History & ApproachesResearch Methods

Module 1 Objectives

• 1-1 Describe how psychology developed from its pre-scientific roots in early understandings of mind and body to the beginnings of modern science

• 1-2 Describe some important milestones in psychology’s early development

• 1-3 Describe how psychology continued to develop from the 1920s to today

Who’s Who in Psychology

• The Greeks– Socrates, Plato, Aristotle

• The Renaissance Guys– Descartes, Bacon, Locke

• The “1st Scientists”– Wilhelm Wundt– Edward B. Titchener– G. Stanley Hall– William James

• Mary Whiton Calkins

– Margaret Floy Washburn

• The Behaviorists– John B. Watson

• Rosalie Rayner

– B.F. Skinner

• Cigars, Sex, & Cocaine– Sigmund Freud

• The “Hippies”– Abraham Maslow– Carl Rogers

Module 1 Review

• Monism vs. Dualism• Innate vs. Tabula Rasa

• Empiricism• Structuralism – Introspection

• Functionalism

Practice Multiple Choice

• By seeking to measure “atoms of the mind,” who established the first psychology laboratory?– Sigmund Freud– John B. Watson– Wilhelm Wundt– G. Stanley Hall– William James

• Which philosopher proposed that nerve pathways allowed for reflexes?

– Socrates– Rene Descartes– John Locke– Aristotle– Plato

Practice Multiple Choice

• Who coined the term “tabula rasa” (blank slate) to help explain the impact experience has on shaping an individual?– Francis Bacon– Rene Descartes– John B. Watson– Sigmund Freud– John Locke

• With which of the following statements would John B. Watson most likely agree: Psychology should…– …study the growth potential

in all people– …study the unconscious– …focus on observable

behavior– …study mental thought

processes– …study how culture & beliefs

impact an individual

Practice Multiple Choice

• Which of the following best describes research typical of Wilhelm Wundt’s first psychology laboratory?– Examining the unconscious to determine behavior motivation– Using a brain-scanning device to determine the impact events

have on brain function– Measuring the reaction time between hearing a sound and

pressing a button– Studying helping behavior, based on the premise that people

are good– Examining how collective life experiences combine to create

individuality

Practice FRQ #1“integration of knowledge from multiple modules”

• Each FRQ is worth various points depending upon how many elements it includes…

• The definition of psychology changed as the field evolved during the early years. Why did John B. Watson object to the definition preferred by Wundt, Titchener, and James? What group of psychologists did Watson’s ideas influence? How did Watson redefine psychology?

Answer for FRQ #1(3 points)

• Watson objected to the “science of mental life” because he felt it was impossible to be scientific without observation.

• Watson’s ideas influenced the behaviorists.• Watson preferred limiting psychology to

behavior because behavior could be observed and scientifically analyzed.

Practice FRQ #2(6 points)

• Identify the founder of structuralism, and explain structuralism’s four foundational concepts.

FRQ #2 Answer

• Edward Titchener (1) attempted to discover the structural elements of the mind (2) by using a process called introspection. (3) Individuals reported elements of their experiences when presented with specific objects. (4) It was an attempt to gain an insider’s perspective into the minds of others. (5) He wanted to predict individual responses to those objects or experiences to which participants had earlier replied. (6)

Module #2 Objectives

• 2-1 Summarize the nature-nurture debate in psychology

• 2-2 Describe psychology’s three main levels of analysis and related perspectives

• 2-3 Identify psychology’s main subfields• 2-4 Explain how psychological principles can

help you learn and remember, and do better on the AP exam

Psychology's 3 Big Issues

Nature-nurture: the controversy over the relative contributions that genes (nature)

and experience (nurture) make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.

Stability versus Change: Do our individual traits change as we age or do they remain fairly

stable? Also, do our traits change in different situations?Rationality versus Irrationality: Are we in control of our own behavior? Do we have free will or

are we at the mercy of unconscious desires or our environment? Do we really deserve to be calledhomo sapiens?

Biopsychosocial Integration

Practice Multiple Choice

• Which of the following perspectives is most likely to address how the encoding, storing, and retrieval of information might alter our thoughts?– Behavioral– Psychodynamic– Humanistic– Cognitive– Biological

• Who among the following would most likely study the interaction of people, machines, and physical environments?

