Chapter 1: Introducing Psychology and Research Methods Instructor: Allen Thomas

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Chapter 1 Introducing Psychology and Research
MethodsInstructor Allen Thomas
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What Is Psychology?

• Psychology
• Psyche Mind
• Logos Knowledge or study
• Definition The scientific study of behavior and
  mental processes
• Behavior Overt i.e., can be directly
  observed (crying)
• Mental Processes Covert i.e., cannot be
  directly observed (remembering)

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Empiricism The Goals

• To measure and describe behaviors
• To gather empirical evidence information gained
  from direct observation and measurement
• To gather data Observed facts
• Scientific Observation Empirical investigation
  that is structured so that it answers questions
  about the world

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Figure 1.1
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What Might a Psychologist Research?

• Development Course of human growth and
  development
• Learning How and why it occurs in humans and
  animals
• Personality Traits, motivations, and individual
  differences

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What Might Psychologists Research? (cont.)

• Sensation and Perception How we come to know the
  world through our five senses
• Social Human social behavior
• Cultural How culture affects human behavior

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What Might Psychologists Research? (cont.)

• Biopsychology How behavior is related to
  biological processes, especially activities in
  the nervous system
• Gender Study differences between males and
  females and how they develop

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What Are the Goals of Psychology?

• Description of Behaviors Naming and classifying
  various observable, measurable behaviors
• Understanding The causes of behavior
• Prediction Forecasting behavior accurately

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More Goals of Psychology

• Control Altering conditions that affect
  behaviors
• Positive Use To control unwanted behaviors,
  (e.g., smoking, tantrums, etc.)
• Negative Use To control peoples behaviors
  without their knowledge

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History of Psychology Beginnings

• 1879 Wundt set up first lab to study conscious
  experience
• Introspection Looking inward (i.e., examining
  and reporting your thoughts, feelings, etc.)
• Experimental Self-Observation Combines trained
  introspection with objective measurement Wundts
  approach

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History of Psychology Structuralism

• Wundts ideas brought to the U.S. by Tichener and
  renamed Structuralism
• Structuralism School of thought concerned with
  analyzing sensations and personal experience into
  basic elements

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History of Psychology Functionalism

• William James (American) and Functionalism
• How the mind functions to adapt us to our
  environment
• Functionalists admired Darwin and his theory of
  Natural Selection Animals keep features through
  evolution that help them adapt to environments

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Functionalisms Effects on Modern Psychology

• Educational Psychology Study of learning,
  teaching, classroom dynamics, and related topics
• Industrial Psychology Study of people at work

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History of Psychology Behaviorism and Cognitive
Behaviorism

• Psychology must study observable behavior
  objectively
• Watson studied Little Albert with Rosalie Raynor
  Skinner studied animals almost exclusively

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History of Psychology Cognitive Behaviorism

• Cognitive Behaviorism Ellis and Bandura
• Our thoughts influence our behaviors used often
  in treatment of depression
• Cognition (thinking) and conditioning are
  combined to explain behavior

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History of Psychology Gestalt

• Gestalt Psychology The whole is greater than
  the sum of its parts
• Studied thinking, learning, and perception in
  whole units, not by analyzing experiences into
  parts
• Key names Wertheimer, Perls

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Figure 1.2
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Table 1.2
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History of Psychology Freud

• Psychoanalytic Perspective
• Our behavior is largely influenced by our
  unconscious wishes, thoughts, and desires,
  especially sex and aggression
• Freud performed dream analysis and was an
  interactionist (combination of our biology and
  environment makes us who we are)

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Repression

• Repression When memories, thoughts, or impulses
  are unconsciously held out of awareness
• Recent research has hypothesized that our
  unconscious mind is partially responsible for our
  behaviors

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History of Psychology Neo-Freudians

• New or recentsome of Freuds students who broke
  away to promote their own theories
• Key Names Alfred Adler, Anna Freud (Freuds
  daughter), Karen Horney, Carl Jung, Otto Rank,
  Erik Erikson

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History of Psychology Humanism

