The Science of Psychology

Unit 1

Lesson 4

Objectives

Students will define psychology. Students will identify the goals of

psychology. Students will explain why psychology

is considered a science. Students will analyze the scientific

method.

Warm Up

What were some of the “unscientific” ways we tried to explain behavior?

Evil Spirits, Bodily Fluids, Skull Structure

Review

Definition of psychology? Scientific Study Behavior Mental

Processes

Psyche – soul Logos – study

Goals? Describe Explain Predict Control

Basic vs. Applied? Study to know more vs. to

use what we know

Making Research Scientific

All research must be Replicable Falsifiable Parsimonious

Apply Scientific Method Identify specific problem

or question Form a hypothesis Conduct a study

(research) Analyze data Construct theory Retest

Ethical Considerations

With humans

APA Guidelines• IRB • Informed consent• Safety• Privacy• Debriefing

When is deception ethical?

Ethical Considerations

With animals

APA & Federal Guidelines

• Clear benefits of research

• Legally acquired• Humane conditions• Least invasive

procedures

Descriptive Research: observe & Record

Case Study – in-depth info about one subject

Observation – naturalistic/directed (lab)

Survey – questionnaires & interviews

Test – standardized, reliable, valid

Correlational Research

Statistical relationship between 2 variables

Positive Correlation- When two variables increase or decrease together (Ex- Frustration and Aggression)

Negative Correlation- When one variable increases as the other decreases (Ex- Stress and Health)

Correlational Coefficient – Strength of correlation measured by # between +1.0 and -1.0. Zero = no relation.

Correlation vs Causation

Just b/c two things are related doesn’t mean one thing caused the other!

Ex: Scary movie & nightmares

Experimental Research

Experimental MethodSeeks to establish a cause and effect

relationship.

Handout…

Experimental Research

Identify hypothesis “If A, the IV is presented or changed, then B, the DV will occur or change.”

Identify Population, Randomly Select Sample, Randomly Assign to Group

Manipulate the IV – Placebo

Compare the results – Measure the DV

Experimental Method Vocab

Subject Expectancy- subject’s beliefs can influence his/her perception/behavior

Blinds- subjects are unaware of the treatment, to control for the effects of subject bias.

Double-Blind Study- neither the subjects nor the experimenters know who has received the treatment, control for experimenter bias.

Activity 1 – Apply Experimental Method

A psychologist studying memory wants to test the hypothesis that an herbal supplement aids memory. The research involves having 80 people complete a memory test. Half of these individuals first consumed the herbal supplement; the other half consumed a placebo pill.

Independent Variable? Herbal supplement

Dependent Variable? Memory Retention

Control Group? Took placebo

Experimental Group? Took herbal

supplement

Activity 1 – Apply Experimental Method

An educational psychologist wants to explore whether a new math program, which uses textbooks with special colored pictures, will help high school students in learning geometry. Half of the students are randomly assigned to traditional textbooks, while the other half are assigned to the special textbooks. Scores on a standardized geometry test are measured at the end of the semester.

Independent Variable? New math book

Dependent Variable? Performance on

geometry test Control Group?

Traditional book Experimental Group?

New textbook

Methods of Research

Studies can beLongitudinal

• Study one group over period of time

Cross-Sectional• Study several groups at one time

Cross-Sequential• Study several groups over period of time

Method Advantages DisadvantagesNatural Observation Behavior studied is completely natural. Study in

situations and environments can’t be duplicated in a lab. Useful for generating hypotheses.

Researchers can’t interact with subjects…may misinterpret behaviors. Interpretations may

be personally biased. May be hard to conduct unobtrusively.

Directed Observation(Laboratory)

Provides accurate information b/c it allows control of variables and reduction of error. Use of

sophisticated equipment for measurement. Useful for generating hypotheses.

Artificial setting may not reflect real world behaviors. May yield biased results.

Case Study Can obtain detailed background info that may shed light on present behaviors. Extensive information

about a subject. Good way to generate hypotheses. Yields data other methods can’t provide.

Gaps and factual inaccuracies. Distort pasts to please selves/researcher. One past may not

apply to all. Time consuming. Can be subjective, may yield biased results.

Survey Can gather a lot of information from a lot of people quickly. Cheap and easy to conduct. Good way to

generate hypothesis.

Sample may not represent whole. Questions may be phrased poorly or misunderstood. Misinterpretation of results based on bias.

Don’t directly observe what is reported, rely on self-reported data.

Testing Accurate, objective info because most are standardized. Little opportunity to distort results.

Gives information about diverse characteristics such as personality traits, emotional states,

aptitudes, interests, values.

Must be reliable and valid in order to use. May respond in socially desirable way. Improve

from one test to another b/c of familiarity, not aptitude.

Correlational Study Can help predict behaviors. Can indicate possible causes of behaviors.

Can’t indicate cause-effect relationships. Can’t account for all possible factors/variables.

Experiment Can identify cause-effect relationships with little error and bias, if properly set up and carried out.

Distinguish between placebo effects and real effects of treatment or drug.

Information from one study may not apply to other situations. Subject

expectancy/researcher bias (can be avoided with blinds). Results may not

generalize to real-world situations.

Methods of Psychological Research

Activity 3

In your groups, select two of the situations and decide which method of research would be best used to achieve the goal/objective of the situation. Explain.

Also, decide which of the methods would be the least effective for each of your situations. Explain

Methods of Research You are interested in the honesty of people in America, especially with regards to stealing or

taking objects which aren’t theirs. How could you determine how honest people are, including what % of the population can be trusted at any given time?

You’re interested in finding out what effects the moderate use (3-5 x’s per week) of marijuana has on high school students, including effects on academic performance, social relationships, motivation and accomplishments.

You wish to ascertain the effects of high Vitamin C on older (65+) peoples’ health.

You are ready to develop a romantic relationship with someone and you want to find the best person to meet your needs. How would you go about this?

You think your partner is cheating on you and you want to find out if this is true and, if so, with whom.

You want to find out who the smartest person is in the senior class.

You’ve been hired to determine the effects of caffeine on the mental alertness of truck drivers for a large cross-country shipping firm.

Closure

Do you think it is ethical to use animals in psychological research? Why or why not?

Day 2 Warm Up

Identify the basic purpose of the following types of research:DescriptiveCorrelationalExperimental

Review A mom suspects that her daughter’s newly acquired aggressive

behaviors are a result of watching Perry & Doofenshmirtz fight on Phineas & Ferb.

Formulate a hypothesis & design an experiment to address each of the following: Population: Who is target? How select & assign subjects? Operational Definitions: Do you need to define any of the terms for

your experiment? If yes, do so. Id your variables: What is IV? What is DV? What treatment will experimental group receive? Control group? What controls will you use in your experiment to control for subject &

experimenter bias? Potential confounding variables – anything else you should try to

control for? You may write or diagram your experiment!

Descriptive Statistics PsychSim

Organize information so data is more meaningful.

Frequency Distribution – arrange of scores lowest to highest (list or graph/chart)

Measures of Central Tendency – mode, mean, median

Measures of Variation – range, standard deviation

Closure

If we want to identify a cause & effect relationship between variables, which research method would we use?