Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- PART 1 The characteristics of scientific explanation and its application to psychology -- 1 The defining characteristic of science -- Test your understanding of Chapter 1 -- 2 The structure of scientific explanation: the Standard View -- The Standard View -- Observation statements -- Statements that assert laws -- Testing laws -- Theoretical statements -- Testing theories -- More on testing theories -- Criteria used in deciding between theories -- Test your understanding of Chapter 2 -- 3 The structure of scientific explanation: the Alternative View -- The structure of scientific explanation -- General conclusion -- Must we conclude that no observation statement is incorrigible? -- Conclusion -- Implications for what one is free to believe about the world -- Criteria used to decide between theories -- Test your understanding of Chapter 3 -- 4 Some historical examples of responses to a contradiction between a theory and some apparent fact -- Example 1 -- Example 2 -- Example 3 -- Example 4 -- Summary: the state of affairs at any one historical time -- Test your understanding of Chapter 4 -- 5 The criteria used for choosing between competing theories -- Axiomatic beliefs -- Example 1 -- Example 2 -- Example 3 -- Can selection according to one's axiomatic beliefs be justified? -- Power, scope, simplicity -- Historical evidence favouring simple theories -- Can a criterion of simplicity be justified? -- Truth -- Prediction -- Explanatory content -- Summary -- Test your understanding of Chapter 5 -- Summary of Part 1: the characteristics of scientific explanation -- PART 2 Understanding behaviour -- 6 Typical approaches in psychology: internal mechanisms -- The psychologist's goal -- Internal operations with no reference to embodiment -- Granularity of explanation -- Coarse-grained analysis