Experimental Psychology Discussion

Carefully study the inductive and deductive models of formulating an hypothesis (166) on pages 166-173 of your text. Discuss the differences between the inductive model (170) and the deductive model (172). Please share examples.

Respond to two peers

Peers 1 The inductive model of formulating a hypothesis is often used in math and science. Inductive reasoning is normally used when one takes a set of empirical observations to formulate a specific hypothesis about someone or something. According to senior science writer, Mindy Weisberger from the website www.livescience.com, examples of inductive reasoning include the following: Data- I tend to catch colds when people around me are sick; hypothesis: Colds are infectious. We can determine based on these examples that the inductive reasoning is a more calculated yet more generalized observation regarding the objects or persons it studies. Another example we can use by the same writer is: Data: Every dog I meet is friendly.Hypothesis: Most dogs are usually friendly.

On the other hand, the deductive model of formulating a hypothesis is the reverse of the inductive model. As explained in our class textbook, deductive reasoning is the process of reasoning from general principles to make predictions about specific instances. According to contributor science writer, Alina Bradford also from the website www.livescience.com, examples of deductive reasoning include the following: Major premise: All birds lay eggs.Minor premise: Pigeons are birds.Conclusion: Pigeons lay eggs. Another example we can use is as follows: Major premise: All plants perform photosynthesis. Minor premise: A cactus is a plant. Conclusion: A cactus performs photosynthesis. Although the deductive reasoning is the reverse of the inductive, I do perceive that the deductive reasoning results in a more accurate hypothesis that can be better used for theoretical purposes then the inductive reasoning formula.

Lastly, what we can conclude for both parties is that the major differences between the two is that inductive reasoning is more observable while deductive reasoning is more logical, resulting in a more accurate evaluation of the subject at hand.

Thank you,

peers 2

When we speak about the inductive model, we are referring to how we all try to reason with ourselves and say that because something happened, then it may be the case in more general topics. Our textbook states the inductive model of formulating a hypothesis, the process of reasoning from specific cases to more general principles (Myers & Hansen, 2012, 2006, 2005). Deduction can be seen as taking more general principles and reasoning about what would happen in more specific scenarios. The textbook states that deduction is the process of reasoning from the general principles about specific instances (Myers & Hansen, 2012, 2006, 2005). If I think that all Libras tend to take care of people, then I may deduce that the Libra I meet at a party is a caring person. Inductive reasoning is a bottom-up approach, while deductive reasoning is top-down (Raimo Streefkerk, April 18, 2019). For example, with inductive reasoning you would see that kids go to the park more in the afternoons and evenings during the week and would decide that I will probably see many more children at the park if I go in the afternoon or in the evening than if I were to visit in the morning time. This is typically true due to work and school schedules for families. We can conclude with deductive reasoning; the house gets hot in the afternoon so I may reason and say it is afternoon so it must be warm in the house. I could also infer that because my dog’s food bowls are usually full in the morning and empty by evening, they typically eat mid-morning to early afternoon. Deductive and Inductive reasoning can be very useful and convenient at times but is not always accurate depending on circumstances.