Popper and Kuhn

1
Popper and Kuhn

• Falsification
• Vs
• Paradigms

Leanne Withers Jenny Musto Naomi Wood
2
Karl Popper
3
Karl R. Popper 1902-1994

• 1918 Attended University of Vienna
• 1928 PhD in philosophy
• 1937 Lecturer of philosophy at University of
  Canterbury, New Zealand
• 1946 Teaches at London School of Economics
• 1949 Becomes professor of logic and scientific
  method
• 1965 Receives Knighthood

4
Main Publications

• 1934 Logik der Forschung
• 1944 The Poverty of Historicism
• 1945 The Open Society and its Enemies
• 1959 The Logic of Scientific Discovery (The
  English translation of Logik der Forschung)

5
Poppers View

• All scientific theories will be found to be false
  eventually and will then be replaced by new, more
  useful theories
• Popperian science is a never-ending search for
  better solutions to scientific problems and
  explanations of scientific phenomena
• Barker, (1989), suggests that Popper rejects the
  use of psychology in any philosophically
  interesting context where questions about science
  are to be raised and deny the applicability of
  empirical methods to the study of science

6
Rejections of Traditional Science

• Popper disagreed with the traditional description
  of science.
• According to Popper the old view of science
  implies that scientists make observations and
  then attempt to explain what they observed(known
  as post-diction)
• But, Poppers view is that scientific activity
  starts with a problem and then the problems
  themselves determine what observation will be
  made (known as prediction)
• Popper expressed that scientific method has
  three stages,
• Problems,
• Proposed solutions or theories
• Criticism

7
Falsifiability

• Falsifiability - Criterion that distinguishes a
  scientific theory from a non-scientific theory
  and states also that a scientific theory must be
  refutable.

8
When Use Falsification?

• Use as a demarcation between a scientific and
  non-scientific theory, not between useful and
  useless theory.
• Many theories in psychology fail Poppers test of
  falsifiability in one of two ways
• They are stated in such general terms that they
  are almost confirmed by almost any observation
• They engage in post-diction rather then
  prediction
• Although these types of theory fail Poppers test
  they are still often found to be useful theories

9
Risky Predictors

• If a theory is said to be scientific it must make
  risky predictions, (predictors that run a risk
  of being incorrect)
• If theories dont have risky predictors they are
  not scientific
• Popper pointed out and made a problem with many
  other psychological theories e.g. Freud and
  Adler, as they engage in post-diction rather than
  prediction. Therefore extinguishing the
  possibility of falsification

10
Thomas Kuhn
11
Thomas Kuhn 1922-1996

• Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
• 1948 Assistant Professor at Harvard
• 1949 PhD in Physics form Harvard
• 1961 Professor of History of Science at
  University of California
• 1979 Professor of Philosophy and History of
  Science at MIT in Boston

12
The Structure of Scientific Revolution (1962)

• Written while he was a postgraduate student at
  Harvard
• Seen as one of the most influential theories in
  the history of science
• Sold over 1 million copies in 16 languages many
  more than the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin
• This book introduced the terms paradigm and
  paradigm shift

13
The Evolution of Paradigm Theory

• Major scientific theories too complex for
  inductivism and falsification.
• Kuhn (1962), Science is not a gradual
  accumulation of knowledge but progressive by
  leaps often changing the terms of reference by a
  phenomenon completely.
• This contrasts to Poppers view that science is
  gradual and accumulative.
• Kuhn believes a scientific theory is abandoned
  and replaced by a completely different theory

14
The Evolution of Paradigm Theory

• Kuhn created the term Paradigm to explain
  theoretical assumptions that a particular
  scientific community adopt, (normal science).
• An example of normal science is the belief that
  the world is a sphere

15
Paradigms

• Kuhn questioned how can rules be derived from
  paradigms when paradigms can guide research even
  in the absence of rules.
• The rules used by scientists who share a paradigm
  are easily determined.
• Scientists can disagree on the interpretation of
  the paradigm.
• A paradigm need not imply that any full set of
  rules exist
• Scientists are often guided by tacit knowledge
  (knowledge acquired through practice and cannot
  be articulated explicitly)

16
Paradigms Cont.

• The attributes shared by a paradigm are not
  readily apparent
• They could be more binding and completed than any
  set of rules for research that could be
  unequivocally abstracted from them
• Paradigms can determine normal science without
  strict rules or shared assumptions because
• It is very difficult to establish a set of rules
  for normal science traditions
• Scientists never learn concepts laws and theories
  by themselves

17
Paradigms Cont.

• Scientists who share a paradigm usually accept
  without question the solutions proposed
• Although a single paradigm maybe used by many
  scientific groups, its interpretation may differ
• If scientists believe the solutions of a
  paradigm are no longer sufficient, they look for
  new answers leading to a new paradigm.

18
Normal Science

• Attempts to match paradigms with nature
• A mundane everyday activity
• Experiments aim to test paradigms
• Anomalies and results that disprove the paradigm
  creates tension causing scientists to search for
  a new paradigm
• This search aims to improve the match between the
  paradigm and nature

19
Crisis

• The consistent presence of anomalies leads to
  crisis as scientists loose confidence in the
  paradigm
• Kuhn states that the awareness and the
  acknowledgement that a crisis exists looses
  theoretical stereotypes and provides the
  incremental data necessary for a fundamental
  paradigm shift
• For example, the shift from the belief that the
  world was flat to the belief it is a sphere.

20
Revolutions

• Scientific revolution is an episode in which an
  older paradigm is in whole or in part replaced by
  a new one which is incompatible with the old
  paradigm
• A paradigm change that causes a scientific
  revolution has similar impact to that of a
  political revolution
• Paradigm change affects the whole scientific
  community no just an individual
• If a revolution is successful the new paradigm
  will be accepted by the majority of the
  scientific community

21
Kuhns Scientific Process

• Prescience
• Normal Science
• Crisis Revolution
• New Normal Science
• New Crisis

22
Discussion Points

• What are your views on the different theories?
• Which theory best explains science?
• Which theory best explains psychology?
• Could you combine the theories when looking at
  science/psychology?

23
References

• Holden G.W., Moncher, M. S., Schinke, S. P.,
  Barker, K. M, (1990), Self-efficacy of children
  and adolescents A meta-analysis. Psychological
  Reports, 66, 1044-1046
• Popper, K, (1963) Conjectures and Refutations.
  Basic Books, New York
• Kuhn, T. S, (1962), The Structure of Scientific
  Revolutions, 3rd Edition, University of Chicago
  Press