Psych 001 Chapter 1. Why Is Psychology Important to You?

Transcription

1 Psych 001 Chapter 1 Why Is Psychology Important to You? Understanding and applying the principles of psychology can affect us in critical ways Psychology can help us understand other people and ourselves Psychology can help us improve our lives What is Psychology? Psychology is a word deriving from Greek roots: o Psyche soul or mind o Logos word Psychology is the systematic study of behavior and experience (Mental processes). Psychologists engage in the study of psychology in order to understand, explain and predict behavior. Critical thinking o Systematically evaluating information to reach reasonable conclusions best supported by evidence o Three steps: What am I being asked to believe or accept? What evidence is provided to support the claim? What are the most reasonable conclusions? Psychology Helps Us Succeed in School and at Work Academic success o Learning about psychology s major issues, theories, and controversies will help you succeed in your academic work Professional success o Studying psychology will also prepare you for success in your professional life How Can Psychology Help Me Study? o The following learning strategies are all based on psychological research:

2 The right goals lead to success A little stress management goes a long way Cramming is a crummy way to learn Learning is an active endeavor Explaining enhances understanding There are many ways to learn The goal of understanding human thought and behavior actually originated in philosophy The Major Philosophical Issues Free Will Versus Determinism o Are the causes of behavior knowable, and is behavior predictable? o Free will is the belief that behavior is caused by an individual s independent decision-making. o Determinism is the assumption that everything that happens has a cause or determinant in the observable world. o A believer in free will assumes that even with complete information regarding causes and conditions, predictions regarding human behavior can never be fully accurate. o A determinist assumes that everything that happens has a cause that can be known. o Benjamin Libet's experiment. The Mind-Brain Problem How is experience related to the brain? o Dualism is the belief that the mind is separate from the brain but somehow controls the brain and through it also the rest of the body. o Monism is the view that conscious experience is generated by and therefore is inseparable from the brain.

3 o Data from brain imaging research suggests that brain activity and mental activity are two aspects of the same thing. Yet this question is far from resolved. The Nature-Nurture Issue o How do differences in behavior relate to differences in heredity and environment? o Nature. Differences in behavior are due to the influence of genes. o Nurture. Differences are a result of aspects of the environment such as culture, expectations, and resources. o This issue shows up in virtually every field of psychology, and knowledge gained through research seldom provides a simple answer. History of Psychology Experimental psychology began in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology laboratory. xxx o o o o o o Although other psychology experiments had been done, this was the first laboratory devoted exclusively to the activities of psychological research. The purpose of the laboratory was to identify the basic parts, or structures, of the conscious mind. Wilhelm Wundt was trained as a physician and did research on the workings of the senses. He used: Reaction time Introspection - He presented subjects with a variety of stimuli, and asked them to look within themselves, to introspect. Edward Titchener was a student of Wundt who immigrated to the United States in o He developed the approach he called structuralism.

4 o In structuralism, the researcher attempts to describe the structures that compose the mind the sensations, feelings and images. o Edward Titchener presented a stimulus to his subjects and asked them to analyze its separate features. o After his death in 1927, his research methods were abandoned. o There was no feasible way to check the accuracy of his subjects observations. American psychologist William James was keenly interested in what the mind does, rather than the elements the mind is made of. o He rejected the methods of Wundt and Titchener. o He wanted to learn how the mind produces behaviors. He called his approach functionalism. Evolutionary Psychology o An Evolutionary Psychologist tries to explain behavior in terms of the evolutionary history of the species, and how specific behaviors are selected through Natural Selection. o In his presentation of compelling evidence that humans and other animal species were related, Charles Darwin forced people working in many disciplines to consider the basic features held in common by many or all animals, such as thinking and intelligence. o Comparative psychologists, who use this perspective, are specialists who compare different animal species. o Early comparative psychologists devised a number of experiments to try to measure animal intelligence, such as: The delayed response problem The detour problem

5 The pattern recognition problems o Some species appeared to be gifted in one set of tasks and highly deficient in another. o Eventually the inconsistencies in performance between different tasks across a single species suggested that questions about animal intelligence might be meaningless. o This issue is similar to some of the problems that we are encountering in the controversial area of measuring human intelligence. Francis Galton was one of the first scientists to try to measure human intelligence and determine to what extent heredity influenced variations in human cognitive abilities. o He studied the sons of accomplished men and found that the offspring of the talented and famous had a high probability of being accomplished too. o He explained this as due chiefly to the influence of heredity. Is this the only possible explanation? Alfred Binet devised the first useful intelligence test in 1905, for use in identifying children who might be in need of special services. o His test was imported to the United States after his death, and was the template for many tests of intelligence. Sigmund Freud proposed the existence of an unconscious mind rooted in our animal origins. o He worked with his patients to understand how this hidden part of the mind influenced their mood and behavior by analyzing their dreams, fantasies, and exploring their perceptions of their own early childhood experiences.

