The Science of Psychology

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Chapter 1

• The Science of Psychology

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Defining Psychology

• Psychology is defined as the scientific study of
  behavior and mental processes.

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Psychology as a Science

• Theories
• formulations of relationships among observed
  events.
• Based on empirical evidence.
• Allows for prediction.

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What Psychologists do

• Pure research
• no immediate application, research for its own
  sake.
• Applied research
• designed to find solutions to specific personal
  or social problems.

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What else do psychologists do?

• _______ psychologists
• Help people with psychological disorders.
• _______ psychologists
• Similar to clinical psychologist but clients
  typically have adjustment problems and not
  serious psychological disorders.
• _______ psychologists
• Employed by school systems to assist students
  with problems that interfere with learning.

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Fields of Psychology

• _______ psychologists
• Focus on motivation, intelligence, testing, and
  student and teacher behavior.
• ________ psychologists
• Study the changes that occur throughout the life
  span.
• ________ psychologists
• Primarily concerned with individuals thoughts,
  feelings, and behavior in social situations.

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Fields of Psychology

• ______ psychologists
• Examine the ways in which behavior and mental
  processes are related to health.
• ______ psychologists
• Help people improve their performance in various
  sports.

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Where Psychology Comes From A History

• Behaviorism
• Gestalt Psychology
• Psychoanalysis

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Behaviorism

• John Broadus Watson (1878-1958)
• Founder of American Behaviorism.
• Believed that psychology should limit itself to
  observable, measurable behavior.
• B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
• Believed organisms learn to behave in certain
  ways because of reinforcement.

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Gestalt Psychology Making Psychology Whole

• Gestalt translates to pattern or organized
  whole.
• Demonstrated that learning is a accomplished by
  insight, not by mechanical repetition.

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Figure 1.2 The Importance of Context. Gestalt
psychologists have shown that our perceptions
depend not only on our sensory impressions but
also on the context of our impressions. You will
interpret a man running toward you very
differently depending on whether you are on a
deserted street at night or at the track in the
morning.
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Psychoanalysis

• Focus on the unconscious - a seething cauldron of
  conflicting impulses, urges and wishes.
• Founded by Sigmund Freud.
• Often called psychodynamic.

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Todays Perspectives

• Evolutionary and Biological
• Cognitive
• Humanistic
• Psychodynamic
• Learning/behavioral
• Sociocultural

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The Evolutionary and Biological Perspectives

• Focus on the evolution of behavior and mental
  processes.
• Genes can be transmitted from generation to
  generation.
• Biological perspective seek the links between the
  electrical and chemical activity of the brain.

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The Humanistic Perspective.

• Humanism
• stresses the human capacity for self-fulfillment
  and the importance of conscious, subjective
  experience.
• Founders Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

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The Cognitive Perspective

• Focus on mental processes -- those things we
  refer to as the mind.
• Study thinking, memory, intelligence.

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The Psychodynamic Perspective

• Freuds influence continues to be felt though
  contemporary psychodynamic theory.
• Diminished emphasis on sex and aggression
  continued focus on unconscious influences.

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Learning and Behaviorism

• Learning through repetition and reinforcement.
• Social-cognitive theorists
• (formerly termed social learning theorists)
• suggest that people can modify or even create
  their environments.
• Intentional learning by observing others.

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The Sociocultural Perspective

• Addresses the many ways in which people differ
  from one another.
• Study influences of ethnicity, gender, culture,
  and socioeconomic status on behavior and mental
  processes.

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The Scientific Method

• Scientific method is an organized way of using
  experience and testing ideas in order to expand
  and refine knowledge.
• Hypothesis is a specific statement about
  behavior or mental processes that is tested
  through research.
• Test the hypothesis through controlled methods
  such as the experiment.
• Replication repeating a study to see if the
  findings hold up over time with different
  subjects.