• Key Names Rogers and Maslow
• Goal of psychology is to study unique aspects of
  the person
• Focuses on human experience, problems,
  potentials, and ideals
• Each person has innate goodness and is able to
  make free choices (contrast with Skinner and
  Freud)

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Terms

• Self-Image Perception of our own body,
  personality, and capabilities
• Self-Evaluation Positive or negative feelings
  held toward ones self
• Frame of Reference Mental perspective used to
  interpret events
• Self-Actualization Ongoing process of fully
  developing ones personal potential

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Psychology Today

• Biopsychology All of our behavior can be
  explained through physiological processes
• Uses brain scans to gather data (CT, MRI, PET)
• Positive Psychology Study of human strengths,
  virtues, and optimal behavior
• Looks at positive side of human behavior

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Cultural Awareness

• Many thoughts and behaviors are influenced by our
  culture
• Psychologists need to be aware of the impact
  cultural diversity may have on our behaviors
• What is acceptable in one culture might be
  unacceptable in another

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Cultural Awareness (cont.)

• Cultural Relativity Behavior must be judged
  relative to the values of the culture in which it
  occurs
• Norms Rules that define acceptable and expected
  behavior for members of a group

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Many Flavors of Psychologists

• Psychologists Usually have masters or doctorate
  trained in methods, knowledge, and theories of
  psychology
• Clinical Psychologist Treats psychological
  problems or does research on therapies and mental
  disorders
• Counseling Psychologist Treats milder emotional
  and behavioral disturbances

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Table 1.3
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Figure 1.3
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Figure 1.3b
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Figure 1.3c
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More Helping Professionals

• Psychiatrists M.D. usually use medications to
  treat problems generally do not have extensive
  training in providing talk therapy
• Psychoanalysts Receive additional training
  post-Ph.D. or M.D. at an institute for
  psychoanalysis

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Some More Helping Professionals

• Psychiatric Social Workers Many have masters
  degrees and perform psychotherapy
• Presently a very popular profession
• Counselor Advisor who helps solve problems with
  marriage, school, and so on
• Not all psychologists perform therapy!

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The Scientific Method

• Six Basic Elements
• Making observations
• Defining a problem
• Proposing a hypothesis (an educated guess that
  can be tested)

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The Scientific Method (cont.)

• Gathering evidence/testing the hypothesis
• Publishing results
• Building a theory

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Scientific Theory

• A system of ideas that interrelates facts and
  concepts, summarizes existing data, and predicts
  future observations
• A good theory must be falsifiable i.e.,
  operationally defined so that it can be
  disconfirmed

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Figure 1.4
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Figure 1.5
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Naturalistic Observation

• Observing a person or an animal in the
  environment in which they/it live(s)

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Naturalistic Observation Problems

• Observer Effect Changes in behavior caused by an
  awareness of being observed
• Observer Bias Occurs when observers see what
  they expect to see or record only selected details

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Anthropomorphic Error

• Attributing human thoughts, feelings, or motives
  to animals, especially as a way of explaining
  their behavior (e.g., Anya, my cat, is acting
  like that because shes feeling depressed
  today.)

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Correlations

• Existence of a consistent, systematic
  relationship between two events, measures, or
  variables
• Correlation Coefficient Statistic ranging from
  1.00 to 1.00 the sign indicates the direction
  of the relationship
• Closer the statistic is to 1.00 or to 1.00, the
  stronger the relationship
• Correlation of 0.00 demonstrates no relationship
  between the variables

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Correlations (cont.)