6 o Although much of his theory has been recently questioned or rejected as unscientific, modern psychology is still heavily influenced by his ideas. Gestalt Psychology: Experiencing the Whole o Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Kohler o Gestalt psychology developed in opposition to structuralism. o Gestalt theory: The idea that the whole of personal experience is different from simply the sum of its parts. Structuralism was abandoned because it was difficult to study the subjective perception of experience. Behaviorism is a field of psychology that concentrates on observable, measurable behaviors and not mental processes. The earliest researchers in the field of learning expected to find that it operated using simple, basic and predictable laws, comparable to Newton s physical laws of the universe. Behaviorism dominated psychological research well into the early 1960s Ivan Pavlov o Classical Conditioning. John B. Watson o Often considered the father of Behaviorism. o Conditioning of emotions like fear. B.F. Skinner o Radical Behaviorism. o Operant Conditioning. o No need for internal agents. By the 1950s, researchers such as Alfred Miller and Ulric Neisser were challenging the behaviorists assumptions, arguing that internal cognitive processes could and should be studied by psychologists. Early cognitive psychologists developed techniques for measuring thinking and reasoning processes objectively that are still used by researchers today.

7 Cognitive neuroscience o Cognitive psychologists, computer scientists, philosophers, and brain researchers. Social Psychology o Situations Shape Behavior o Milgram Study o Stanford Prison Experiment Humanistic psychology, led by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers in the 1960s, was a reaction against both behaviorism and Freud s psychodynamic theory. o Internal experience was important for understanding behavior. o Human nature is inherently good, and people want to improve themselves if they can. o Humanistic approaches involved treating clients as peers rather than subordinates, and changing the environment as a way to help improve the individual. Mary Calkins was one of the pioneering women in the field of psychology. Her graduate education in at Harvard was paid for as part of her teaching salary at Wellesley College. o Although she never received the Ph.D. that she earned from Harvard, she went on to do research, study the function of memory, and serve as the president of the American Psychological Association. Christine Ladd-Franklin o psychologist, logician, mathematician, physicist and astronomer Leta Stetter Hollingworth o Psychology of women and sex differences Margaret Washburn o First PhD o animal behavior Karen Horney Anna Freud What Psychologists Do

8 There are many specialties in the broad science of psychology. o Teaching and Research o Service Providers to Individuals o Service Providers to Organizations Teaching and Research o Biological Psychologist (or neuroscientist, etc.) A bio-psychologist tries to explain behavior in terms of biological factors, such as anatomy, electrical and chemical activities in the nervous system, and the effects of drugs, hormones, genetics and evolutionary pressures. Sample Question: How do drug abuse, brain damage, and exposures to environmental toxins change nervous system functioning (and by extension, behavior)? o Cognitive Psychologist A cognitive psychologist studies the processes of thinking and acquiring knowledge. Sample Question: What do experts in a field know or do that sets them apart from other people? o Social Psychologist A social psychologist studies how an individual influences and is influenced by other people Sample Question: To what degree to the demands and expectations of authority figures influence our behavior? How strong is the human tendency to conform?

9 o Developmental Psychologist A developmental psychologist studies the behavioral capacities typical of different ages and how behavior changes with age. Sample Question: What do people do or know as adults that they do not know as children? Why did this change occur? Was the change due to biological changes, increased experience, or a combination of these? Service Providers to Individuals o There are many types of psychotherapists, professionals with training in psychology who specialize in helping people with psychological problems, actually are trained in a variety of disciplines. o Clinical psychologists have advanced degrees in psychology (PhD, PsyD), with a specialty in understanding and helping people with mental and emotional problems. They receive training in intellectual and psychological testing intended to aid in diagnosis and treatment. o Psychiatrists are trained as medical doctors. In addition to learning the principles of psychology, they are educated in how to use prescription drugs to treat psychological distress. o Psychiatric nurses receive standard nursing education plus additional training in the care of emotionally troubled individuals. They usually work in medical clinics and hospitals.

