What is Psychology?

Chapter 1

Defining Psychology Psychology is a discipline concerned with behavior

and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism's physical state, mental state, and external environment.

Discipline, refers to a specific branch of knowledge or learning.

Biology, Ancient History, Philosophy, Health Sciences, Forestry, Religion, Physics

All disciplines have in common a search for rules about how to believe and how to find “truth”.

Each discipline is committed to their rules as to how one finds “truth”. Psychology is a science.

The Science of Psychology

Science in the broadest sense refers to any system of objective knowledge. In a more restricted sense, science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on the scientific method (discussed later), as well as to the organized body of knowledge humans have gained by such research.

Fields of science are commonly classified along two major lines: Natural sciences, which study natural phenomena Social sciences, which study human behavior and

societies.

Psychology, Pseudoscience, and Common Sense

Scientific Psychology bears little relationship to "Pop" Psychology

Fortune telling, numerology, graphology, and astronomy are not part of psychology

Psychology is not just a fancy name for common sense

Psychological research often produces findings that contradict popular beliefs

Again, psychology is based on empirical evidence which is: evidence gathered by careful observation, experimentation, and measurement.

The Birth of Modern Psychology

The Great Thinkers and Others Aristotle (before 300 BC)–Theorized that a meal

makes us sleepy by causing gas and heat to collect around the source of our personality (heart).

Hippocrates (c. 460 BC- c. 370 BC) Observed patients with head injuries.

Franz Joseph Gall (around 1800) Phrenology (see next slide)

Wilhelm Wundt First psychological laboratory (atoms of the mind) Trained Introspection

Bumpy Logic

Phrenology was a 19th-century pseudoscience No scientific basis

Phrenology linked bumps on the skull with character traits

Wundt argued that: "we learn little about our minds from casual, haphazard self-observation...It is essential that observations be made by trained observers under carefully specified conditions for the purpose of answering a well-defined question." (Principles of Physiological Psychology, translated by Edward Titchener, 1904)

The Birth of Modern Psychology

William James Functionalism: An early psychological approach

that emphasized the function or purpose of behavior and consciousness (focus on cause and consequences of behavior).

Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysis: A theory of personality and a

method of psychotherapy, originally formulated by Sigmund Freud, which emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts

Psychology's Present

Five Major Theoretical Perspectives

Biological Perspective Learning Perspective Cognitive Perspective Sociocultural Perspective Psychodynamic Perspective

The Five Perspectives Biological Perspective

A psychological approach that emphasizes bodily events and changes associated with actions, feelings, and thoughts.

Learning Perspective A psychological approach that emphasizes how the

environment and experience affect a person's or animal's actions: It includes behaviorism and social-cognitive learning theories

Cognitive Perspective A psychological approach that emphasizes mental

processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior

The Five Perspectives

Sociocultural Perspective A psychological approach that emphasizes social

and cultural influences on behavior Psychodynamic Perspective

A psychological approach that emphasizes unconscious dynamics within the individual, such as inner forces, conflicts, or the movement of instinctual energy

What Psychologists Do Psychological Research

Basic- the study of psychological issues in order to seek knowledge for its own sake rather than for its practical application

Applied- The study of psychological issues that have direct practical significance; also the application of psychological findings.

Psychology in the Community Athletics, animals, noise pollution, prevention, etc.

Psychological Practice (see next slide)

Psychological Practice

Psychotherapist Person who does psychotherapy; credentials and training vary

Clinical Psychologist

Has a doctoral degree: Ph.D., Ed.D., or Psy.D.

Psychoanalyst Has specific training in psychoanalysis after an advanced degree (usually M.D. or Ph.D.)

Psychiatrist A physician (M.D.) with specialization in psychiatry

Other professionals

Licensing requirements vary by state; generally at least an M.A. Can be social worker (LCSW), counselor (MFCC), or other.

Critical and Scientific Thinking in Psychology

Critical Thinking

Critical Thinking: The ability and willingness to assess claims and make objective judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons and evidence, rather than emotion or anecdote

Guidelines for Critical Thinking Ask Questions: Be willing to wonder Define Your Terms Clearly and Concretely Examine the Evidence Analyze Your Assumptions and Biases Avoid Emotional Reasoning Don't Oversimplify Consider Other Interpretations Tolerate Uncertainty

The Scientific Method

The goal of science is to develop general laws The scientific method can lead to general laws The scientific method consists of four steps

Observing a phenomenon Formulating testable explanations Further observing and experimenting Refining and retesting explanations

The scientific method can be tedious and time consuming but the results are worth the effort

Note how the scientific method is applied in the Steps of the Research Process (see next slide)

Steps of the Research Process I.

