C H A P T E R ©2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1 Invitation to Psychology, 5e Carole Wade and Carol Tavris What Is Psychology?

C H A P T E R

©2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

1Invitation to Psychology, 5e Carole Wade and Carol Tavris

What Is Psychology?

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What is psychology?•discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism’s physical state, mental state, and external environment

•Empirical - relies on evidence gathered by careful observation, experimentation, and measurement

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Notable People In Psychology

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1. William Wundt(1832-1920)•In 1879 opened first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany•Considered founder and father of psychology

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2. William James(1842-1910)•Taught 1st psychology class at Harvard and published first widely used psychology textbook.•Considered father of American psychology•Functionalism – How and why a person’s actions help them to adapt. Inspired by Darwin

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3. G. Stanley Hall1844-1924•Established America’s 1st psychology lab

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4. Sigmund Freud 1856-1939•Established psychoanalysis perspective.•develop theories about the unconscious mind and the mechanism of repression•inspire the development of many other forms of psychotherapy

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5. Mary Whiton Calkins(1863–1930) •1st woman president of the American Psychological Association.

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6. Edward Thorndike(1874–1949) •Conducted first experiments on animal learning.

•He applied animal to human educational experience; he was once the leader in this field.

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7. Margaret Floy Washburn(1871–1939)

•First woman to receive a Phd in Psychology

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Major psychological perspectivesBiological perspective

Learning perspective

Cognitive perspective

Sociocultural perspective

Psychodynamic perspective

Humanist Perspective

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1. Biological perspective

•focuses on how bodily events affect behavior, feelings, and thoughts

•Involves:Hormones

Brain chemistry

Genes

Evolutionary influences

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2. The learning perspective•Concerned with how the environment and experience affect one’s actions•InvolvesBehaviorists

Social-cognitive learning theorists

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3. The cognitive perspective•Emphasizes what goes on in people’s heads

•Focuses on inferring mental processes from observable behaviors

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4. The sociocultural perspective•Emphasizes social and cultural forces outside the individual that shape various aspects of behavior

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5. The psychodynamic perspective•Emphasizes unconscious dynamics within the individual, such as inner forces, conflicts, or the movement of instinctual energy

•Freud’s psychoanalysis

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6. The Humanist perspective•Emphasizes personal growth and achievement of human potential rather than a scientific understanding of behavior

•Rejected behaviorism and psychoalalysis

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What do you think?Melissa is a psychologist who studies the phenomenon in which people are less likely help out in situations when they are in groups rather than by themselves. What type of psychologist is she?A.Learning

B.Cognitive

C.Sociocultural

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What do you think?Melissa is a psychologist who studies the phenomenon in which people are less likely help out in situations when they are in groups rather than by themselves. What type of psychologist is she?A.Learning

B.Cognitive

C.Sociocultural

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Your turnThe psychological perspective that emphasizes the deep, internal causes of people’s behavior is:


2. Learning perspective

3. Cognitive perspective

4. Psychodynamic perspective

5. Sociocultural perspective

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Your turnThe psychological perspective that emphasizes the deep, internal causes of people’s behavior is:


2. Learning perspective

3. Cognitive perspective

4. Psychodynamic perspective

5. Sociocultural perspective

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What do psychologist do?

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Psychologists activities fall into 3 categories:

1.Teaching and/or doing research in college

2.Providing health or Mental-health services

3.Research in nonacademic settings

Ex. Industry

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Differences between therapists:

1.Psychotherapists – unregulated, anyone can be one

2.Psychoanalyst – practices psychoanalysis

3.Psychiatrist - medical doctor

4.Social Worker / Counselor – usually a master’s in social work or psychology

5.Clinical psychologist – PhD or EdD or PsyD but not an MD

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Critical and Scientific Thinking in Psychology

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Critical thinkingThe ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons rather than emotion and anecdote

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Critical thinking guidelinesAsk questions; be willing to wonder

Define your terms

Examine the evidence

Analyze assumptions and biases

Avoid emotional reasoning

Don’t oversimplify

Consider other interpretations

Tolerate uncertainty

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Conducting Research in Psychology

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1. Descriptive methods

•Methods that yield descriptions of behavior, but not necessarily causal explanations

Include1.Case studies

2.Observational studies

3.Psychological tests

4.Surveys

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A. Case studies•A case study is a detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated.

•Most commonly used by clinicians, but occasionally used by academic researchers•Pros? Cons?

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B. Observational studies•Researchers carefully and systematically observe and record behavior without interfering with behavior.

Naturalistic observationPurpose is to observe how people or animals behave in their natural environments.

Laboratory observationPurpose is to observe how people or animals behave in a more controlled setting.

Pros? Cons?

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C. Psychological tests•Procedures used to measure and evaluate personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, and values•Characteristics of a good test include

Standardization

Reliability

Validity

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Standardized tests• The test is constructed to include uniform procedures for giving and scoring the testReliability•In test construction, the consistency of test scores from one time and place to anotherValidity•The ability of a test to measure what it was designed to measure

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D. Surveys•Questionnaires and interviews that ask people about experiences, attitudes, or opinions

•Requires attention to proper sampling procedures

•Popular polls and surveys rely on volunteers

•Volunteers Bias = volunteers may differ from those who did not volunteer.

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2. Correlational study

•A descriptive study that looks for a consistent relationship between two phenomena

CorrelationA numerical measure of the strength and direction of the relationship between two things

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Variables•Characteristics of behavior or experiences that can be measured or described by a numeric scale

•Variables are manipulated and assessed in scientific studies.

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Direction of correlationsPositive correlationsAn association between increases in one variable and increases in another, or decreases in one variable and decreases in the other

Negative correlationsAn association between increases in one variable and decreases in another

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ScatterplotsCorrelations can be represented by scatterplots.