• Positive Correlation Increases in one variable
  are matched by increases in the other variable
• Negative Correlation Increases in one variable
  are matched by decreases in the other variable
• Correlation does not demonstrate causation Just
  because two variables are related does NOT mean
  that one variable causes the other to occur

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Figure 1.7
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Experiments

• To identify cause-and-effect relationships, we
  conduct experiments
• Directly vary a condition you might think affects
  behavior
• Create two or more groups of subjects, alike in
  all ways except the condition you are varying
• Record whether varying the condition has any
  effect on behavior

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Figure 1.8
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Variables

• Independent Variable Condition(s) altered by the
  experimenter experimenter sets their size,
  amount, or value these are suspected causes for
  behavioral differences
• Dependent Variable Demonstrates effects that
  independent variables have on behavior
• Extraneous Variables Conditions that a
  researcher wants to prevent from affecting the
  outcomes of the experiment (e.g., number of hours
  slept before the experiment)

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Figure 1.9
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Groups

• Experimental Group The group of subjects that
  gets the independent variable
• Control Group The group of subjects that does
  NOT get the independent variable
• Random Assignment Subject has an equal chance of
  being in either the experimental or control group

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Placebo

• Placebo A fake pill (sugar) or injection
  (saline)
• Placebos alter our expectations about our own
  emotional and physical reactions

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Placebo Effect

• Changes in behavior that result from expectations
  that a drug or other treatment will have some
  effect
• These expectancies then influence bodily
  activities
• Relieve pain by getting pituitary to release
  endorphins
• Also gain some effect through learning
• Herbal remedies may be based on placebo effect

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Experiment Types

• Single Blind Only the subjects have no idea
  whether they get real treatment or placebo
• Double Blind The subjects AND the experimenters
  have no idea whether the subjects get real
  treatment or placebo
• Best type of experiment if properly set up

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Experimenter Effects

• Changes in behavior caused by the unintended
  influence of the experimenter
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy A prediction that leads
  people to act in ways to make the prediction come
  true

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Does Marijuana Impair Memory?
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The Clinical Method

• Case Study In-depth focus of all aspects of a
  single person
• Natural Clinical Tests Natural events, such as
  accidents, that provide psychological data
• Survey Method Using public polling techniques to
  answer psychological questions

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Samples, and Some Problems

• Representative Sample Small group that
  accurately reflects a larger population
• Population Entire group of animals or people
  belonging to a particular category (e.g., all
  married women)
• Courtesy Bias Problem in research a tendency to
  give polite or socially desirable answers
• Internet Surveys Web based research low cost
  and can reach many people
• Samples are not representative

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Table 1.5
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Figure 1.10
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Figure 1.11
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Critical Thinking

• Ability to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize
  information
• What would you expect to see if the claim were
  true?
• Gather evidence relevant to the claim
• Evaluate the evidence
• Draw a conclusion
• Oftentimes used in research

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Table 1.6
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Four Basic Principles of Critical Thinking

• Few truths transcend the need for empirical
  testing
• Evidence varies in quality
• Authority or claimed expertise does not
  automatically make an idea true
• Critical thinking requires an open mind

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Pseudo-Psychologies

• Pseudo means false Any unfounded system that
  resembles psychology and is NOT based on
  scientific testing
• Palmistry Lines on your hands (palms) predict
  future and reveal personality
• Phrenology Personality traits revealed by shape
  of skull and bumps on your head

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Pseudo-Psychologies (cont.)

• Graphology Personality revealed by your
  handwriting
• Astrology The positions of the stars and planets
  at birth determine your personality and affect
  your behavior
• Quite popular (Whats your sign?)

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More on Pseudo-Psychologies

• Uncritical Acceptance Tendency to believe
  positive or unflattering descriptions of yourself
• Fallacy of Positive Instances When we remember
  or notice things that confirm our expectations
  and forget the rest

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The Barnum Effect

• Barnum Effect Tendency to consider personal
  descriptions accurate if stated in general terms
• Always have a little something for everyone
  Make sure all palm readings, horoscopes, etc. are
  so general that something in them will always
  apply to any one person! (e.g., Miss Cleo)

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Separating Fact from Fiction

• Be skeptical
• Consider the source of information
• Ask yourself, Was there a control group?
• Look for errors in distinguishing between
  correlation and causation (are claims based on
  correlational results yet passed off as
  causations?)

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Separating Fact from Fiction (cont.)

• Be sure to distinguish between observation and
  inference (e.g., Robert is crying, but do we know
  why he is crying?)
• Beware of oversimplifications, especially those
  motivated by monetary gain
• Remember, for example is no proof!