The Science of Psychology

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The Science of Psychology

• Chapter 1

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What is Psychology?

• Psychology is the study of behavior and mental
  processes
• Includes the study of both humans and animals
• Aims
• Describe
• Explain
• Predict
• Control
• (Dont Expect People to Change

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The Fields of Psychology

• Developmental Psychology
• Physiological Psychology
• Experimental Psychology
• Personality Psychology
• Clinical and Counseling Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Industrial and Organizational Psychology

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Developmental Psychology

• Study of physical and mental growth from birth to
  old age
• Subfields
• Child psychology
• Adolescent psychology
• Life-span psychology

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Physiological Psychology

• Investigates the biological basis of human
  behavior
• Neurotransmitters
• Effects of drugs on the nervous system
• Development of the nervous system
• Gender differences in brain structure and function

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Experimental Psychology

• Perform experiments on basic psychological
  processes
• Learning
• Memory
• Sensation and perception
• Cognition
• Motivation
• Emotion

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Personality Psychology

• Study of how people differ from one another on
  traits such as
• Anxiety
• Sociability
• Self-esteem
• Need for achievement
• Aggressiveness

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Clinical and Counseling Psychology

• Clinical psychologists are concerned with
  diagnosis and treatment of psychological
  disorders
• Counseling psychologists deal with normal
  problems, such as stress caused by career change
  or marital problems

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Social Psychology

• Study of how people influence one another
• Topics include
• First impressions
• Interpersonal attraction
• Attitude formation
• Prejudice
• Behavior in a group

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Industrial and Organizational Psychology

• Study of psychological principles in industry and
  business
• Examples
• Selecting and training personnel
• Productivity improvement
• Working conditions
• Impact of automation on workers

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Enduring Issues in Psychology

• PersonSituation
• Is behavior caused by factors inside the person
  or outside?
• Nature-Nurture
• Is a person the product of genetics (nature) or
  simply the sum of their experiences (nurture)?
• StabilityChange
• Are behavior patterns learned in childhood
  permanent or do people change over time?

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Enduring Issues in Psychology

• Diversity-Universality
• How are people similar to others and how are they
  unique?
• MindBody
• What is the relationship between the mind and the
  body?

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Psychology As Science

• Psychologists use the scientific method
• Steps to the scientific method
• Collect data
• Generate a theory to explain the data
• Produce a testable hypothesis
• Systematically test the hypothesis

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The Growth of Psychology

• The "New Psychology" A Science of the Mind
• Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Bradford Titchener
  Voluntarism and structuralism
• Search for the basic units of experience

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The Growth of Psychology

• William James Functionalism
• Studied how humans use perception to function in
  our environment
• Sigmund Freud Psychodynamic psychology
• Behavior results from forces at work within the
  individual, often at an unconscious level
• Two basic human drives sex and aggression

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The Growth of Psychology

• John B. Watson Behaviorism
• Studied only observable behaviors
• Expanded upon the work of Pavlov
• Classical Conditioning
• B.F. Skinner Behaviorism revisited
• Expanded behaviorism
• Viewed the mind as a black box that was
  irrelevant
• Operant Conditioning

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The Cognitive Revolution

• The precursors to cognitive psychology
• Gestalt psychology
• Study of how we view objects as whole patterns
• Important in perception
• Humanistic psychology
• Emphasizes realization of full potential
• Recognizes importance of love, self esteem,
  belonging, and self-actualization

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The Rise of Cognitive Psychology

• Study of mental processes
• Thinking
• Learning
• Feeling
• Remembering
• Decision making

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New Directions in Psychology

• Evolutionary psychology
• Studies the adaptive value of behaviors and
  mental processes
• Positive psychology
• Study of the subjective feelings of happiness and
  well-being
• Focus is on positive attitude

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Multiple Perspectives

• There is no single right answer
• Several perspectives can provide insight into
  behavior
• Also called eclecticism

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Where Are The Women?

• Women have made important contributions despite
  discrimination
• Christine Ladd-Franklin
• Completed requirements for Ph.D. in 1880s
• Became a leading theorist in color vision

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Where Are The Women?

• Mary Whiton Calkins
• First woman president of APA in 1905
• Developed theory of self-psychology and a
  technique for studying verbal learning
• Margaret Floy Washburn
• First woman in America to receive a Ph.D. in
  psychology
• Became head of psychology at Vassar College

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Where Are The Women?

