The Science of Psychology Chapter 1
What Is Psychology? Scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Critical Thinking Inductive Deductive Analytical Purposeful Open Authentic What is critical thinking?
ENDURING ISSUES Person Situation To what extent is behavior caused by internal processes such as thoughts, emotions, motives, values, personality, and genes?
ENDURING ISSUES Nature vs. Nurture Is the person we become a product of innate, inborn tendencies or a reflection of experiences?
ENDURING ISSUES Stability vs. Change Are the characteristics we develop in childhood permanent and fixed, or do we change in predictable (and unpredictable) ways over the course of the lifespan?
ENDURING ISSUES Does our understanding of human behavior apply equally well to everyone across cultures or only to men or women, particular racial or ethnic groups, or particular societies (especially our own)?
The Fields of Psychology Developmental: Study of all aspects of human growth and change from prenatal period through old age Physiological: Study of biological basis of human behavior, thoughts, and emotions
The Fields of Psychology Experimental: Study of basic psychological processes Personality: Study of differences among individuals in variety of traits
The Fields of Psychology Clinical: Focus on diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders Counseling: Focus on normal adjustment issues (your book does a poor job of explaining this)
The Fields of Psychology Social: Explores how society influences the individual and how the individual influences society I/O: Applies principles of psychology to practical issues of workplace more on this later
Psychology as Science Scientific Method Explained An approach to knowledge, which: Relies on collecting data Generates theory to explain data Produces testable hypotheses based on the theory Tests those hypotheses empirically
Psychology as Science A Theory Is: Systematic explanation of something Organizes what we think is fact, which Allows prediction of new facts Provides some control over the phenomenon (What would be the point or value of this?) An Hypothesis is Specific, testable predictions derived from a theory So an hypothesis is a part of a theory, which means you can develop multiple hypotheses from a theory
Psychology: the Early Years Early philosophers Socrates (the unexamined life ), Plato (repeatedly ask the same question ), Aristotle (gold, sliver, and bronze men) then came Locke, Descartes, and Darwin The Church Illiteracy allowed for understanding through a religious lens Literature After the printing press, people learned about themselves and the world
The New Psychology : A Science of the Mind
Redefining Psychology: The Study of Behavior Behaviorism (Watson) Studies only observable and measurable behavior Behaviorism (B. F. Skinner) Added to Watson s theory with concept of reinforcement neither wanted to consider thinking as a part of behavior As Chomsky points out in his Cognitive Manifesto, these are limited in explaining human behavior
The Cognitive Revolution True or false? Humanistic Psychology paved the way for the cognitive revolution.
The Cognitive Revolution Gestalt psychology Studies how people perceive and experience objects as whole patterns Humanistic psychology Emphasizes nonverbal experience and altered states of consciousness as a means of realizing full human potential Cognitive Psychology Studies mental processes in broadest sense
New Directions Evolutionary Psychology Studies evolutionary origins of behaviors and mental processes Positive Psychology Focuses on positive experiences, development of individual characteristics, and environmental conditions
Multiple Perspectives Today Contemporary psychologists See different perspectives as complimentary Generally agree that field advances with addition of new evidence to support or challenge existing theories
Race and Ethnicity Important Questions to Consider Are most ethnic minorities still underrepresented within the field of psychology? What can psychologists do today to deal with biases in psychological research?
Culture Culture Values, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs passed from one generation to another Individualistic Cultures Cultures that value independence and personal achievement Collectivist Cultures Cultures that value interdependence, fitting in, and harmonious relationships
Types of Research Yeah, it s a little boring, I know still gotta know a little bit about it, though
Culture Cross-cultural Research Involves exploration of extent to which people differ from one culture to another
Naturalistic Observation Naturalistic Observation Observing and recording behavior of humans or animals in their natural environment Advantages Behavior more likely to be more natural, spontaneous, and varied Disadvantages Observer bias might distort or influence interpretation of what actually observed
Case Studies Case Study Detailed description of single individual or just few individuals Advantages Yields detailed descriptive information: Useful for forming hypotheses Disadvantages May not be representative sample; time consuming and expensive; potential for observer bias
Surveys Survey Questionnaire or interview administered to selected group of people Advantages Allows for large amount of data to be gathered quickly Disadvantages Poorly constructed questions can result in ambiguous answers; accuracy related to participant honesty
Correlational Research Correlational Research Uses statistical methods to examine relationship between two or more variables Advantages Useful for predicting behavior Disadvantages Cannot draw conclusions about cause and effect
Experimental Research Experimental Research Some variables deliberately manipulated and subsequent effects on behavior measured Advantages Allows researchers conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships to be drawn Disadvantages Unexpected and uncontrolled variables may confound results; many variables cannot be controlled and manipulated
Experimental Research Independent variable Variable manipulated to test its effects on other dependent variables Dependent variable Variable measured to see how it is changed by manipulations in independent variable
Experimental Research Experimental group Group subjected to a change in the independent variable Treatment group Group subjected to change in independent variable
Experimental Research Imagine you are a researcher studying the effects of parenting on adult child success. Can you think of reasons why studying your own family might be influenced by experimenter bias?
Multimethod Research Multimethod research combines various research methods to obtain better insights Best example is a meta-analysis
The Importance of Sampling Sample Subgroup of population Random sample Sample in which each potential participant has equal chance of being selected Representative sample Sample in which characteristics of participants correspond closely to characteristics of larger population
Human Diversity and Research Unintended biases in research Generalization of research findings to other cultures Influence of the experimenter s gender, race, or ethnicity
Ethics and Psychology: Research on Humans APA Ethical Guidelines for Human Subjects Participants must be informed of the nature of the research. Informed consent must be documented. Risks must be spelled out in advance. If for course credit, alternate activity must be offered. Participants cannot be deceived about aspects that would affect their willingness to participate. Deception about goals of research can only be used when absolutely necessary.
Careers in Psychology Career paths for therapists Psychiatrists Psychoanalysts Clinical Psychologists Counseling Psychologists Social Workers