Develop an idea and a hypothesis Choose an appropriate research design Choose an appropriate subject population Decide on what to observe and how you will

gather evidence Conducting a study Analyzing and summarizing data Reporting results

Steps of the Research Process (II.)

Develop an idea and a hypothesis Hypothesis- A statement that attempts to predict or to

account for a set of phenomena; scientific hypotheses specify relationships among events or variables and are empirically tested

Principle of Falsifiability- The principle that a scientific theory must make predictions that are specific enough to expose the theory to the possibility of disconfirmation; that is, the theory must predict not only what will happen, but also what will not happen.

Choose an appropriate research design There are two basic types

Correlational Experimental

The Correlational Design

Correlation: A measure of how strongly two variables are related to one another

Variables: Characteristics of behavior or experience that can be measured or described by a numeric scale

Types of Correlations

Positive correlation: Increases in one variable are associated with increases in the other; decreases are likewise associated

Negative correlation: Increases in one variable are associated with decreases in the other

The Experimental Design

Experiment: A controlled test of a hypothesis in which the researcher manipulates one variable to discover its effect on another.

Characteristics of the Experimental Design Manipulation of one or more variables while holding all

other variables constant. Random Assignment- A procedure for assigning

people to experimental and control groups in which individuals have the same probability as an other of being assigned to either group. This balances individual differences across the treatment conditions

Allow for testing of cause and effect

Experimental Variables

Independent Variable: A variable that an experimenter manipulates.

Dependent Variable: A variable than an experimenter predicts will be affected by manipulations of the independent variable.

Experimental & Control Conditions

Experimental Condition: In an experiment, a condition in which subjects are exposed to manipulations of the independent variable.

Control Condition: A comparison condition in which subjects are not exposed to the same treatment as in the experimental condition.

Experimental Design

Hypothesis: Nicotine in cigarettes impairs driving.

All conditions kept the same for both groups except nicotine. Control condition is

given placebo (inactive) cigarettes

Number of collisions is measured.

Placebo

An inactive substance or fake treatment used as a control in an experiment or given by a practitioner to a patient.

Experimenter Effects

Unintended changes in subjects’ behavior due to cues inadvertently given by the experimenter

Double-Blind Study: Experiment where neither subjects nor people running the study know which subjects are in the control group and which are in the experimental group until after results are tallied.

Advantages and Limitations of Experiments Experiments allow conclusions about cause-effect

relationships. Participants in experiments are not always

representative of larger population. Much psychology research is carried out using

colleges students as participants. Field Research: Descriptive or experimental research

conducted in a natural setting outside the laboratory.

Steps of the Research Process (II.)

Choose an appropriate subject population Animals or Humans Consider Your Sample

Decide on what to observe and how you will gather evidence Operational Definition- A precise definition of a

term in a hypothesis, which specifies the operations for observing and measuring the process or phenomenon being measured.

Methods of Gathering Evidence (I.) (Descriptive Studies)

Case Study Method A detailed description of a particular individual

being studied or treated. Observational Study Method

Studies in which the researcher carefully and systematically observes and records behavior without interfering with that behavior; it may involve either naturalistic or laboratory observation.

Methods of Gathering Evidence (II.) (Descriptive Studies)

Test Method Procedures used for measuring and evaluating

personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, and values.

Standardize: To develop uniform procedures for giving and scoring a test.

Norms: Established standards of performance. Reliability: Consistency of scores derived from a

test. Validity: The ability of a test to measure what it

was designed to measure.

Methods of Gathering Evidence (III.) (Descriptive Studies)

Survey Method Using surveys or questionnaires and

interviews that ask people directly about their experiences, attitudes, or opinions.

Representative Sample- A group of subjects, selected from a population, which matches the population on important characteristics.

Volunteer Bias- A shortcoming of findings derived from a sample of volunteers instead of a representative sample; the volunteers may differ from those who did not volunteer.

Steps of the Research Process (III.)

Conduct the study Analyze and Summarize the data

Descriptive Statistics Organize and summarize data Arithmetic Mean- average

Interpretation needs to be looked at carefully as the mean describes overall group not individuals

Inferential Statistics Assesses how likely the results of the study occurred by

chance Significance Test- out of 100 repetitions of the study what is

the likelihood that the results were by chance Usual acceptance or “significance level” is .05 or p= .05 Statistical significance does not prove that a result is important,

only that it is reliable

Steps of the Research Process (IV.)

Analyze and Summarize the data (continued) Data is used to form or change existing theory

Theory- An organized system of assumptions and principles that purports to explain a specified set of phenomena and their interrelationships.

Report Results Scientific Journal Professional Conference Books

Different Research Methods

Cross-Sectional Study: Subjects of different ages are compared at a given time.

Longitudinal Study: Subjects are followed and periodically reassessed over a period of time