• In recent years, the number of women with Ph.D.s
  has increased dramatically

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Human Diversity In Psychology

• Psychology has begun to focus attention on issues
  of diversity
• This is necessary in a world where globalism has
  brought together people of all different
  backgrounds

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Gender Issues

• Defined as the psychological and social meanings
  attached to being biologically male or female
• Gender stereotypes
• Limited view of people based on gender
• For example, Only men can be police officers

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Gender Issues

• Feminist psychology
• Study of the psychology of women
• Argue that
• Much research is based on all-male samples, thus
  does not apply to women
• Reports of gender differences focus too much on
  extremes and ignore similarities
• Psychologists only study what they consider to be
  important

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Gender Issues

• Sexual orientation
• Gender to which one is sexually attracted
• May be heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual

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Race and Ethnicity Issues

• Race is a subpopulation defined by identifiable
  characteristic, e.g., skin color or facial
  features
• Ethnicity is a common cultural heritage, such as
  religion, language, or ancestry and is
  self-defined

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Culture Issues

• Tangible goods and values, attitudes, behaviors,
  and beliefs that are passed on from generation to
  generation
• Psychology must take cultural differences into
  account, e.g., the difference between
  individualistic and collectivist societies

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Research Methods in Psychology

• Naturalistic Observation
• Systematic observation in natural setting
• The main drawbacks are observer bias and lack of
  control
• The benefit is that behavior is typically sincere
  and real

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Research Methods in Psychology

• Case Studies
• Detailed description and analysis of one or a few
  people
• Prominent in psychology
• Observer bias is a problem
• Unable to make generalizations past person being
  studied

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Research Methods in Psychology

• Surveys
• Questionnaires such as polls prior to an election
• Can generate a lot of information for a fairly
  low cost
• Questions must be constructed carefully so as to
  not elicit socially appropriate answers

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Research Methods in Psychology

• Interviews
• Standard questions asked face-to-face
• Allow for greater control than the survey
• Questions must be constructed carefully so as to
  not elicit socially appropriate answers

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Research Methods in Psychology

• Correlational Research
• Research technique based on the naturally
  occurring relationship between two or more
  variables
• Often used to make predictions, such as the
  relation between SAT scores and school success
• Cannot be used to determine cause and effect

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Research Methods in Psychology

• Experimental Research
• The only research method that can be used to
  determine cause and effect
• Often called the experimental method

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Components of an Experiment

• Participants or subjects
• Independent variable (IV)
• Cause (what you are studying)
• This is the variable that is manipulated by the
  experimenter
• Dependent variable (DV)
• Effect (result of experiment)
• This is the variable that is measured by the
  experimenter

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Components of an Experiment

• Experimental group
• Receives treatment
• Exposed to manipulation of IV
• Control group
• Does not receive treatment, but is the same in
  every other way
• Often given a placebo

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Research Methods in Psychology

• Multimethod Research
• Studies often combine several methods
• This can allow weaknesses of one method to be
  offset by anothers strengths

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The Importance of Sampling in Research

• Sample
• Small representative subset of a larger
  population
• Random sample
• Every subject had equal chance of being selected
• Representative sample
• Characteristics of participants correspond to
  larger population

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Ethics in Research on Humans

• Participants must be informed of nature of
  research
• Informed consent should be documented
• Risks and limits on confidentiality must be
  explained

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Ethics in Research on Humans

• If participation is a course requirement in an
  academic setting, alternative activities must be
  offered
• Deception cannot be used about aspects of
  research that would affect participant's
  willingness to participate
• Deception about the goals of research used only
  when absolutely necessary

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Ethics in Research on Animals

• Psychologists using animals must ensure
  appropriate consideration of the animals
  comfort, health, and human treatment
• Animals must not be exposed to pain, stress, or
  privation when alternative procedures are
  available

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Careers in Psychology

• Research vs. Applied Psychology
• Research primarily gathers information
• Applied Primarily uses the information in the
  outside world
• Some professionals do both!
• Clinical Settings about 50 of psych
  professionals!
• Licensed social workers M.S.W. or D.S.W.
• Counseling psychologists Ph.D. or Psy.D.
• Clinical psychologists Ph.D.
• Psychiatrists M.D.
• Psychoanalysts post-clinical training following
  M.D., Ph.D., Psy.D., or M.S.W.

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Licenses in Psychology

• Psychologists - Ph.D., Psy.D.
• Psychiatrists - M.D.
• Psychoanalysts - M.D. or Ph.D.
• Social Workers (M.S.W.) - LSW
• Marriage Family Therapists - M.A.