Heuristics and Paradigms

1
Heuristics and Paradigms

• What is a Heuristic?
• I before E except after C
• Weird concept isnt it?
• What is a paradigm
• Why do scientists make up new words for things
  that already have a word?
• Paradigms in psychology
• Lack of unifying paradigm
• Bitter disagreements

2
Medical Model

• Behavior, genes and neurons
• Psychiatry v. psychology
• Based on old Hippocrates
• Treatment Approaches
• Why so predominant today?

3
Psychoanalytic

• Unconscious
• Do we know why we do what we do?
• All men are _at_ effect
• Bad stuff repressed
• What do our dreams really mean?
• Free association

4
Behaviorism

• Psychology and science
• The mechanistic approach
• Observables only please
• Started with Pavlov
• J.B. Watson and Little Albert
• Largely discarded as too mechanistic

5
Humanistic

• Borrows from humanism of 18th century
• Reaction against preexisting paradigms
• Free will
• Self-Actualization
• Client-Centered Therapy
• Uses and misuses

6
Cognitive-Behavioral

• Borrows the good of behaviorism
• Focus on the mind
• Predominant in clinical psychology
• Therapy
• Challenge irrational beliefs
• Behavioral homework
• We stand for nothing

7
Scientific Method

• Four basic parts
• Specify problem
• Design study
• Collect Data
• Report Conclusions
• Cheating
• Studies say statistical significance vs.
  effect size

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Some effect sizes

• Relationship Effect Size (r)
• Smoking on Lung Cancer .90
• Genetic Influences on Antisocial Behavior .75
• Salk Vaccine on Polio Prevention .74
• Self Control and Perceptions of Criminal
  Opportunity on Crime .58
• Protective Effect of Community Institutions on
  Neighborhood Crime .39
• Violent Video Game Playing on Visuospatial
  Cognitive Ability .36
• Firearms Ownership on Crime .35
• Incarceration Use as a Deterrent on Crime .33
• Aggressive Personality and Violent Crime .25
• Poverty on Crime .25
• Childhood Physical Abuse and Adult Violent
  Crime .22
• Child Witnessing Domestic Violence on Future
  Aggression .18
• Television Violence on Violent Crime .10
• Violent Video Game Playing on Aggressive
  Behavior .04
• Parental Spanking on Child Aggression .03

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Naturalistic Observation

• Borrows from zoology
• Study in natural environment
• Do not interfere with behavior
• No control
• Cant determine causality
• More valid
• Mens loo experiment

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Case Study

• Find out as much as possible about person
• Make deductions
• True for them?
• True for anyone else?
• Who uses them now?

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Survey

• Find out if you and your boy/girlfriend should
  still be together
• An example depression survey
• The good Quick and Easy
• The bad Tsk, tsk..
• Self-selecting samples
• Who participates in most psychological research?

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Correlation

• Statistically examine relationship between two
  variables
• Do they co-occur
• Ex. SAT GPA
• -1 0 1
• Bananas and M-16s strength
• Direction and the hammer blow experiment
• squared effect size
• Cigarettes and 2 Earths
• Causality again

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Experiments

• Total control
• Ink and memory
• Allows for cause and effect
• Start with hypothesis
• IVs and DVs
• Validity problems
• Electrobutton experiment