30x telescope 1615,
Cardinal Bellarmine cautions scientists to treat
Copernican views as hypothesis, not fact 1616, A
committee of advisors to the Inquisition declares
movement of the earth absurd and formally
heretical 1633, Galileo sentenced to indefinite
imprisonment for too strongly defending
Copernican theory of planetary motion he signs a
recantation 1835, Galileos Dialogue Concerning 2
Chief World Systems taken off Vaticans list of
banned books 1992, Catholic church formally
admits Galileos views on the solar system are
correct
My dear Kepler, what would you say of the learned
here, who, replete with the pertinacity of the
asp, have steadfastly refused to cast a glance
through the telescope?  What shall we make of
this?  Shall we laugh, or shall we cry?"
--Letter from Galileo Galilei to Johannes Kepler
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Scientific Thinking

• Science is
• Empirical Based on observations
• Objective Observations and conclusions are
  clearly defined in ways that allow others to get
  the same results
• Systematic Observations are organized in such a
  way that allows causal inferences
• Often based on theory

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Auras and Objectivity

• Some people claim to see colorful auras around
  people
• Based on observations but not ones that are
  available to everyone
• Not objective
• Not verifiable
• Systematic tests
• Measuring devices
• Blind tests

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• Brofman Foundation for the Advancement of
  Healing
• This course is designed for student
  participation, with lecturing kept to a minimum.
  The workshop covers the spectrum and the
  chakras, color meditations, the breath, personal
  influence of color, auras (their meanings, how to
  read and sense them), correlation of sound and
  light (its use for health).

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Another Example Therapeutic Touch

• Practice of sensing and smoothing out patients
  invisible energy fields to promote healing
• Become attuned to the energy field around the
  body of your subject. Holding your hands two to
  six inches above her, start at her head and
  continue to work downward to her feet. Move
  your hands downward and outward from the top of
  each uneven area using a flowing motion. To
  complete the session, reassess your friends
  energy field to make sure youve balanced it
  out, says Dr. Krieger.
• as a beginner, you should limit each session
  to five minutes. Otherwise, youll overload the
  person youre treating, or yourself, with energy.
  That can cause irritability, a sympathetic
  nervous system response.
• Over 100 universities have therapeutic touch
  instruction in nursing schools
• Estimated that there are gt 50,000 practitioners
  nationally

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Systematic Examination of TT

• A close look at therapeutic touch. Journal of the
  American Medical Association. 1998.
• 21 TT practitioners tested for whether could
  sense which of their hands had a human hand
  placed above it
• Practitioners were correct on 44 of trials, no
  better than chance
• Their failure to substantiate TTs most
  fundamental claim is unrefuted evidence that the
  claims of TT are groundless and that further
  professional use is unjustified.

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Scientific Thinking

• Science is
• Empirical Based on observations
• Objective Observations and conclusions are
  clearly defined in ways that allow others to get
  the same results
• Systematic Observations are organized in such a
  way that allows causal inferences
• Often based on theory

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Systematic Thought
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INTUITION AS EVIDENCE

• Intuition can be wrong
• Our perceptual and reasoning mechanisms may not
  always be accurate
• Even when intuition is correct, it is not
  scientific evidence
• Usually subjective
• Usually unsystematic

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Change Blindness
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Change Blindness The Scientific Method
The observation People are not good at detecting
changes in the environment.
The hypothesis People will be slower to detect a
change in two successive scenes if some visual
event briefly intervenes between those two scenes.
The method Experiment using the Flicker
Paradigm. In one condition, subjects reaction
time is measured to a changing object in one of
two identical scenes that flicker back and forth
with a gray screen presented between the scenes
for 80 msecs. In another condition, subjects
reaction time is measured to a changing object in
one of two identical scenes that flicker back and
forth without a gray screen.
The result Subjects are significantly slower in
the condition with the intervening gray screen.
Ron Rensink Visual Cognition (2000)
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Change Blindness The Scientific Method
The observation People are not good at detecting
changes in the environment.
The hypothesis People will often fail to detect
significant changes in the real world if their
attention is diverted.
The method Experiment using real people on the
street outside Harvard University. The
experimenter asks a subject for directions. While
the subject looks at a map, two men with a door
walk in between them, and the experimenter
switches places with another man. Will the
subject notice?
The result Over 50 of the subjects fail to
detect the change.
Simons Levin Psychonomic Bulletin Review
(1998)
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The Hot Hand in Basketball

• Common belief that basketball players get hot
  hands in which they are likely to make multiple
  shots in a row
• Some players described as streak shooters
• Evidence is intuition commonsense inferences
  from casual observation

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Scientific Examination of Hot Hand

• Study 1 Survey found 91 subjects thought player
  had better chance of making next shot after
  having made last 2-3 shots vs. having missed last
  2-3 shots
• Study 2 Analysis of Philadelphia 76ers in 1980
  season
• Made 51 of shots after making last shot, 54
  after missing last shot
• Made 50 after making last 2 shots, made 53
  after missing last 2
• Made 46 after making last 3 shots, made 56
  after missing last
• Study 3 Analysis of Free Throws by Boston
  Celtics
• Overall, made 75 of 2nd free throws regardless
  of whether made or missed first one
• Study 4 Cornell University basketball players in
  a controlled shooting experiment no more likely
  to make next shot after missing last one
• (Gilovich et al., 1985)

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• If you tossed a fair coin 20 times in a row,
  there is a 25 chance of getting heads 5 times in
  a row
• That coin is on fire!
• Hypothetical announcer at the NCAA coin tossing
  championship

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• Who is this guy? So he makes a study. I couldnt
  care less.
• Red Auerbach, Celtics owner
• There are so many variables involved in shooting
  the basketball that a paper like this really
  doesnt mean anything.
• Bobby Knight, Basketball coach

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Note Taker Job

• Note taker for this course
• 25 per unit
• If interested, go to the Disabled Students
  Office, 2120 SRB for an application