Chapter 1 What Is Psychology ? Defining Psychology Initial emphasis was philosophical and introspective Later, the state of the mind was seen as associated.

Chapter 1

What Is Psychology ?

Defining Psychology

Initial emphasis was philosophical and introspective Later, the state of the mind was seen as associated

with the body Eventually, psychologists believed that human

behavior could only be understood by evaluating actual behavior

The end result? Psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

The Birth…and Afterbirth of Psychology

Aristotle initially looked for a relationship between the body and mental state

Wilhelm Wundt Merger of philosophy and

physiology First psychology lab, 1879 at

the University of Leipzig Examined objective

sensations and subjective feelings.

The Birth and Afterbirth:Early Schools of Thought

Structuralism E.B. Titchener (Wundt’s student) Introspection Break down immediate sensation, past memories, feelings Self-Report technique unreliable

Functionalism William James (1st American) Conscious experience is adaptive Stream of consciousness

Titchener James

Break it down!

Examine why is it

ADAPTIVE?

Holla!

The Birth and Afterbirth:Schools of Thought

Behaviorist School John Watson, Ivan

Pavlov, B.F. Skinner Observable,

measurable behavior Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud Role of the

unconscious Sex and aggression Importance of early

childhood events Evolved into

psychodynamic school

I torture babies!

Behaviorist John B. Watson

Und zen zie child becomes neurotic!

Sigmund Freud

Schools of Thought:Classics

Gestalt Max Wertheimer,

Fritz Perls Human tendency to

perceive patterns “the whole is greater

than the sum of its parts”

Useful in understanding process of perception

Black spots, or a dalmatian?

Schools of ThoughtContemporary

Humanistic School Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow Human potential for growth Importance of free will Here and now Need for acceptance

Cognitive School Jean Piaget, Albert Ellis, Aaron

Beck Importance thoughts and thought

processes Perception, thinking, memory,

languageCognitive psychologist Jean Piaget

FYI…I AM A DUDE.

Schools of Thought:Biological and Evolutionary

Biological Looks to the body and its processes to explain human

behavior Genes, hormones, neurotransmitters, and organ

structure/function

Evolutionary Psychology Examines human behavior through processes of

adaptability, survival value and reproductive value How has human behavior changed to ensure survival?

The Birth and Afterbirth:Schools of Thought

Today, contemporary schools of thought have expanded to also include the following: Neuroscience – how does the brain and its

chemicals regulate behavior? Behavioral Genetics – how do genes and

experiences combine to make each of us unique? Social-Cultural – How is behavior shaped by our

surroundings, i.e. the people around us, our ethnic traditions, values, and beliefs?

Schools of Thought:The Biopsychosocial Approach

Regardless of the particular school of thought, contemporary psychology has come to embrace the biopsychosocial approach Biological influences of genes, hormones, brain Psychological influences of emotions, learned

information, and cognitions Social-Cultural influences of other people,

culture, family, groups, media

Schools of Thought:The Biopsychosocial Approach

Each particular school of thought may emphasize one area more than another

Which area/s do you think each school would emphasize?

Which school of psychology might have the best approach for helping with the following problems? Explain why. Teach a child with a learning disability to write her name.Help a person to quit smoking.Help a woman who cries whenever her boss criticizes her, lowering her chances for promotion.A husband verbally abuses his wife. The wife feels she is wrong and has low self-esteem.A depressed man considering suicide does not know why he is depressed.A boy is afraid of animals.A man is unhappy about the direction of his life.A child continually speaks out and interrupts in kindergarten.

Schools of Thought:Women’s Contributions? Mary Whiton Calkins

First female APA president Denied Ph.D. from Harvard Student of William James Notable research on memory

Margaret Floy Washburn First woman granted Ph.D. Second female APA President The Animal Mind

Mary Cover Jones Pioneer in behavior therapy Desensitization

Rosalie Rayner Accomplished behaviorist Behaviorist who worked with John

Watson on Baby Albert experiment Tragic early death

Women overcame limitations on access to education, restrictions on awarding advanced degrees, and exclusion from psychological societies

Today, women earn the majority of Ph.D.s in psychology and hold nearly half of the leadership roles in psychological societies

Gimme my Ph.D. or I’ll shank ya!

Enduring Issues in Psychology

Psychologists representing all schools of thought debate what shapes behavior

Some on-going debates include the following: Nature vs. Nurture – Which shapes behavior more? Biology

or experience? Plato vs. Aristotle? Descartes vs. Locke? Person vs. Situation – Is behavior dictated by forces within

us or does it constantly change and shift based on our surroundings?

