A comprehensive text for undergraduate and graduate students in the field of psychology, pedagogy, and neuroscience, analyzing the framework of necessary principles for the scientific investigation of psychological phenomena and the brain mechanisms associated with them.
The book covers the most common techniques for collecting research data used in cognitive, social, and educational psychology, as well as in neuropsychology. Special emphasis is placed on the scientific approach to educational research, as psychological functions such as learning and memory are central to the educational process.
The first part is dedicated to general issues such as measurement, sampling, and factors that affect the scientific value of research data.
Next, specific techniques widely used in empirical data collection are described, such as experiments, interviews, observations, questionnaires, as well as various psychometric tests and scales.
The second part of the book deals with the principles governing the study of brain mechanisms responsible for psychological functions. Special attention is given to the critical evaluation of both "traditional" invasive methods, such as the study of brain lesions, the amytal method, and the technique of intracerebral stimulation, as well as modern non-invasive techniques developed for this purpose. The latter include magnetoencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography imaging.