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Figure 1.4 The Scientific Method. The scientific
method is a systematic way of organizing and
expanding scientific knowledge. Daily
experiences, common beliefs, and scientific
observations all contribute to the development of
theories. Psychological theories explain
observations and lead to hypotheses about
behavior and mental processes. Observations can
confirm the theory or lead to its refinement or
abandonment.
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Samples and Populations

• Sample
• Individuals from a segment of the population who
  are studied.
• Population
• Group targeted for study.
• Types of Sampling.
• Random sample
• each member of the population has an equal chance
  of being selected to participate.
• Stratified sample
• selection is made so that identified subgroups in
  the population are represented proportionately in
  the sample.
• Volunteer bias
• people who volunteer as participants differ
  systematically from people who do not.

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Methods of Observation

• The Case Study.
• Information collected about individuals and small
  groups.
• Anecdotes
• Typically unscientific accounts of peoples
  behavior.
• The Survey.
• Employs questionnaires and interviews or public
  records.
• Naturalistic Observation.
• Observe people in their natural habitats.
• Avoid interfering with the observed behaviors.

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Correlation

• Is observed behavior or trait related to
  (correlated) with another?
• Expressed as a correlation coefficient a number
  the varies between 1.00 and -1.00.
• Positive correlation higher scores on one
  variable tend to correspond with higher scores on
  the second variable. Low with low. (e.g.
  Intelligence test scores and academic
  performance).
• Negative correlation Higher scores on one
  variable tend to correspond with lower scores on
  the second. (e.g. Amount of experience stress
  and functioning of the immune system).

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Figure 1.5 Positive and Negative Correlations.
When there is a positive correlation between
variables, as there is between intelligence and
achievement, one increases as the other
increases. By and large the higher people score
on intelligence tests, the better their academic
performance is likely to be, as in the diagram on
the left. (Each dot represents an individuals
intelligence test score and grade point average.)
But there is a negative correlation between
stress and health. As the amount of stress we
experience increases, the functioning of our
immune system tends to decrease. Correlational
research may suggest but does not demonstrate
cause and effect.
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Correlations

• Correlational studies may suggest but do not
  prove cause and effect!

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Figure 1.6 Correlational Relationships, Cause,
and Effect. Correlational relationships may
suggest but do not demonstrate cause and effect.
In part A, there is a correlations between
variables X and Y. Does this mean that X causes Y
or Y causes X or do other factors affect both X
and Y. Consider the examples of academic grades
(X) and juvenile delinquency (Y) in part B. Do
poor grades lead to delinquency, Does delinquency
lead to poor grades, or do other variables such
as broken home or peer influences contribute to
poor grades and delinquency.
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Experiments
0

• The preferred method for answering questions
  about cause and effect.
• Independent variable
• manipulated by the experimenters so that the
  effects of various levels may be determined.
• Dependent variable
• the measured outcome or result.
• Experimental and Control Groups
• Experimental groups obtain the treatment.
• Control groups do not receive the treatment.

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Experiments
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• Blind and Double Blind Experiments.
• Placebo or sugar pill.
• Blind
• control for the expectations of effects by
  creating conditions where the subjects are
  unaware of the treatment.
• Double blind
• neither the subjects nor the experimenters know
  who has obtained the treatment.

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0
Figure 1.7 The Experimental Conditions in the
Lang Study. The taste of vodka cannot be
discerned when vodka is mixed with tonic water.
For this reason it was possible for subjects in
the Lang study on the effects of alcohol to be
kept blind as to whether or not they had actually
drunk alcohol. Blind studies allow psychologists
to control for the effects of subjects
expectations.
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Ethical Issues in Psychological Research and
Practice
0

• Basic standards.
• Concern for individual dignity, human welfare and
  scientific integrity.
• Do no harm.
• Informed consent individuals give consent before
  they can participate in research.
• Confidentiality is kept.

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Critical Thinking, Science, and Pseudoscience.
0

• Pseudoscience false science.
• Critical thinking taking nothing for granted.
  Thoughtfully analyzing and probing questions,
  statements and arguments of others.
• Skills
• Development of skepticism.
• Ability to inquire about cause and effect.
• Increase curiosity about behavior.
• Knowledge of research methods.
• Ability to analyze arguments carefully.