Mind vs. Body – Do our thoughts or our bodies have more control over our behavior?

Diversity – Which is more important? What makes us similar, or what makes us unique?

Psychology Careers:Education and Work Settings

The Degrees BA – 4 year study MA – 2-3 Years beyond BA Ph.D./Psy.D./Ed.D. – 6-7 years

beyond BA M.D. – Psychiatrists (prescribe

medication) – medical school Increased career opportunities for

advanced degrees Admission is competitive!

Strong GPA and GRE scores Related work or volunteer

experience Close relationships with professors Publish if possible!

Note: The chart represents employment settings for those with recent doctorates in psychology. Totals amount to 97 percent due to rounding and

exclusion of 17 "not specified" responses. Adapted from D. Michaels, J. Kohout, M. Wicherski & B. Hart (2011), 2009 Doctorate Employment Survey

 (Table 3) (PDF, 33KB). Taken from http://www.apa.org/careers/resources/guides/careers.aspx?item=4

Psychology Careers:Fields of Study Research vs. Applied Psychology? The majority of psychology professionals work as therapists in

some capacity Clinical Psychologists Counselors Psychiatrists

Psychology’s Diverse Subfields Biological Cognitive Community Developmental Educational Experimental Human Factors Industrial/Organizational Personality Psychometric School Social

Conducting Research

Goals of Psychology Describe Explain Predict Control Observe

Pitfalls of intuition and “common sense” explanations Hindsight bias Overconfidence

Remember psychology’s definition: “The scientific study of behavior and mental processes”

Conducting Research

The Scientific Attitude: Rely on Empiricism! Curiosity: passion to explore and understand Skepticism: questioning results; retesting Humility: understanding humans’ limitations and

the possibility for error Ultimately, psychologists must be critical

thinkers Do not accept “truths” without first testing them Look at evidence, question assumptions, filter out

bias

The Scientific Method

Generate a question Formulate a theory Develop a hypothesis (if-then) Test hypothesis

Operational definitions Clear and concise

Replication of results https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFV71QP

vX2I

Descriptive Research Methods

Case Study In-depth Research Can we generalize?

Survey Lots of information –

FAST! Population Random sample Stratified Sample Wording

Naturalistic Observation Hawthorne Effect

minimized Observer bias Interobserver reliability Control?

Correlational Methods What is the relationship between two factors? Allows prediction, but NOT cause and effect! Correlation vs. causation

A positive or negative relationship does not establish cause and effect

It does not PROVE the if-then (association does not prove causation)

Measuring the Strength of Relationship Correlation Coefficient

Indicates strength and direction of a relationship between two factors Between -1 and 1 Stronger relationships are closer to -1 or to 1, closeness to 0

indicates weak or no relationship Positive correlation vs. negative correlation Scatterplots

Reading Scatter Plots:Match the Correlation Coefficient with the Graph!

A. .86 B. -1.0 C. 0 D. .99

Correlational Studies:Pitfalls Illusory Correlations

We can be influenced to see correlations when we believe they exist

Fueled by confirmation bias, the tendency to only remember examples that support what we already believe is true.

Can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, when we inadvertently set something up to happen because we believe it will.

E.g. “Old people are cheap!”

Experimental Method

Researcher deliberately manipulates selected variables and then measures the effects of these manipulations

Because the researcher has this level of control, the experiment can establish causation

However, the level of control can be somewhat artificial, and results may not generalize to the real world outside the lab

Also, it may be unethical to manipulate certain variables

The Experiment: An Example

Situation: New insomnia drug called DROW-Z’s…does it work?

Want to establish a cause and effect relationship or if-then, SO we must do an…

EXPERIMENT!

Personnel - Who is involved?

Experimenter Runs and/or designs the experiment

Subjects/Participants Those being tested Sample - group that represents the larger group we are

generalizing about (i.e. insomniacs) Random Selection - everyone has an equal chance of

being chosen! Confederates

People who help the experimented administer the experiment

E.g. Milgram experiment – the “learner” was a confederate

Variables - What is happening? Independent Variable

The variable being TESTED Experimenter can manipulate it E.g. exposure to DROW-Z’s

Dependent Variable The RESULT What happens as a result of exposure to the independent

variable E.g. do subjects on DROW-Z’s SLEEP better?

Confounding Variable Throws off results Unwanted!

Experimental vs. Control Groups Experimental Group

The group exposed to manipulation of the independent variable

E.g. receives the DROW-Z’s

Control Group Group NOT exposed to manipulation of the

independent variable; used for COMPARISON E.g. does NOT receive DROW-Z’s May instead receive a PLACEBO

Random assignment to groups All subjects have an equal chance of being in either

the control group or experimental group!

