Conferencia de clausura: Lessons from the scientific revolution to Psychology
Conferenciante: Armando Machado Universidade do Minho
As heir to the scientific revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries, Psychology vowed to embrace the same research methods that characterize the other sciences, from Physics to Chemistry, from Geology to Biology. However, the dominant conception of method in Psychology is poorer than that advanced 400 years ago, at the dawn of modern science. In this talk I will summarize the conception of scientific method advocated by Galileo Galilei, concentrating particularly on the relationships between Experiment, Quantification, and Theory building, on the one hand, and the syntactic and semantic properties of the language of science, on the other hand. Then I will show with examples from contemporary research in Psychology how this conception of method is richer, more appropriate and sensitive to historical truth than the stereotypical conception prevailing in Psychology. I will conclude with some maxims that, properly assimilated, may help accomplish what still remains "the hope of a science ".