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Coefficient of correlation

• The statistic used to express the relationship between two variables

• Can range from -1.00 through 0.0 to +1.00

Correlations close to -1.00 or +1.00 are strong, whereas correlations close to 0 are Weak.

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Explaining correlationsStart with three variables (X, Y, Z)X might cause YY might cause XX might be correlated with Y, which alone causes Z

A correlation does not establish causation.

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Which is correct?A study of married couples showed that the longer they had been married, the more similar their opinions on social and political issues were.

A.Positive correlation

B.Negative correlation

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Which is correct?A study of married couples showed that the longer they had been married, the more similar their opinions on social and political issues were.



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Which is correct?An intelligence test was given to all of the children in an orphanage. The results showed that the longer children had lived in the orphanage, the lower their IQ scores were.



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Which is correct?An intelligence test was given to all of the children in an orphanage. The results showed that the longer children had lived in the orphanage, the lower their IQ scores were.



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Which is correct?In a study of American cities, a relationship was found between the number of violent crimes and the number of stores selling violence-depicting pornography.



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Which is correct?In a study of American cities, a relationship was found between the number of violent crimes and the number of stores selling violence-depicting pornography.



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Which is correct?A college professor found that the more class absences students have, the lower their grades in the course tend to be.



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Which is correct?A college professor found that the more class absences students have, the lower their grades in the course tend to be.



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Your turn

What kind of correlation is this?1. Positive2. Negative3. No correlation

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Your turn

What kind of correlation is this?1. Positive2. Negative3. No correlation

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What do you think?Correlation means causation.

A. True

B. False

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What do you think?Correlation means causation.

A. True

B.False

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Experimental Design

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An experiment•A controlled test of a hypothesis in which the researcher manipulates one variable to discover its effect on another

Informed consent– Human research subjects must participate voluntarily, and must know enough about a study to make an intelligent decision about whether to participate.

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Is driving while using a cell phone a good idea?

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Experimental variables

Independent variable A variable the experimenter manipulates

Dependent variables A variable that is affected by the independent variable; what is measured

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Independent and dependent variables

When psychologists set up an experiment, they think, “If I do X, then my participants will do Y.”

The “X” represents the independent variable.

The “Y” represents the dependent variable.

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Your turnAn experimenter wants to study the effects of music on studying. She has some students study while listening to music and others study in silence, and then compares their test scores. What is the independent variable in this experiment?1. The students2. The presence of music while studying3. The kind of music4. The test scores

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Your turnAn experimenter wants to study the effects of music on studying. She has some students study while listening to music and others study in silence, and then compares their test scores. What is the independent variable in this experiment?1. The students2. The presence of music while studying3. The kind of music4. The test scores

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Your turnAn experimenter wants to study the effects of music on studying. She has some students study while listening to music and others study in silence, and then compares their test scores. What is the dependent variable in this experiment?1. The students2. The presence of music while studying3. The kind of music4. The test scores

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Your turnAn experimenter wants to study the effects of music on studying. She has some students study while listening to music and others study in silence, and then compares their test scores. What is the dependent variable in this experiment?1. The students2. The presence of music while studying3. The kind of music4. The test scores

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Control condition•A comparison condition in which subjects are not exposed to the same treatment as are those in the experimental condition

Ex. In some experiments, the control group is given a placebo, an inactive substance or fake treatment.

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Subject Assignments• For experiments to have experimental and control groups composed of similar subjects, random assignment should be used.

•Strategies for preventing experimenter effects (unintended results due to knowing what is happening) include single- and double-blind studies.

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Pros and Cons of experiments

Advantage• Allows for the determination of cause-and-

effect relationships

Limitations• The sample may not be representative of a

population.• Participants may act in ways they ordinarily

would not.

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Statistical Analysis

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1. Descriptive statistics•Statistics that organize and summarize research

data

Examples

Arithmetic mean – the average value in a data set

The mean does not provide information about the variability of the responses in a data set.

Standard deviation – the average difference between scores in a data set and the average of that set

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2. Inferential statisticsStatistical procedures that allow researchers to draw inferences about how statistically meaningful a study’s results are

Ex. Significance Tests - Show how likely it is that a study’s results occurred merely by chance

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Types of Studies

Cross-sectional studiesIndividuals of different ages are compared at a given time.

Longitudinal studies

Individuals are followed and periodically assessed over a period of time.

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Which is correct?You want to determine the favorite food of adolescents. Which research method would you use?

A.Case study

B.Observation

C.Survey

D.Correlational study

E.Experiment

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Which is correct?You want to determine the favorite food of adolescents. Which research method would you use?

A.Case study

B.Observation

C.Survey


E.Experiment

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Which is correct?You want to determine how introverted or extraverted a person is. Which research method would you use?

A.Observation

B.Psychological test

C.Survey


E.Experiment

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Which is correct?You want to determine how introverted or extraverted a person is. Which research method would you use?

A.Observation


C.Survey


E.Experiment

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Which is correct?You want to determine whether frustration causes aggression. Which research method would you use?

A.Observation


C.Survey


E.Experiment

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Which is correct?You want to determine whether frustration causes aggression. Which research method would you use?

A.Observation


C.Survey


E.Experiment

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Which is correct?You want to determine whether level of education is associated with a crime. Which research method would you use?

A.Observation


C.Survey


E.Experiment

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Which is correct?You want to determine whether level of education is associated with a crime. Which research method would you use?

A.Observation


C.Survey


E.Experiment

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C H A P T E R ©2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 1 Invitation to Psychology, 5e Carole Wade and Carol Tavris What Is Psychology?