Operational Definitions, Etc. Operational Definitions

What are we measuring and how? How are we defining VARIABLES (IV/DV)? Allows experiment to be replicated by others E.g. what is a “better” night’s sleep?

Sample Size: the bigger the better! What is the difference between groups? Replication?

Avoiding PitfallsDouble- and Single-blind procedures

Single - subject doesn’t know who is in control group and who is in experimental group

Double - subject and confederate administering experiment don’t know who is in which group

Placebo Reduces confounding variable Reduces demand characteristics (subject

bias)

Analyzing Results:Statistical Analysis

Statistics Defined A branch of mathematics used to organize and analyze data Necessary to use statistics to understand what results actually

MEAN – if they mean anything at all…

Be skeptical of sweeping generalizations E.g. “Males are better at math and science than females” How was this measured?

Descriptive vs. Inferential Statistics? Descriptive helps us to make sense of a data set (e.g. mean,

median, range, skew, standard deviation) Inferential allows us to make generalizations about a population

based on a sample. Significance is a measurement that would be of importance here.

Statistical Analysis: Scales of Measurement Nominal Scale

Set of categories for classifying E.g. types of cars in the student lot

Ordinal Scale Scale that indicates relative position; ranks data E.g. class rank

Interval Scale Scale with equal distance between values, but without a

true zero E.g. temperature

Ratio Scale Scale with equal distance between values, but WITH a true

zero E.g. Inches of rain

Statistical Analysis:Descriptive Statistics

Frequency Distribution A count of the

number of scores that fall within each series of intervals

Frequency histogram and Frequency Polygraph

Descriptive Statistics:Measures of Central Tendency

This is a single score that represents a set of scores Mode

Most frequently occurring score

Mean Average

Median The midpoint – half the

scores fall below, and half are above

Sample Data Set:1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5,

5Mode = ?Mean = ?Median = ?This is a NORMAL (BELL)

CURVE, where all measures 3 of central tendency are equal!

Descriptive Statistics:The Skewed Distribution Frequency distribution is asymmetrical Mean, median and mode are different values

Negative (left) – just a few very low scores Positive (right) – just a few very high scores How can a few atypical scores distort data?

Descriptive Statistics:The Bimodal Distribution

As the name implies, a bimodal distribution has TWO modes

Descriptive Statistics:Measures of Variation Range – the difference between the highest and lowest score

in a distribution What does it tell you? What DOESN’T it tell you?

Standard Deviation – how much do scores vary from the mean in a distribution? (see table 1.4 in text p. 36)

1. Calculate mean2. Calculate each scores deviates from the mean3. Square that difference4. Add the sum of the squares5. Divide by the number of scores in the distribution6. Take square root of this7. The number is equal to the value of ONE standard deviation

Descriptive Statistics:Measures of Variation So what?

In a normal curve, this number reveals the percentage of scores that falls within a particular range

68% fall within one standard deviation from the mean 96% fall within two standard deviations from the mean 99% fall within three standard deviations from the mean

What must the standard deviation be for this distribution of IQ scores?

Inferential Statistics:Statistical Significance

Significant Difference What is the difference between the experiences of the

control and the experimental groups? What is the chance that the difference happened due to

chance? .05 P-Value generally accepted (1 in 20 due to chance) If it IS a significant difference, how important is that

difference (e.g. difference between IQ scores of first- and later-born children is significant, but due to its very small value, it is not important.

WITHIN vs. BETWEEN group variation? Statistical significance vs. significant difference

Inferential Statistics:Reliability

When can we generalize about a population based on the results from our sample? Sample is a representative sample The less variation in the data, the more reliable (if

variability is high in a distribution, the mean becomes less meaningful)

The more examples the better! (ask 2 friends how they like the class vs. asking 25)

Research and Ethics

Human Subjects: Informed Consent Confidentiality Use of deception? Protection from harm/discomfort Debriefing

Animal Subjects: Compliance with current laws and regulations in

acquisition, care and disposal of subjects. Staff trained in the care, maintenance and handling

of the species being used. Minimize the discomfort, infection, illness and pain

of animal subjects. Use a procedure subjecting animals to pain, stress

or privation only when an alternative procedure is unavailable and the goal is justified.

Use of anesthesia and antiseptic methods during and after surgery.

Minimize duration and pain of euthanasia.

Setting Standards APA (American Psychological Association) Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) and Institutional Animal Care and

Use Committee (IACUCs) How did Milgram, Landis, Watson, and Zimbardo challenge

ethical standards?