Читать книгу Methods in Psychological Research - Annabel Ness Evans - Страница 40

After observing behavior that tends to recur under certain circumstances, we need to demonstrate it under precise conditions before the phenomenon can be confidently added to the body of knowledge about a discipline. The idea that organisms do things because they receive rewards was known for a long time before Skinner demonstrated this in his laboratory. Indeed, Skinner’s career was spent demonstrating the behavioral phenomena of operant conditioning.

Perhaps you have noticed that when you are out walking your dog, people seem a lot friendlier than when you are out walking alone. You could design a simple experiment to see if your perception that people are friendlier is a demonstrable phenomenon. You could take the same walk at the same time each day for several weeks, sometimes with your dog and sometimes without. You might collect data on how many people engage you in conversation and how long they talk to you, for example. If you find that when your dog is with you, more people initiate conversation more often, you have evidence of a behavioral phenomenon.