10 o Psychiatric and clinical social workers combine training in traditional social work with specialized knowledge of how to treat emotionally disturbed people and advocate for their well being within the larger community. o Psychoanalysts are psychotherapists who use techniques that are based on the theories and methods pioneered by Sigmund Freud. Freud believed that an unconscious component of the mind affects our functioning in day-to-day life. o Counseling psychologists have an advanced degree in psychology and help people with educational, vocational, marriage, health, and other important life decisions. They receive training in therapy and some types of psychological testing. Service Providers to Organizations o Forensic psychologists provide advice and consultation to those who work in the criminal justice system. o Industrial/Organizational Psychologists study people s behavior in the workplace using a combination of social, cognitive, and motivational psychology principles, and often employing psychological tests. Sample Question: Workers in two separate departments at an aerospace engineering firm have started to withhold information from each other and this has been detrimental to morale and productivity. How can this behavior be stopped without terminating or reassigning any employees?

11 o o An ergonomist, or human factors specialist, attempts to facilitate the use of machinery and appliances so that the average user can operate them as efficiently and as safely as possible. Sample Question: How can the design of a clerical workstation in an office be improved to minimize the possibility of repetitive stress related injuries occurring to the employee who occupies it? A school psychologist specializes in the psychological condition of the students, usually at the kindergarten through secondary school levels. They often use educational and psychological tests to assist with educational planning for individual students. Sample Question: Does a fourth grade student whose grades have been declining over the past year have an identifiable learning disability, or is there an issue related to the student s emotional well-being affecting his performance? Scientific Methods in Psychology Psychologists cannot answer questions based on beliefs, hearsay, rumor, or even expert opinions Folk Psychology

12 Psychology is a science o Scientific method: A systematic procedure of observing and measuring phenomena (observable things) to answer questions about what happens, when it happens, what causes it, and why. This process involves a dynamic interaction between theories, hypotheses, and research methods. There are 5 steps in the scientific method: o Theory o Hypothesis o Testing the hypothesis o Analyze the data o Report results and embark on further inquiry Research design o Descriptive -- Describe Observational Naturalistic Observation Case Study Self-report o Correlational Describe & Predict o Experimental Describe, Predict & Explain o Descriptive Methods Describe What Is Happening Observational A research method that uses systematic and objective description of what is occurring Naturalistic Observation: Careful monitoring and examination of what people and animals do under more or less natural circumstances.

13 Example: Dr. Jane Goodall s decadeslong observation of chimpanzees in the forest of Gombe, recording their social organization and biological functioning. Case Study: A thorough observation and description of a single individual, appropriate only when done for an unusual condition or circumstance. Example: Example: The case of Phineas Gage, whose bizarre and unfortunate accident taught medical doctors and psychologists much about the nature of the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Self-report: Survey, Interview A survey is a study of the prevalence of certain beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors, based on people s responses to specific questions. Example: Example: Albert Kinsey s 1948 survey of the sexual preferences and habits of Americans was ground breaking, although not by any means beyond criticism.

14 o A Few Concerns About Self-report Research: o Problems with obtaining a random or representative sample o Competence or honesty of those who respond o The wording of the questions o Self-report bias o Surveyor bias Correlation: Correlation is a measure of the relationship between two variables which are both outside of the investigator s control. The numerical estimate of the strength and direction of a correlation is the correlation coefficient. The value of the correlation coefficient can range from 1.00 to The higher the absolute value, the stronger the relationship is, regardless of the direction. A negative correlation (-) means that as one variable increases, the other decreases. A positive correlation (+) means that as one variable increases, so does the other.

15 o A zero or near zero correlation means that the variables have no relationship; that changes in one are not related to any type of change in the other. Some Problems with Correlational Research: Illusory Correlation: An apparent relationship based on casual observations of unrelated or weakly related events. Example: The belief in moon madness. The directionality problem. Third Variable Correlation Causation: Correlational research only tells us if two variables are related and how strongly. It does not tell us why. Example: The more someone weighs, the larger his or her vocabulary is. Do you know why? Experiment: A study in which the investigator manipulates at least one variable (independent) while measuring at least one other variable (dependent). Experimental methods test causation.