– Human factors – Personality – Industrial-Organizational– Counseling– Experimental

Practice Multiple Choice

• Psychiatrist differ from psychologists in that they…– Help people with

challenges & crises– Explore how we view &

affect one another– Experiment with how

people perceive, think & solve problems

– Are medical doctors licensed to prescribe medication

• Betsy works in a HR department. She plans training sessions, recruits people to work for the company and implements techniques to boost morale. What kind of psychologist is she?– Developmental– Personality – Counseling – Educational – Industrial-Organizational

Practice Multiple Choice

• A humanistic psychologist working with some poets might ask which of the following questions?– How can we get them to reach their highest potential?– How did their childhood experiences impact their

current behavior?– How have rewards and punishments shaped their

behavior?– How do society’s attitudes affect their writing topics?– How do their brains differ from those of other

successful people?

Practice FRQs

• George is said to have an “easy-going” personality. How might the biopsychosocial approach be used to explain an “easy-going” personality? (3 points)

• Six months ago, Carlos emigrated from Spain to the US. Although fluent in English & an honor student, he is struggling since moving. His parents don’t understand why he is not succeeding and why he quit participating in family traditions. Explain how each of the following perspectives might explain his behavior. – Psychodynamic & Cognitive (2 points)

Module #3 Objectives

• 3-1 Describe what psychologists in various professions do and where they work

Basic Research Applied Research Helping Professions

Cognitive Psychologists Forensic Psychologists Clinical Psychologists

Developmental Psychologists

Health Psychologists Community Psychologists

Educational Psychologists Industrial-OrganizationalPsychologists

Counseling Psychologists

Experimental Psychologists Neuropsychologists

Psychometric/QuantitativePsychologists

Rehabilitation Psychologist

Social Psychologists School Psychologist

Sport Psychologists

Hindsight Bias

• “Anything seems commonplace, once explained.” -Dr. Watson to Sherlock Holmes

• “Life is lived forwards, but understood backwards.” -Soren Kierkegaard

Overconfidence

• “Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.”– 1949 Popular Mechanics magazine

• “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.”– General John Sedgwick (1864)

• “We don’t like their sound. Groups with guitars are on their way out.” – Decca Records on turning down The Beatles

Ordo ab Chao

• Flip a coin 6 times: Most likely sequence?– HHHTTT– HTTHTH– HHHHHH

Practical Application

• After the student council election, a friend tells you he has known for weeks who would be elected president. What does this illustrate?

• While taking a test, you notice the last 4 answers have been “C.” What is probability of next one being the same?

• What do we call the tendency to exaggerate the correctness or accuracy of our beliefs and predictions prior to testing?

• Give an example of hindsight bias.

Practice FRQs

• Name the three components of the scientific attitude. Provide an example to show how each component contributes to the investigation of competing ideas in psychology. (3 points)

• Aziz has read that handwriting reveals important details about personality. Explain how each component of the scientific attitude can help Aziz investigate the accuracy of the information he has read about handwriting articles. (3 points)

Scientific Method

Terms to Know

• Observation• Theory (organizes )• Hypothesis (prediction)• Operational Definition(allows )• Replication

• Case Study• Naturalistic Observation• Survey

• Sampling Bias• Population• Random Sample

Practical Application

• Why is an operational definition important?• A researcher looking for gender differences in 3-

year olds watches a class & records play with dolls. Comparing the numbers of boys vs. girls is what type of descriptive study?

• Give an example of a survey type question.• A testable prediction is a(n)…• A person with an incredible memory is being

studied to learn about memory. This is a…

Practice FRQs

• A teacher want to know if nightmares are more common than dreams. He asks volunteers from his 2nd period class to report how many dreams they had last week. He asks volunteers from his 3rd period to report the number of nightmares. Describe 2 things wrong with the design of this study. (2 points)

• Naturalistic observation is a research method used by psychologists to investigate human and animal behavior. Identify three weaknesses of this type of study. (3 points)

Statistical Significance

Skewing the Curve

Descriptive Statistics

Histogram

Mode

Mean

Median

Range

Standard Deviation

Inferential Statistics