16 Example: To test whether the hormone adrenaline enhances memory in mammals, a researcher teaches rats to run a maze. She gives a randomly selected portion of the rats a drug to block production of adrenaline. She then times all the rats on the maze. Example: A researcher wants to know if men or women are better at a particular set of spatial relationship tasks. He compares a randomly selected group of 50 men and 50 women on a test of the task. Example: A researcher wants to know if a particular herbal supplement is helpful for improving memory. She selects 100 college sophomores who achieved an average score on a memory test, gives half of them the herb for one month, half of them an inert pill, and then re-tests them all. Example: To test whether the hormone adrenaline enhances memory in mammals, a researcher teaches rats to run a maze. She gives a randomly selected portion of the rats a drug to block production of adrenaline. She then times all the rats on the maze. Other important terminology Experimental group: The set of individuals who receive the treatment that the experiment is designed to test.

17 Control group: The individuals who are treated in the same way as the experimental group except for the procedure that the experiment is designed to test. Random selection: A method that uses a procedure based on chance to select a sample from a population. Random assignment: A selection method that assigns subjects to groups using a procedure based on chance. Operational definition: Detailed description of the variables Operational definition Sometimes what we study in psychology is not tangible. We call these constructs. In order to accurately measure these constructs, we develop behavioral or observable definitions of them. We call these definitions operational definitions. An operational definition is a way to give an intangible idea a numerical value Operational definition

18 So if we are investigating the effect of watching violence on television on children s aggressive behavior: We need to operationalize violence on television. We need to operationalize aggressive behavior. Violence might be operationalized as the number of times in a one-hour show that one person threatens or injures another person. Aggressive behavior might be operationalized as the number of insults, threats and assaults by the subject over a 24- hour period after watching a particular television program. Populations & Samples Usually in research we are asking questions that are pertinent to a large population of interest such as: o Seven to tenyear-old children o People diagnosed with depression

19 But it is not practical to study all the individuals in the population. We take a relatively small number of observations or individuals from the population, and we generalize from that small number. The small number of individuals or observations is called a sample. There are several types of samples and sampling procedures: o A convenience sample is a group chosen because of its ease of availability and study. o A random sample is one in which every individual in the population has an equal chance of being selected. Manipulation of Variables Control is necessary to determine causality A properly performed experiment depends on rigorous control

20 Confound: Anything that affects a dependent variable and that may unintentionally vary between the study s different experimental conditions Experimenter Bias Because (fallible) humans do the research, we need to keep in check the various tendencies that can lead to erroneous research findings or interpretations of findings. Experimenter bias is the tendency of an experimenter to unintentionally distort the procedures or results of an experiment based on the expected or desired outcome of the research. For example: You are a researcher testing the hypothesis that children who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD) are on average more creative than children who have no diagnosis.

21 You may find it hard to ignore your hypothesis as you observe the children with LD going about whatever tasks you have devised to operationalize creativity. Methods are used to help counteract these normal human tendencies that create bias: o Using blind observers who record data without knowing what the researcher is studying. o Using a placebo control. A placebo is a pill or other sham treatment that makes it difficult for the subjects (singleblind) or the subjects and experimenter (double-blind) to know who has received the treatment and who has not.

22 Demand Characteristics Demand Characteristics: Cues that tell a subject what is expected of him or her, and what the researcher hopes to find. Example: If the subject knows that the drug being tested is supposed to improve mood, he or she may feel better. Placebo Effect: When people react to a treatment they believe they are getting, but is not actually being given. o Example: A patient feels better when he starts getting pills for his illness that he believes will make him feel better, but which are in fact just sugar pills. Nocebo Effect: When people don t react to a treatment they believe they are not getting, but is actually being given.

23 o Example: A patient still feels pain after a shot of morphine because she believes the shot was an antibiotic. Hawthorne Effect: When people react to any treatment. o Example: Employees at a coffee shop can make mochachinoatos faster after new lights are installed, because they are told the new lights will improve their productivity. Clever Hans Effect: When behavior appears intelligent, but it s not. At least not in the way you thought it was.

24 o Example: A parrot always says very pretty to his owner when she wears a particular blue dress. She believes the parrot is really paying her a compliment, when in fact the parrot has learned that if he makes the noise very pretty when his owner wears that dress, he is likely to get a cracker.